strategic energy management Archives

Sep 13

Strategic Energy Planning

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

I don’t think my mom played football, but she thought she knew how to take down a ball carrier. “Hit them low! Take out their legs.” This was her solution to arm tackling up high where the defender grabs on around the shoulder pads and goes for a ride – like a weakling trying to take down a steer. Bulldoggin, I think it’s called. Why would you bulldog rather than say, use a lariat? Boys will be boys, I suppose. Come to think of it - I don’t think bull riding accomplished anything useful down on the ranch either. I…

Aug 23

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Program Secrets for Large Commercial and Industrial

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

Maybe it’s the Implementation Contractor Classic golden opportunities in retro-commissioning include fixing the root cause of the problem rather than trying to treat the symptoms. For example, it may be too cold in a space, so what should be done? Turn up the hot water temperature, of course! No. The problem could be any number of things like a new partition (wall) being installed, isolating one space with a diffuser from another space that has the thermostat. Or my favorite – parking a 1 kW printer under the temperature sensor. We were RCx geniuses in ha school. When our room…

Apr 12

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Utility Relationships and Hookup Puns

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

I attended Peak Load Management Alliance’s 45th Conference in Baltimore last week, where I captured a quote that went something like this: the difference between energy efficiency and demand response is that demand response is a relationship between utility and customer. In contrast, efficiency is a transaction or two followed by the customer and utility parting ways. I thought, hmm, so it’s like renting an apartment versus a hotel for a night or two – or a long-term relationship where two people actually know each other’s names versus a hookup. Ok. Hookups Most of us reading this cannot relate to…

Nov 25

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Performance Programs, Ouija Boards, and Mark Twain

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

I could not compete with my former self and Gene Simons from last week, but I went back to the Gallup psychoanalysis barrel for more inspiration. I don’t want to write about myself unless it helps you understand why I’m so, uh, peculiar. Like Mr. Simons, I’m an insatiable consumer of information, maybe not books so much – although I’m sure I broke personal records since the Covid – but digital publications, interviews, conference papers, and journals. The psychoanalysis says, “It’s very likely that you rely, to some extent, on your passion for reading to help you launch conversations. Engaging…

Nov 18

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Performance-Based Programs; Do You Have the Delusion?

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant 3 Comments

Employees at Michaels get a free psych-x profile (it’s not my area of expertise) to determine personal strengths through Gallup. My top strength is “context,” which means I’m a historian. What does this mean? I observe history, including my mistakes, others’ mistakes, and continuously analyze human nature. For example, I watched a webinar last week on how to be a “rock star” of success. You’ve heard of others called a “rock star,” right? “Rock star” made lists of overused terms years ago. The presenter said, (paraphrasing) “it doesn’t matter whether the person is a customer, supervisor, owner, or employee; all…

Sep 03

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Strategic Energy Management is Elvis

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

You’ve been there – on the phone trying to get some help from a car dealership, appliance store, online retailer. The menu choices are unclear, especially for auto stores (hit zero). It makes me cringe when I hear my Mom say she called Dell for help with her computer. Yikes, Mom. This isn’t the plumber on Main Street. Maybe Dell isn’t bad, but hearing my Mom say she was on the line “with them” for two hours, I have my conceptions. I would expect no help from an organization like that. Any help would be above and beyond. So what’s…

May 06

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NMEC Jedi and NRE Troopers

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant One Comment

In theory, normalized metered energy consumption, or NMEC, would allow demand-side resources, whether dispatchable (demand response) or non-dispatchable (efficiency, demand rates, time of use, peak rates, etc.), to be precisely measured with equipment customers have already paid for – smart meters and the advanced metering infrastructure. It would work like this: What does the meter say before intervention (like a bathroom scale)? What does it say after intervention? The difference of the two is the resource. What could go wrong? Plenty. Last week I suggested we need protocols and not just user’s manuals for deploying NMEC. This week, I deliver…

Aug 20

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Efficiency at ACEEE – Something New, Something New

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

Last week, I participated in ACEEE’s Summer Study for Buildings in Pacific Grove. This week’s Rant features themes of our industry’s direction as described by the hundreds of papers presented at the conference. Most of what I’ve been writing about in recent months is happening in many places. Hurray! EISApcolypse? Bring It! EISA (you say ee-suh, I say I-suh), otherwise known as the Energy Independence and Security Act, will in 2020 mandate the use of light emitting diodes as the standard for applications. While EISA may not mandate LEDs, or even mandate LED-level efficacy, the horse has left the barn.…

May 15

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Efficiency by Baby Steps and Giant Bounds

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant 2 Comments

This post features concepts everyone can use to identify terrific savings opportunities, even if you did not take beloved calculus and thermodynamics. Let’s review a general hierarchy of typical energy efficiency families: 1. Shut it off 2. Slow it down, set it back (temperature, etc.) 3. Reduce waste 4. Retrofit or replace with efficient equipment Those are all wonderful and probably capture over 98% of portfolio savings. Even newer programs like behavioral, retro-commissioning, and strategic energy management merely pursue these items. What’s left? Smart design. I.e., 5. Don’t be stupid Or for the glass half full message, it would be…

Sep 19

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Strategic Energy Management or Strategic Anger Management – Which is Right for You?

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant One Comment

I have written about, and formally discussed, strategic energy management (SEM) so much I was sure I already wrote a Rant on the topic. After looking, I wrote about SEM and Yoda, Try Not, Do or Do Not, a year ago, but that was about measures and opportunities. This time, let’s consider SEM programs. SEM Beyond Industrial Strategic energy management is often pigeon-holed as an industrial or manufacturing effort. This is unfortunate and wrong. Strategic energy management is great for commercial and multi-family facilities. Strategic energy management is especially good for MUSH (municipalities, universities, schools, and hospitals) but also office…

Strategic Energy Planning

Program Secrets for Large Commercial and Industrial

Utility Relationships and Hookup Puns

Performance Programs, Ouija Boards, and Mark Twain

Performance-Based Programs; Do You Have the Delusion?

Strategic Energy Management is Elvis

NMEC Jedi and NRE Troopers

Efficiency at ACEEE – Something New, Something New

Efficiency by Baby Steps and Giant Bounds

Strategic Energy Management or Strategic Anger Management – Which is Right for You?

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