by Jessica Wagner | Sep 1, 2021 | The Big Why
Welcome to another installment of the Challenges of Estimating NTG, where we explore the challenges of assigning a numeric counterfactual value to a complex decision-making process. This post will explore some ideas beyond the traditional survey self-report approach...
by Jessica Wagner | Aug 4, 2021 | The Big Why
Sometimes in the course of evaluating energy efficiency projects, we come across projects with negative savings. In other words, participating in an energy efficiency program resulted in an increase in overall energy usage. Given the program theory of most energy...
by Jessica Wagner | Jul 7, 2021 | The Big Why
As global average temperatures continue to rise due to climate change caused by humans, the amount of energy used (and potentially saved) cooling buildings will also increase. But if savings are calculated using outdated weather data that do not incorporate recent...
by Jessica Wagner | Jun 9, 2021 | The Big Why
Last month’s post focused on how to best treat future energy or carbon savings and how this decision can affect whether short-term or long-term investments are more favorable. But even more crucial to the calculation is the persistence of the savings – that is, what...
by Jessica Wagner | May 12, 2021 | The Big Why
I recently read The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson. It’s a science fiction novel about climate change in the near future (a.k.a. cli-fi). It is realistic, alarming, and ultimately uplifting and I recommend checking it out.[1] Interestingly (to an...
by Jessica Wagner | Apr 14, 2021 | The Big Why
Like many, I was transfixed in late March by the huge container ship stuck in the Suez Canal. And also, like many, I enjoyed the many versions of the meme of a “little” excavator trying its best to free the enormous ship but making minimal progress. As often happens,...
