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Energy Efficiency

Sep 09
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National Energy Use and Efficiency

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant No Comments
Okay boys and girls; this week features a slice of energy geek heaven spawned by this human/America whapping article from Clean Technica. The basis for the article, and this post, is Lawrence Livermore National Lab’s (LLNL) annual national energy use and efficiency chart to the left. Clean Technica laments that the country was more efficient in 1970 than it is today.  In 1970, the analysis indicates we were slightly more efficient than 50%, but in 2012 we were only 39% efficient.  Hold on.  This does not tell the entire story.  I will demonstrate with a bunch of nerd analysis that we…
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Aug 26
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Why Customers Don’t Trust Energy Efficiency – Versus Stupid Pet Tricks

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant 3 Comments
As I mentioned in a LinkedIn post last week, this week’s Energy Rant involves an interesting article Why Homeowners Don’t Trust Energy Efficiency.  The paper could also be tweaked a little and re-entitled, Why Customers Don’t Trust Energy Efficiency.  Period.  As usual, this brings to mind a cornucopia of spinoffs. Let’s first begin with a core theme of a rant from about a month ago.  In that, I said savings from current portfolios across the country are dominated by: Incentives for trinkets like CFLs and ENERGY STAR this, that, and the other (consumer goods) and Incentives for contractors to upsell efficient…
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Aug 19
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Energy Program Evaluation Asylum

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant 8 Comments
Last week, some colleagues and I attended the International Energy Program Evaluation Conference (IEPEC) in Chicago.  The conference was great with my favorite part: meeting people, getting to know them better, and building friendships.  Session content, as usual, spawned a theme in my mind.  This year’s theme: This business is crazy. There are panel discussions of experts, you know, the thought leaders with 30+ years of experience in the business, and as I sat there listening, I thought to myself, “Isn’t this a rerun of something I attended in 2011 in Boston, and in 2009 in Portland, and in 2007…
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Aug 12
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Impact Evaluation Confidence and Precision – Fluffy Illusions or Autopsies

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant No Comments
This week’s rant is brought to you by Ryan Kroll, Michaels’ Program Evaluation Manager.  Last week Ryan issued a Program Brief discussing 90/10 confidence and precision sampling that is the industry norm for energy efficiency program impact evaluation.  The 90/10 simply means the results of the sampled projects have a 90% probability of being within plus or minus 10% of properly representing the entire population – and NOT necessarily the right answer.  Sample representation and the right answer are obviously different things. Here is the perversion in impact evaluation that I’ve never seen written anywhere: The less you learn about…
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Jul 22
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Energy Efficiency in the USA

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant One Comment
Over the weekend I was reading this white paper by ACEEE, and as almost always, a number of responses came to mind.With the passing of years I observe that as people age, they fall into perhaps three categories: (1) the curmudgeons  - the glass is ¾ empty and don’t tell me it isn’t (2) cynical cranks with ideas and (3) Chrissy Snows.  Engineers, for example, fall into the first two groups – or they go to law school, get into politics, and turn into a Chrissy Snow.  Chrissy Snows, as with everyone, are mostly good people, but they live in…
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Jun 24
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Communication – Nuggets of Ponderation

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant No Comments
Communication in our business of delivering energy efficiency services, reports, and projects, and in any organization for that matter, is almost always an issue. One thing never heard is, “I don’t want to know all that.  Stop it.”  Why?  Because the receiver can hit the ignore button or the delete button, but more often because there is hardly ever too much information transfer. Here are some gold nuggets regarding communication. The documentation rule:  If it isn’t written down and shared with stakeholders in near real time – like after a meeting, phone call, event, milestone, on the same day, or…
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Jun 17
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Alternative Fuels – ET Says, “What’s the Matter with You?”

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant No Comments
I was reading this opinion piece by the Rolling Stones keyboardist and forestry nut, and it didn’t take long for an age-old rant topic to emerge.  This one is about misguided allocation of resources, particularly for alternative fuels, to achieve desired ends.  If an alien (say, ET, although I’ve never watched the movie) landed in the US and evaluated our alternative fuel feed stocks and end use fuels (e.g. ethanol), it would say, “What are you doing man?  This is insane!”But first, let me begin with how the pursuit of wealth, which happens to be the force behind a growing economy…
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Jun 03
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Energy Efficient Technologies that Suck [Energy]

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant One Comment
Sometimes I wonder. No, sometimes I’m amazed how certain energy efficient technologies have fooled the industry and the public for years, possibly even decades, into a false sense and blind acceptance for energy savings.  Want to see two technologies that are flexible, cheap, easy to use, and effective at saving energy?  That’s it – the first two wonder technologies shown. Instead, there are universally accepted incentives and “savings” that would make a charlatan blush.  Exhibit A: the occupancy sensor for lighting control.As I ranted in Oh Behave, I have found that this technology wastes energy by training occupants to leave…
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Apr 29
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Cost Recovery for Energy Efficiency Programs – An Ignorant Idea

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant One Comment
If you haven’t seen Michaels’ recent self-indulgent video, you might want to do that now.  It is many hours of video shooting reduced to a fine sauce, just under four minutes.  My interview, for example, lasted maybe 45 minutes and maybe 30 seconds of it are included in the video.  One line I’m pleased to have been captured and included was the statement that there is a limitless supply (and immense variety) of learning available in our industry.  One thing I know little about is the guts of the utility business and cost recovery for energy efficiency programs.  So why…
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Dec 31
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Refrigerator Sitcoms and Lethal Toaster Ovens

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant 3 Comments
I’ve read enough energy-saving tip lists to fill a Webster’s dictionary.  In this rant, I dissect some common ones, some uncommon ones, and provide some myself. Cook with small appliances – toaster oven, slow cooker, electric skillet:  I would strongly advise against a toaster oven because (1) using it to make toast wastes energy – a “slice” toaster evenly toasts bread with coils in the closest proximity possible minimizing wasted heat, (2) my experience with toaster ovens for baking things like quick bread is that they burn.  The temperature and coil proximity (ironically) is too close to what is cooking,…
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