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AESP

May 26
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RFPs, Wind & Participants from Hell; Tales from AESP Spring 2015

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant 2 Comments
Last week’s AESP Spring Conference was the best that I can recall, in terms of the content delivered, in my opinion.  Perhaps I got lucky and went to the right presentations.  Perhaps it’s because I went to more presentations than usual.  Most likely it is for another reason, and readers will have to call me for that because it’s an advantage I want to hold among die-hard rant fans. I attended an Espresso Learning Shots discussion led by Laura Orfanedes from Fiveworx.  The topic was requests for proposals (RFPs) from both sides of the fence – from the buyer (utility)…
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May 11
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Industrial Energy Efficiency; Bad News for Pimento Loaf

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant No Comments
The big energy saving opportunities in a building are usually hidden from the unsuspecting field auditor.  The obvious exception is lighting because it isn’t hidden!  The hidden things are what go on behind closed doors in the dark.  Yes, the salacious activity spawned by an out of control brain – the energy management system. Similarly, nuggets flow across my desk, computer screen, and directly from people that feed topics of this Energy Rant.  A few weeks ago, I stumbled onto data confirming my years-old assertion that tight fitting ductwork does not save energy, relative to in situ status quo.  Being…
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Jan 05
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The Deaf and Mute Smart Meter

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant 5 Comments
Smart meter.  Smart meter.  Smart meter. Smart meter. Smart grid.  Smart grid.  Smart grid.  Smart grid. So what?  What are customers, utilities, rate payers, and tax payers getting for their money? At an AESP conference several years ago, I sat in place of a colleague for a Pricing and Demand Response Committee meeting.  I’ve been in/on the committee ever since.  Within the last year, I took a survey from the committee, and I asked questions that went something like this: What does demand response in the US look like?  How much of it is interruptible rates?  How much is direct…
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Aug 11
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Energy Efficiency Baselines – Do or Don’t, Not This or That

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant 2 Comments
This week’s post is brought to you by AESP’s 2014 Summer Conference, which went off last week in San Francisco.  I was speaking with a lifelong esteemed consultant from the Bay Area during the opening reception, and his disclosure was that regulators in a certain state are wrenching down too tightly on baseline assumptions.  At the same time, they are unyielding in their energy-saving targets.  This is a problem because it leaves customers that haven’t been picked over with artificial barriers.During the closing plenary, I noted a similar comment by Janice Berman from Pacific Gas and Electric.  Her comment, stated…
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Feb 13
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Paint by Numbers EE

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant No Comments
True or false: It’s easier to teach Pablo Picasso how to paint a house than it is to make a house painter into a Picasso-grade painter/artist.  For the answer, keep reading. I was sitting in a session at last week’s AESP conference sipping my weak overpriced Starbucks when I almost sprayed a mouthful on the bystanders sitting in front of me.  Not one, but two guys opined that it is easier to teach, for example, a refrigeration expert retrocommissioning than it is to teach a retrocommissioning/energy expert efficient refrigeration.  Allow me to demonstrate with an example, a true story. A…
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Jan 25
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Carnies, Circus Folk – Smell Like Cabbage

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant No Comments
Last week I attended the Association of Energy Services Professionals (AESP) national conference in Orlando at the Disney World Hilton.  Thankfully, it wasn’t actually in the park – hey, I don’t know man.  I would otherwise not go within 2-3 states of a crowded black hole for cash like that. The conference expo hall “infrastructure”, including booth structure consisting of pipe framing and curtain dividers, chairs, tables, power and other things is outsourced to a company that travels from venue to venue like carnies.  For a couple thousand dollars or whatever, the exhibit space is all you get.  A $30…
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