When I was asked a while back to be a guest writer for this blog, it’s not surprising that my ideas kept drifting toward Evaluability Assessments. Anyone who has worked with me knows that I’m a planner and I like to be prepared. (Dare I say over-prepared.) Full disclosure -- I’m a lister, I create outlines and frameworks, and I love roadmaps. I like to have guardrails and structure to help me focus on what is most important. I thrive when I can set a goal in my sights and devise alternative paths to get to my destination. There is…
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The industrial sector accounts for about one-quarter of US greenhouse gas emissions but is categorized as very difficult to decarbonize. This is primarily due to the large amounts of energy and heat required for industrial processes, but there are many other barriers as well, including cost and lack of commercialized technologies. In an effort to reduce these barriers to industrial decarbonization, the Department of Energy recently announced a large amount of funding. Let’s explore! Industrial Decarbonization Demonstration Program At the end of March, the Department of Energy announced that it had awarded over $6 billion to 33 demonstration projects across the US to reduce…
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As readers of this blog likely understand, decarbonizing buildings and improving their energy efficiency at the scale needed to mitigate the effects of climate change will require tremendous levels of investment. To ensure that investments are made equitably, disadvantaged communities must be prioritized. With this in mind, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has become an important concept in energy efficiency program implementation and evaluation in recent years. However, most DEI focus has been on the residential sector (particularly low-income households), with the commercial and industrial sector receiving far less attention. Let’s dive into how DEI concepts fit into non-residential utility…
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Livin' it Up in Hotel California I’ve written about pay for performance (P4P) programs no less than six times in this blog. I’ll start with a recap of those posts and move the ball forward once again. We’re well within field goal range! In Tooling Pay for Performance, I wrote that energy models and dashboards with regression models showing savings performance or lack thereof provide the following Leatherman-like benefits. It provides leverage with visual evidence, so customer stakeholders do more and climb higher. It’s a vise-grip to maintain what was accomplished. It’s a hammer to “persuade” folks. It’s a screwdriver…
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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…
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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…
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