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program design

The Prickly Pitfalls of a Poor Program Plan

By Energy Rant No Comments
This week’s Energy Rant is courtesy of guest writer, Julie Blackwell, Manager - Program Strategy at Michaels Energy. Poor program planning can and will wreak havoc on your program’s performance. Program design is multifaceted. There is the technical side, focused on measures, standards, impacts, and cost effectiveness. The process side outlines steps, roles, and responsibilities. Communication is responsible for forms, directions, and engaging outreach. These are just a few examples of the many design categories. The point is, the program designer is rarely an expert in every aspect of a program’s design. Therefore, the designer must seek out and engage…
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P2P – Proven to Perform – Program Design

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This post rolls out better ideas for pay for performance (P4P) programs you read about in the last two posts here and here. But first, I will set the stage from the perspective of the program implementation contractor. Perhaps it is best depicted with a scene from the cartoonish 1977 Clint Eastwood flick, The Gauntlet. I think a bit of cooperative teamwork is needed to make P4P approaches work – and they can work well! Punk There is another issue with third-party P4P concepts, and staying with the Clint theme, it goes like this: “Go ahead, punk. Make my day.”…
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Guest Post: The Big WHY

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Today’s Rant gives you a sneak peek into the beautiful mind of one of our evaluators, Teri Lutz. Teri is launching a blog on what’s new and what’s necessary in the world of research and evaluation, and we can’t wait for you to tune in. Official blog coming soon!Hello! I’m excited to share with you some thoughts on advancing our evaluation and research practice to better understand how we might change the way we deliver and use energy. We are on the brink of an evaluation renaissance. Smart grids, smart meters, smart buildings, and smart data are prominent themes in…
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Driving Ms. Free Rider Daisy

By Energy Rant 3 Comments
Sitting on high levels of energy efficiency program design and evaluation provides a wonderful perspective and results in some astonishing epiphanies. Warning – data-backed bluster straight ahead. New Construction Programs We study the performance of new buildings all the time, whether it is for evaluation or looking for great retro-commissioning opportunities. Nothing provides a better opportunity for retro-commissioning than a stock of new buildings, whether they filtered through a new construction program or not. The chart below features energy performance of new buildings that went through a new construction program. We implement, and we evaluate projects nationwide (don’t bother guessing…
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ACEEE Summer Camp 2010

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant, Sustainability No Comments
Well here I am again – a prisoner in the penitentiary that is the Minneapolis Airport.  Northwest Airlines now part of Delta Delta Delta can I help ya, help ya, help ya (YAH! – you can get me the hell out of here) can’t fly through a swarm of mosquitoes without being delayed.  This is the burnt crust on the dessert that was otherwise a great week.  And as usual, I can’t help but sit here and ignore the MASSIVE amount of energy gobbled up by this place.  It’s a bowl of hot soup outside.  It is about 68F inside…
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