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In the last two Rant posts, we learned that our 40-year-old program evaluation frameworks need to change to capture greater, real impacts. Rather than improving programs and accurately determining impacts, archaic evaluation methodologies are impeding progress toward greater energy savings. It may be like solving the percolating national debt crisis, but I will attack thisRead more

If efficiency programs were telephones, the evaluation community would still be using wall-mounted analog dial-ups rather than the iPhone. Yes, I’m going to tell you why programs are designed to be evaluated and not to be effective, part 2, herein. The following is the list of flaws in demand-side management theory, as presented last week.Read more

I am no mountaineer, but without looking, I know the Himalayan range is growing taller. How do I remember this? Because the earth’s crust is made up of tectonic plates that are always moving. The edge of tectonic plates forms fault lines for earthquakes. Did you know, that at some point, coastal California will beRead more

I’ve spent a lot of time reviewing papers written for the International Energy Program Evaluation Conference, or IEPEC, over the years. I dig the conference, which I like to call the asylum, as I did four years ago. People in the evaluation business can get pretty fired up. While I witnessed no verbal punches atRead more

Everyone has applied for health insurance[1], and many of you have applied for life insurance. Anyone over, oh, 40, 50, or for sure 60, knows health flaws start to accumulate like the dumpster’s worth of unwelcome gifts, used shoes, and outdated clothes for those of you who stay current with the style trends of theRead more

Thank you to Mike Frischmann (our Director of Evaluation Engineering) for contributing to this week’s Rant. Eight hundred pound gorilla alert! Energy efficiency program evaluation “best practices” need a big overhaul. I am not talking about best practices for doing impact evaluation like the Uniform Methods Project. It’s disgusting that so much money is spentRead more

This post is brought to you by the International Energy Program Evaluation Conference (IEPEC), circa 19, er 2015.  I moderated one session featuring four great papers and presentations concerning residential space heating and cooling.  I also observed one concurrent session for nearly all the timeslots in the conference.  The theme I found, which was veryRead more

About two years ago, I wrote Duct Leakage Chaff, which explained that residential duct leakage is a mole hill, a red herring, a boogeyman.  I recently reviewed a report[1] that nails my assertions from June 2013. The program evaluation (residential HVAC tune-up) was thorough, likely expensive, but worthwhile.  Too often, not just in evaluation, butRead more

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 withinRead more

Without fail, it seems that every custom efficiency or self-directed impact evaluation we do has a controversial, giant project accounting for 25% (or more) of the program’s savings.  It turns out it shouldn’t even have been allowed into the program because it doesn’t qualify – and in many cases, aside from that, the savings calculationRead more

For many years of my adult life I thought, “courts and judges: who cares?”  I’ve learned that I do, big time.  Why?  Because courts can bend and twist laws and essentially rewrite them to the point that we might as well send legislators home, which in and of itself sounds like a good idea.  TheRead more

In recent weeks, I have been spending considerable time examining energy management system projects for energy efficiency program evaluation on the east coast.  My conclusion is this: blown opportunity abounds. The program documentation for one particular project drips with evidence that the project is a free rider, which means the project would have happened anywayRead more