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SEER

Savings Persistence – Funner than a Barrel of Monkeys

By Energy Rant No Comments
Today, let’s consider a subject that is as squishy, subjective, and amorphous as net savings and non-energy benefits (see here and here). Today’s subject is savings persistence. Savings Persistence and Its Importance Even allowing for generous latitude, if I polled readers of this post, I would probably get a dozen definitions of savings persistence. For retro-commissioning, persistence is ensuring the measures aren’t undone. For the broader group of behavior programs, persistence is getting customers and their occupants (family or employees) to continue to value and manage energy over the long term.To the evaluator, savings persistence opens many cans of worms.…
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The Future of Energy Efficiency and Big Blue

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant 7 Comments
We were recently conversing with folks from AESP about topics of interest for newsletters, and one intrigued me: what will be the big thing in the industry in 2014?   Answering that would be like predicting the S&P’s close on December 31st.  Over the long term (decades) the market tracks the economy.  Over the short term (years) it tracks sheep, which are entirely at the mercy of the Ben Bernanke. First, a quiz.  I love quizzes.  What saves more energy? A) Swapping out a 10 SEER air conditioner for a 13 SEER unit? or B) Swapping a 16 SEER for a…
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Goodfellas Take California

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant, Renewable Energy, Sustainability One Comment
As I discussed in The Delectable Light Bulb back in October, I think it is bad policy to force things onto people, or similarly banning a product that is essentially harmless.  Ratcheting up the minimum energy efficiency ratio, perhaps better known as the EER or SEER of air conditioning units is one thing.  The deliverable (cold air) is the same.  Not so with compact fluorescent light bulbs and incandescent bulbs. The do-gooders of California lead by the Governator are “leading the nation” with the ban on incandescent light bulbs, starting this year.  You can say it isn’t a ban like…
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