Alan Meier is senior executive editor of Home Energy.
Bits and Watts, Watts and Bits
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More and more, the streams of energy and information are becoming entangled. No single event heralds this merger; instead, dozens of innovations across a wide front mark the transformation. What does that wide front look ... [continue reading]
If You Sell Electricity, You Should Be Worried
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Any way you look at it, residential electricity use in America is falling. Recent data from the Energy Information Administration show that electricity use fell 3% in total and 7% when calculated per person in the last ... [continue reading]
Editorial: 'Home Energy' Joins the Home Performance Coalition Family
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I am pleased to announce that Home Energy will join the Home Performance Coalition family. This is good news because it gives Home Energy greater access to a wider audience. It also makes the Home ... [continue reading]
Editorial: The Next Generation of Energy Efficiency Standards
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Appliance efficiency standards are largely responsible for the ongoing decline in residential energy use. What’s wrong with today’s efficiency standards? They are not future proofed. I was fortunate enough to attend ... [continue reading]
Editorial: Energy Efficiency in Unexpected Places The Dubai Lamp
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The Middle East—and especially Dubai—is known for its excesses. You visit Dubai to see the world’s tallest building, indoor ski slopes, exotic cars, and huge, air-conditioned shopping malls. What ... [continue reading]
Builder-Installed Electrical Loads
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Parts of the House That Stay On [continue reading]
Editorial: The Buzz from the ACEEE Conference on Energy Efficiency
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Every two years, a thousand energy efficiency experts gather near Monterey, California, to discuss every conceivable aspect of energy use in buildings. Two years is long enough for changes in the outside world to be ... [continue reading]
Editorial: Climate Change and Garage Door Openers
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California just approved legislation requiring all new garage door openers to have battery backups, so that doors would open even when electricity service is interrupted. The legislation—SB 969—sailed through with almost no ... [continue reading]
January/February 2010: LEDs: Avoiding the CFL Debacle
Alan Meier
The lighting efficacies of LEDs have been rising steadily and are poised to overtake CFLs. Fluorescents and CFLs still outshine LEDs with respect to general applications and cost of light, but LEDs are already superior for some niche applications and offer many new exciting illumination opportunities. Now we need to ensure that the reputation of this new energysaving lighting source won’t be undermined by a tidal wave of shoddy products. Tests for quality, ... [continue reading]
March/April 2010 Editorial: Home Energy Monitors
Alan Meier
Home Energy Monitors, that is, devices that display a home’s energy consumption have been touted as Silicon Valley’s contribution to the national energy conservation effort. A Home Energy Monitor (or HEM) constantly informs the occupants of their home’s electricity and gas consumption, along with conversions to monthly costs and comparisons with previous periods. Some models can (or will) communicate with heating and air conditioning systems. These devices will enable ... [continue reading]
May/June 2010 Editorial: Targeting the High Users
Alan Meier
Photo by Jovan Peric - Fotolia.com Homes with high energy consumption are likely to provide us more opportunities to save energy. If that’s true, then why don’t we see more programs and businesses geared toward the high users? [continue reading]
July/August 2010 Editorial: A Cottage Industry with High Electricity Use
Alan Meier
Can growing marijuana change the way homes use electricity? In rural Humboldt County, in far-northern California, there’s no doubt that it can. Figure 1 tracks average monthly residential electricity use in Humboldt County and in California. Until the mid-1990s, these two values were almost identical. But after 1996, Humboldt County’s electricity use suddenly turned upward. What happened? In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215, which legalized the medical use of marijuana. In practice, Proposition 215 ... [continue reading]
November/December 2010 Editorial: Restoring Credibility in the Efficiency Marketplace
Alan Meier
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link and nowhere is this adage truer than with the assurance of a manufacturer’s compliance with energy efficiency standards and endorsement programs. If any link is broken in this process, then it is impossible to “haul up” those energy savings for the consumer. The Department of Energy (DOE) the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are finally taking actions to repair some of the ... [continue reading]
March/April 2011 Editorial: The Making of an Industry at ACI
Alan Meier
Sometimes it’s only possible to recognize progress by turning around and seeing how far you’ve traveled since the journey began. That’s certainly the case for the energy-conservation industry. Gradually an industry devoted to improving home performance is taking shape. The number of technologies, techniques, and tools dedicated to reducing energy use, improving comfort, and fixing building defects continues to grow. [continue reading]
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