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Despite the Trump administration’s apparent affection for the fossil fuels industry, individual states are looking at the numbers and coming up with a different conclusion: The future belongs to pollution-free electric vehicles, and the sooner we get them on the road, the better off we’ll all be. And there are some important new studies out that give a hint of just how much everyone will benefit. [continue reading]
More than 30 percent energy savings can be achieved using the 2016 version of Standard 90.1, according to recent analysis conducted by Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (PNNL) in support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building Energy Codes Program. [continue reading]
The Behavior, Energy & Climate Change Conference (BECC) is focused on understanding human behavior and decision making. This knowledge can accelerate the transition to an energy-efficient and low-carbon future. Conference organizers are currently seeking new, innovative research and applied work from leaders in behavioral sciences on the adoption of energy efficiency in energy production and use. They invite 400 to 500-word abstracts for formal oral presentations, with or without accompanying full papers, as well as five-minute "lightning ... [continue reading]
Demand response and energy efficiency programs are complementary: energy efficiency reduces both energy use and peak demand while demand response provides additional peak demand reductions. In this blog, we use data to illustrate the importance of each, including some new data on actual savings from demand response programs. [continue reading]
Energy can seem like a politically divisive issue. Democrats earnestly support renewable energy adoption as a path to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, while Republicans reject solar subsidies and prefer to frack first and ask questions later, right? Wrong. In an especially divisive election year, it may come as a breath of fresh air to learn that clean energy knows no party. [continue reading]
It's likely that you've heard of Corbett and Grace Lunsford before, as they recently went on a 20-city U.S. Tour from April 2016 to January 2017 in the world's highest performance tiny house on wheels, the #TinyLab. The Proof Is Possible Tour had a very simple mission: to revolutionize the home market by teaching consumers and contractors alike to use scientific testing to prove the work gets done to quality standards. (We wrote about the #TinyLab ... [continue reading]
Thanks to Larry Armanda’s family and the HPC Memorial Scholarship Fund, two scholarship awards for the HPC National Home Performance Conference are being offered. These awards will go to women working in low income weatherization. Each scholarship award will include a full conference registration, 3 night stay at the conference host hotel, and $250 for travel expenses. The recipients will be recognized at the conference lunch on Tuesday, March 21. [continue reading]
I recently spoke with Josh Notes, co-founder and managing partner of greeNEWit. Among many other accomplishments, greeNEWit was recognized by the EPA with a 2016 ENERGY STAR Contractor of the Year Award for its outstanding efforts to increase the adoption of energy-efficient products in homes. [continue reading]
Recently, California has made great progress in setting and charting a course toward ambitious energy and climate goals. There is, however, one huge regulatory and political roadblock that’s creating a barrier to achieving greater savings by blocking one of our most promising technologies: heat pumps. [continue reading]
If you’ve been puzzled by the proliferation of ‘net,’ ‘nearly’ and ‘almost ready’ Zero Energy definitions and standards and have wondered just how net or nearly they truly are, take heart. The Passive House Institute (PHI) has introduced an equitable assessment of energy use to help guide us toward the 100% renewable energy future our State—and planet—must rapidly achieve. [continue reading]
