BLOG TO SAVE ENERGY
November 12, 2020 :
Active Efficiency seeks to optimizes energy use with the opportunities presented by digital technologies. We sat down with Bryan Friehauf of Hitachi ABB Power Grids, an Active Efficiency Collaborative Member, to discuss what Active Efficiency technologies and approaches could achieve in the power sector.
November 2, 2020 :
With everything that’s happened since COVID-19 hit, it’s hard to believe that energy efficiency’s potential was higher than ever at the beginning of 2020. Yes, there was still a long road ahead for scaling up investments at the rate needed to meet our climate goals, but with employers expecting to add 71,000 new efficiency jobs in 2020, the sector was headed in the right direction. Now, with so much altered in our day-to-day lives due to the virus, how has the outlook for energy efficiency changed?
October 27, 2020 :
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is widely known for his love of trains, so it was no surprise to see as part of his infrastructure and clean energy plan that he has called for “the second great railroad revolution” by creating the “cleanest, safest, and fastest rail system in the world.” The development of a high-speed rail network through a Congressional infrastructure package would move people, goods, and services; better connect communities across the country; and create jobs – all while dramatically reducing transportation energy consumption and related greenhouse gas emissions over the coming decades. While passenger rail transportation, including urban public transportation, have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is expected that this transportation mode will remain the heart of efficient transportation – especially in urban and medium-distance passenger mobility and freight – for the long term.
October 23, 2020 :
The coronavirus pandemic has caused severe health and safety issues around the globe. It is also impacting energy efficiency in buildings in both predictable and unpredictable ways. A recent Johnson Controls Energy Efficiency Indicator Covid-19 pulse survey of 150 commercial, institutional and industrial facility executives in the U.S. this September identified unique challenges that organizations are facing in the pursuit of operating healthy and efficient buildings. One of the top challenges: although many commercial buildings remain empty, there is still a significant amount of energy usage. While it is no surprise that energy use on residential buildings has increased, it is a surprise that energy use in commercial buildings hasn’t dropped more considering the low occupancy rates.
October 22, 2020 :
Between the COVID-19 pandemic, a presidential election in its final days, and will-they-or-won’t-they negotiations for the next recovery package, the European Union’s publication of its “Renovation Wave Strategy” last week may not have made much of a splash. That’s a shame, because across the pond, the strategy is delivering some of the most important building policy in decades, promising a tidal wave of energy efficiency retrofits. The Renovation Wave seeks to double retrofit rates in the next 10 years – allowing the E.U. to modernize 35 million buildings by 2030 in an effort to meet climate targets, address energy poverty, and create jobs. According to the Commission, 1% of buildings in the European Union currently undergo renovation for energy efficiency upgrades each year. Just doubling that rate to 2% would have an enormous impact on energy savings, while also creating 160,000 new construction jobs and putting the European Union on track to meet both its 2030 and 2050 climate goals.
October 21, 2020 :
Across the country, utilities are grappling with the challenges posed by an increasingly complex energy system. Along with their traditional arsenal of energy efficiency programs, it will be critical for utilities to optimize energy supply and demand through deep energy retrofits and enhanced demand flexibility. Performance-based program models are one way to achieve this. Recognizing the need to find ways to scale up effective performance-based programs, the Alliance’s Active Efficiency Collaborative is holding a series of virtual stakeholder workshops to explore these topics and encourage innovation and collaboration among utilities, energy service providers, and other important actors. Between two New York-focused workshops in September and an upcoming Midwest-focused workshop this Friday, the Collaborative is gaining invaluable insights about the key elements of successful performance-based programs – and we’re excited that our guiding principles to accelerate the adoption of these programs and maximize our efficiency gains will be launched in early December.
October 16, 2020 :
Every year, countries around the world come together to mark World Food Day, a day of worldwide awareness and action for ending global hunger by providing healthy and sustainable food for all. Today’s World Food Day is like no other before it: millions of people are facing food insecurity due to COVID-19, which has disrupted food supply chains and devastated economies around the world. There is no silver bullet for providing the world’s nearly 8 billion inhabitants with a reliable and sustainable food supply, but at a point where our food and energy systems are deeply intertwined, one powerful tool that shouldn’t be left in the toolbox is energy efficiency.
October 13, 2020 :
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, advocates around the world have implored leaders to find solutions for the resulting economic crisis that also address climate change. We have the opportunity to build back better with sustainable stimulus measures, and energy efficiency investments in particular have a trifecta of benefits: they simultaneously cut emissions, reduce costs for consumers and businesses, and rapidly create jobs. So, seven months later, are policymakers around the globe taking heed? In the United States, federal recovery efforts so far have focused on immediate relief. A few countries, however, have moved quickly to capitalize on energy efficiency’s longer term potential. As the Alliance continues advocating for energy efficiency policies to be included in further U.S. recovery efforts, we can point to actions that several countries are taking to stimulate their economies with a hefty dose of EE.
October 9, 2020 :
Climate is one of the most important issues facing the country right now, so it was a pleasant surprise when it was raised in both the recent presidential and vice-presidential debates. While the conversation was cut short each time, we were particularly pleased to see the issue of building efficiency retrofits hit the national stage as part of the conversation. While the Biden campaign has toted a national building efficiency retrofit plan as part of its economic recovery agenda, both President Trump and Vice President Pence raised questions about the price tag for such work. Ultimately the topic got lost in the shuffle of the conversation, so we’re here to weigh in here with some perspective.
October 5, 2020 :
Before the National Banking Act of 1863 was passed in the United States, there were 8,000 different private entities issuing currency. Inefficient and unwieldy, this fragmented system was replaced by the establishment of a single national currency. Much like the early days of banking, the energy as-a-service (EaaS) sector is fragmented and unwieldy for both customers and investors. Currently, there is lighting as-a-service, cooling as-a-service, infrastructure as-a-service, steam traps as-a-service … and the list goes on. Adding to this confusion is a lack of contract standardization, which proved essential to scaling the solar purchase power agreement (PPA) market. The EaaS market, which Guidehouse Insights estimates will reach $278 billion by 2028 in the North American market, needs to evolve into a unified sector to fully capitalize on its market potential.