There’s hardly any excuse anymore not to have an EV (electric vehicle), as a second or third car at least. If you are concerned about climate change, like a good deal, and live in a house in California, you should get an electric car, now. But...
Earlier this year, I wrote about the brand new Lab Benchmarking Tool we developed with our partners at LBNL, I2SL, and DOE. I’m pleased to report that we’ve gotten lots of positive feedback since the LBT’s release! We’ve also been busy developing new features to...
Commercial building heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems commonly use variable air volume (VAV) systems for their heating and cooling needs. VAV systems can be more energy efficient when properly controlled and operated. We frequently find these systems performing less than optimally and recommend...
Much of what we do in the energy industry feels very esoteric. So, whenever an opportunity presents itself to incorporate work from other disciplines, like data science, I get really excited. That is what’s happening with ASHRAE Great Energy Predictor Challenge III that just launched...
Unfortunately, in the world of building design, feedback is often lacking. Most architects and engineers work on new buildings, and once commissioning is done, there’s little opportunity (or budget) to review the impact of design choices, positive or negative. Without a feedback loop from commissioning...
This week we celebrated an exciting day in our industry, National Energy Efficiency Day, also known as EE Day, with this year's hashtag being #EEDay2019. EE Day is the first Wednesday of October. Energy efficiency might not be on the tip of your tongue. But...
Did you know your business, municipality, campus or institution could receive incentives or no-cost technical support to investigate and implement energy-saving projects in your building? Utilities offer and procure energy efficiency programs to increase building energy efficiency. The goal of these programs is to save...
We’ve seen an increased interest in Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) (aka Variable Refrigerant Volume or VRV) systems. Many view them as a panacea for a building’s HVAC needs. For building owners or managers with no prior experience with VRF/VRV units, we recommend considering the following...
I love my new Sense home energy monitor and I’ve only just begun using it. If you’re an energy geek too, I imagine you’ll enjoy monitoring your whole-house energy consumption as much as I do. Why do I like my new Sense Home Energy Monitor? It’s much...
There are many tools of the trade in the world of building energy efficiency. Knowing the difference between approaches, like the difference between a commercial building energy audit and retro-commissioning, can help you take the next best step to lower your energy bills, while meeting...