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18 May Tectonic Shifts in Refrigeration; What Happens to Energy Use with the Great Shake to Natural Refrigerants?

Posted at 08:26h in Energy Efficiency Industry, Energy Management, Energy Policy, Grocery, HVAC by Jim Kelsey 0 Comments

3 Likes

In California, we’re used to the earth shaking from time to time and now the refrigerant world is also shifting seismically. The impacts of this shift on businesses and energy use in the state could be just as scary and pronounced unless we prepare. The coming...

picture of building for commissioning acceptance and functional testing

11 May What’s the difference between commissioning, acceptance testing and functional testing?

Posted at 08:51h in Commissioning by Lyn Gomes 0 Comments

5 Likes

From my experience as both an acceptance tester and commissioning provider, I’ve realized that not everyone knows the difference. It’s helpful for stakeholders to understand how they are different to be sure expectations are aligned and construction moves smoothly. Commissioning is a SYSTEMATIC process, not a...

04 May Energy benchmarking, it’s the law in California. Here’s what you need to know.

Posted at 08:40h in Benchmarking, Energy Audits, Energy Efficiency Industry, Energy Policy, ENERGY STAR, Offices - Commercial Real Estate, Retro-Commissioning by Kris Johnson 0 Comments

1 Like

‘You can’t manage what you don’t measure’ is a keystone of energy efficiency. Measuring your building’s energy use is so important that reporting it is now the law in California for many building owners. The first deadline is quickly approaching beginning on June 1, 2018....

27 Apr Tales from the Field: 3 Ways to Avoid a PV System Fail

Posted at 08:40h in Commissioning, Renewables by David Vega 0 Comments

2 Likes

The initial novelty of solar may have passed, but as renewables become mainstream, costs decrease, and legislation pushes for clean energy, there are still savings to be had provided systems are well-designed and continue to operate as intended. After inspecting over 3,000 PV systems in Central...

20 Apr Can NMEC Move Efficiency Forward?

Posted at 08:38h in Energy Efficiency Industry, Energy Policy, M&V, NMEC, Whole Building by David Jump 0 Comments

3 Likes

Co-authored by Jim Kelsey and David Jump. We’ve shown leadership but now it feels like we’re stumbling. We’ve been pretty optimistic about normalized metered energy consumption (NMEC) as a streamlined platform for achieving and demonstrating savings in buildings (see our prior post for more on why). And,...

13 Apr California Proposition 39: Preparing Your School District for 2018-2020 Timelines, Amendments and Final Reporting

Posted at 08:48h in Energy Audits, Energy Management, Schools K-12 by David Struck 0 Comments

1 Like

Now that we’ve passed the deadline for all Proposition 39 (Prop-39) funding requests, Energy Expenditure Plans (EEPs) and EEP Amendments, what lies ahead for your school district? Timelines The well-published future deadlines for the program are: June 30, 2019: Funding Encumbrance Deadline June 30, 2020: Project Completion...

06 Apr Overcoming Obstacles on the Path to Zero Net Energy (ZNE)

Posted at 08:50h in Energy Policy, Offices - Commercial Real Estate, Renewables by Peter Pollard 0 Comments

1 Like

Zero Net Energy (ZNE) sounds very appealing doesn’t it? [blockquote text="This building only uses as much energy as it (cleanly) generates on-site!!!" show_quote_icon="yes"] ZNE quickly implies energy self-sufficiency. Efficient energy use plus some solar PV panels to match equals “we are doing our part!!”. Seems simple. ZNE is...

30 Mar SkySpark: Data Analytics that Pay Off. What is SkySpark and its benefits?

Posted at 08:08h in Analytics, Building Controls, Commissioning, SkySpark by Jim Kelsey 0 Comments

1 Like

A conversation between Jim Kelsey, President of kW Engineering and Jonathan Schoenfeld, Director of Energy and Analytics at Kodaro. Jim: At kW we’ve been cautious about jumping on the “analytics” train. Not because it’s not promising, but really because there have been so many options, so...

23 Mar Why Your City Needs an Energy Action Plan

Posted at 08:23h in Energy Management, Energy Policy by Rachel Wong 0 Comments

1 Like

In California, our proverbial North Star has been Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32), also known as the California Global Warming Solutions Act, which requires the state to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, translating to 15% below emissions expected under a...

16 Mar What’s an ASHRAE Level 1.5 Energy Audit?

Posted at 08:41h in Energy Audits, Energy Efficiency Industry by Jim Kelsey 0 Comments

4 Likes

Maybe you’ve heard of the ASHRAE Audit Levels 1, 2 and 3. But did you know that, up until now, there was no real standard for an energy audit? That’s going to change this summer, when ASHRAE will publish the first, ANSI-compliant standard for energy audits...

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18 May Tectonic Shifts in Refrigeration; What Happens to Energy Use with the Great Shake to Natural Refrigerants?

11 May What’s the difference between commissioning, acceptance testing and functional testing?

04 May Energy benchmarking, it’s the law in California. Here’s what you need to know.

27 Apr Tales from the Field: 3 Ways to Avoid a PV System Fail

20 Apr Can NMEC Move Efficiency Forward?

13 Apr California Proposition 39: Preparing Your School District for 2018-2020 Timelines, Amendments and Final Reporting

06 Apr Overcoming Obstacles on the Path to Zero Net Energy (ZNE)

30 Mar SkySpark: Data Analytics that Pay Off. What is SkySpark and its benefits?

23 Mar Why Your City Needs an Energy Action Plan

16 Mar What’s an ASHRAE Level 1.5 Energy Audit?

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