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May 2013

Politics and Energy Efficiency

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant No Comments
I recently read an article from a management consulting firm regarding what not to do when using social media for marketing.  First on the list: don’t talk about politics.  So what does Jeff do?  Fly right into the storm.  Politics and energy efficiency are directly linked in regulated utility markets in which we live, so this is an obvious critical subject. Recently, the National Academy of Sciences released a report, “Political Ideology Affects Energy-Efficiency Attitudes and Choices”.  One of the main points talks about environmental benefits and CO2 reductions as a benefit to buying energy efficient products, and it is…
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Impact Evaluation – Or Your Money Back

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant No Comments
Without fail, it seems that every custom efficiency or self-directed impact evaluation we do has a controversial, giant project accounting for 25% (or more) of the program’s savings.  It turns out it shouldn’t even have been allowed into the program because it doesn’t qualify – and in many cases, aside from that, the savings calculation is demonstrably and by the laws of thermodynamics and utility meter readings, wrong. An analogy to the message today might be a home energy assessment.  Our house was built to our liking thirteen years ago.  I laid out the floor plan in about fifteen minutes…
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STEM & Energy Efficiency – Begin with the End in Mind

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant No Comments
It is awfully unfortunate that “begin with the end in mind” has been beaten to a cliché, because it is SO applicable to everything.  In recent years, I have seen about 5,200 articles, blogs, emails, newscasts, gum wrappers, and fortune cookie messages that promote STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).  Perhaps I was a complete dork when I was a high school senior deciding what major to pursue in college, but it came down to three factors: what am I good at, what is the demand for the profession, and what is the pay for the gig? Begin: Amusing, Worthwhile,…
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Energy Rant: A Survey

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant No Comments
Alright Rant fans.  You may want to don one of these to hold your skull together as your brain fills with more information than it can contain.  This week we will cover the results of the Energy Rant survey.  Thank you all (y’all) for participating. The first question: How often do you read the energy rant (see Figure 1)?  Essentially half the survey takers read it every week and the other half usually read it.  A few cheesers must have been looking for prizes for taking surveys - as if we would have given them the prize.Most are good with…
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