The ACEEE just released a study on energy efficiency programs delivered as games - gamification. At this stage of my career, I never dismiss something that works, for some people, as dumb. Gamification does not seem to be something I would be interested in as a participant, but it does seem to be a hot item; behavior based, and therefore, I am interested in learning what this is all about, as best as I can, from the ACEEE report. First, I start with my experience, which doesn’t matter, but you’re going to get it anyway. I would need a psychiatrist…
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There are a myriad of air compressor types, technologies, and configurations out there. Each of them operate differently from the others and have different strengths and weaknesses.
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Twenty-five years ago, I lived in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington: the distance from my condo apartment to work was four miles as the crow flies; a half hour as the car drives. Monthly parking fees were $100, so I biked. Today, in Wisconsin, these numbers are: practically free parking, eighteen miles, and still a half hour. I enjoy the drive, and apparently so do most of the rest of the US. This report by American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) provides interesting information on commuting practices in the US. What is this all about? Electric…
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Not that my opinion is worth anything, but the results of Chicago’s 2014 commercial building benchmarking report are excellent. The report indicates that most of the 348 buildings that were benchmarked for the study were benchmarked using ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager. The cross-cutting data provided reveals interesting facts that are not expounded upon – but I will. The first thing is rather stunning. The median ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager score for 348 buildings, accounting for 260 million square feet of building space, was/is 76. By definition, the median score of all buildings in the Portfolio Manager database is 50. The…
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Assuming customer service and sales will know about program changes or promotions is like playing telephone. The intended program promotion or rules become garbled, confused, and often end with the wrong result.
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A few weeks ago I talked about smart meter, smart meter, smart meter, smart meter… in, who would have guessed(!), The Deaf and Mute Smart Meter. Today I talk about something with similar sex appeal with, to my knowledge, scarce measured/verified results. The topic: big data analytics. Any conference, many industry news articles and blogs, even ones in Forbes, are bloviating about big data energy analytics. Some of these solutions apply to residential, and some apply to commercial and industrial facilities. I cannot speak for the effectiveness of the residential applications because I have not evaluated either the applications themselves…
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