i.e. sat down with LHB's Rick Carter to learn more about data collection strategies and underlying assumptions of the Regional Indicators Initiative and how other regions could track metrics for sustainability.

How do the newest lighting technologies perform off the showroom floor, and in which applications could they save money and energy? Staff from CEE's One-Stop Efficiency Shop® explain the implications of the trends at this year's LIGHTFAIR.

Several recent projects have demonstrated how online crowdsourcing can solve problems, share resources, and spread enthusiasm. So... could we use crowdsourcing to gather energy data or encourage efficiency?

The Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources awarded CEE five CARD grants for projects to investigate new technologies with the potential to further energy efficiency, reducing environmental impact and keeping energy rates low for all Minnesotans. 

Could equating the good life with relationships, opportunities, and health reduce consumption and lower overall energy demand? We review an Ensia Live lecture by Peggy Liu about reframing the idea of prosperity for China’s middle class.

BuildingEnergy is an annual interdisciplinary renewable energy and high-performance building conference and trade show. Highlights included case studies from resilient cities, electric grid security, and a discussion of LEED standards for neighborhood development.

Study based on data from CEE’s exposure measurements suggests that we can attribute a significant number of lung cancer and heart disease deaths and new asthma cases to secondhand smoke exposure in restaurants and bars.

Bridget McLaughin and Nancy Lange describe topics and trends at this year's conference, from quantifing non-energy benefits to identifying the potential for improving efficiency in the industrial sector.

Maps are a classic information design strategy for communicating data with geographical attributes.

When the energy community talks about the “small commercial” sector, we lump together a huge assortment of businesses.

Not every energy story fits neatly into a single image, slide deck, or video. So we were delighted to discover Prezi, an online tool to construct non-linear presentations with our multimedia content.

Senior Building Analyst Jim Fitzgerald explains the latest technological and regulatory trends.

"The greenest building is the one that is still standing."

An interview with Bernice Radle, Program Coordinator at Buffalo Energy.

Building science research has implications outside the energy world. To protect building occupants, consideration of energy efficiency and indoor air quality should go hand in hand. To get a better idea of why indoor air quality is one of CEE’s major research areas and how it overlaps with energy efficiency, I interviewed Director of Research Martha Hewett and Director of Indoor Air Quality Dave Bohac.

A variety of software tools can help identify trends and patterns in huge or complex data sets. CEE has begun working with a program called Tableau. i.e. checked in with Community Energy Services Program Assistant Isaac Smith and PBEEEP Mechanical Engineer Gustav Brändström to learn how they use it day-to-day.

Some cities are adopting building benchmarking requirements as a step to improve the overall energy performance of buildings. When instituted into everyday building management, benchmarking can help building owners see how their building's energy use compares to that of its peers and its own potential. It is not itself an energy-saving solution, but a long-term management tool.

Last week, Innovation Exchange staff Nancy Lange and Lester Shen attended the 2012 E Source Forum. Originally created by the Rocky Mountain Institute, E Source provides subscription-based services in the form of information and advice to utilities, large end-users of power, Federal and State agencies, and vendors. In this post, Nancy and Lester share their reflections about this year’s Forum.

Community Energy Services draws from CEE’s experience applying community organizing principles to residential energy program design, but program staff are always looking for new ways to engage and educate people about energy. In this guest post, Program Coordinator Helen Booth-Tobin gives an update on a new pilot project to reach homeowners outside their neighborhoods.

i.e. is interviewing women at CEE to recognize their work in energy. For this installment, we sat down with intern Corinne Wichser, a Mechanical Engineering graduate student finishing up her Masters Degree from the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology and volunteer Kate Goldstein, a PhD candidate at M.I.T., to find out what it’s like to be a female student in the energy field.

This guest post from CEE's International Fellow Alice H., outlines a French tax credit for sustainable development. It provides substantial incentives to households that invest to improve the energy efficiency of their home. To-date, the program is the most-used incentive by French households.

Water heating accounts for about 20% of the energy used in houses. Efficiencies of residential water heaters have risen in recent years, and new technologies provide significant opportunities for savings. In this guest post, Innovation Exchange intern Drew Polasky explains the first steps of a CEE work-in-progress: an online calculator tool that allows visitors to receive an idea of their water use and energy bill, plus possibilities for improvement.

CEE's Communications Coordinator Neely Crane-Smith shares insight on community organizing and social media, lessons learned from the Minneosta Energy Challenge, and advice for building connections with online tools.

The Innovation Exchange is putting together several visual displays, including a grid to showcase energy efficeint lamps. By breaking down the pros and cons of each technology, we hope we’ve put together a guide for an audience unfamiliar with lighting.

Bicycling Counts is based on real Twin Cities data. The installation's aim is to provide an estimated impact for each passing cyclist that it "counts". Check this post daily to see how the social and ecological impacts of Minneapolis bicycling add up!

You may remember from our virtual tour that the new Innovation Exchange office has a research lab... but how do our staff use it? 

In this guest post, CEE's IT Manager Tom Spielman tests out a Nest thermostat in his own home. What does it look like? How does it work? And -most importantly- does it actually save energy?

In early June, CEE will launch “Bicycling Counts,” a public mobile art installation along Minneapolis bike paths. The project is a large-scale projection of the energy and financial savings generated by bicyclists, assuming they would otherwise be driving a car. The tally of savings is updated in real time with each passing rider.

Innovation Exchange aims to make our research results visible and accessible not only to other groups performing similar studies, but also to our own program staff. We recently hosted a field trip bringing two of our locations together to learn more about our work with DIA systems.