How can we apply an approach based on usability to help people reduce their energy use in the buildings where they live and work?

“Sustainability is the long-term goal and green buildings are one of the ways to get there... the briefest definition of green buildings is that they are common sense buildings.” 

A guest post from NYSERDA’s Craig Kneeland

An interview with Michael Blasnik about understanding the actual performance of buildings using measured data.

We need to apply user-centered approaches to the design of the appliances, technologies, and equipment that consume the energy that we use in our homes and workplaces.

Framing the standards as a ban on incandescent light bulbs misrepresents the actual situation: EISA increases the efficiency standards for a product whose design has remained essentially unchanged for 100 years.

A segment of the public anticipates prolonged power outages. But in taking steps to prepare our homes for natural disasters, could we be making them less safe?

Some utilities have successfully adopted market segmentation approaches. Developing a segmentation model is expensive, but a number of online resources could provide enough insight to improve program recruitment.

Some AC devices require more power than they need to perform work. How does this affect your utility and your electric bill?

"With the world in crisis and people looking for solutions, it’s no surprise that artists like these are employing their creative talents to raise questions and address challenging issues. Good public art is not just about looking good."
A guest post from Jack Becker of Forecast Public Art.

An interview with Andy Padian about his experiences financing energy efficiency projects and mentoring future leaders in sustainability.

Alex Krzesinski, Marketing Executive at Yorkshire Energy Services, describes the new United Kingdom residential program called Green Deal.

In DC electricty, the current of electrons flows in one direction, from - to +.  AC is a bit more complicated: the current flows in both directions, alternately reversing direction at regular intervals.

Most energy reduction stratgies focus on lighting, plumbing, and HVAC loads, but target energy use intensities can only be achieved by proportionally lowering the plugload.

Even though the walls of an apartment look solid, air buoyancy and pressure differences between interior spaces cause air to move between rooms and even to other units in the building. We've created animations showing how these interior air driving forces affect the migration of secondhand smoke within a multifamily apartment building.

Utilities need to have enough power plants to meet peak demand at the time it is called for, or they risk causing a blackout. All utilities have a mix of electricity sources, including coal, natural gas, and nuclear power. They decide which power plants to run based on a number of factors, including cost, environmental regulations, and location.

Definitions like “energy is the capacity for doing work” and “power is the rate of doing work or the rate of using energy” don’t do much to differentiate between a kilowatt and a kilowatt hour. This post walks through an example to show why to consider investing in energy efficiency upgrades before installing a solar PV system.

Increased communication and feedback via cell phones could foster a sense of collaboration between inspectors and contractors while instilling a common purpose. A team approach to learning and continuous improvement could be a very nice by-product. Taking a systems approach and incorporating feedback loops helps create a true learning organization.

The Innovation Exchange is developing methods to clarify complex energy concepts and provide technical information. We've created four animations in support of our research staff's outreach about integrated space and water heating systems. This visual approach demonstrates how the parts of the various systems interface and to allows comparisions between them.

During the late 80s and early 90s, the term “house as a system” pervaded the home energy field. This led the community to consider the interconnected systems of the building, but fell short of a systems thinking approach. Yes, the house is a system, but we do not practice systems thinking until we understand and define the system patterns and consider the entire system, including its occupants.

A guest post from Rick Carter, Senior Vice President at LHB's Minneapolis office:

"As an architect practicing in the building realm, I can safely say that many individuals and businesses feel that they are too small to make a difference in the big picture. Although we have discussions at the global and national scale, very little seems to be accomplished. For a community (city, town, neighborhood), we can track most of this information with accuracy and see changes when actions take place."

Programmable thermostats are available for a little more than $50: why would any rational person spend four to five times that price for a Nest or other comparable wifi-enabled smart thermostat?

I am creating a Pattern Language for Residential Energy Efficiency to understand the recurrent patterns that we encounter and develop a rule-based process to identify effective approaches in delivering energy efficiency services to communities, buildings, and households.

In this post, we’ll describe how you can gather important information about the house prior to the visit while sitting at your desk. Thanks to the Internet, you could begin filling out the audit form before stepping into your car and even perform a visual inspection of the exterior of the house. We'll discuss available tools and useful analyses that can help prepare and expedite your house visit.

In this post, I’ll discuss a couple of concepts for videos that apply new ways of messaging that incorporate ideas from social psychology and marketing.

We are extremely excited about the potential of the Green Button initiative and anticipate its adoption by Minnesota utilities. Actual usage data is extremely valuable in demonstrating the need for energy efficiency actions and for assessing energy savings.

We believe that smart phones and tablets should be considered essential parts of the home energy auditor’s tool kit. In this review, we will explain how you can use mobile devices and on-the-market apps in the field.