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.

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.

Ben Schoenbauer recently attended the 5th annual ACEEE Hot Water Forum, held in Berkeley, CA May 21 - 23. i.e. caught up with him after his return, and asked him some questions about the latest and greatest ideas on display for saving energy in water heating. 

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 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.