As consumers exercise choice, and technologies become better and cheaper, distributed energy resources (DER) are proliferating on power grids. However, grids and distribution systems were not designed to accommodate multiple DERs while sustaining reliability and quality. Some DERs are more variable and intermittent than the central generating plants on which the power system is based, according to...
Investments in energy efficiency can significantly help energy utilities as they face a future of stagnating sales, aging infrastructure, growth in distributed generation and stricter environmental regulations, says a new report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. While utilities are unlikely to face a “death spiral” as some have predicted, they need new...
Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing reached a turning point in 2013. Twenty-five programs now make PACE financing available in nearly 500 cities and towns in nine states and Washington, D.C. More than 250 PACE projects worth over $75 million have been completed; programs report a total pipeline of more than $250 million in project applications. “Setting the PACE: Financing...
An Institute for Building Efficiency Roundtable Dialogue The private sector can play a major role toward doubling the rate of energy efficiency improvement by 2030, as targeted by the United Nations Sustainable Energy for All (SEFA) initiative. State-of-the-art policies and advanced building design and technologies, along with behavior change, could reduce energy demand from buildings by half...
Strong improvements in key indicators signal major commitments to energy efficiency, high-performance buildings, distributed energy systems and smart building technologies. The 2014 Energy Efficiency Indicator (EEI) survey of facility and energy management executives showed nearly across-the-board improvements in key measures that signal increased interest and investment in energy efficiency in...
Existing power plant carbon performance standards being developed under the Clean Air Act could include supporting or crediting energy efficiency projects which reduce CO2 emissions by reducing electricity use in buildings. Payments for CO2 reductions or incentives and rebates, on top of energy cost savings, could shorten payback on efficiency projects, including energy service performance...
An extensive set of advanced monitoring, control and information management technologies can be used to increase a building’s Energy Intelligence Quotient (EIQ) – a measure of the degree to which cost-effective intelligence has been deployed. But which intelligent technologies can be applied cost-effectively to a given building? The paper describes how to analyze the economic value of...
When beginning a green building project or trying to operate a facility effectively, professionals often wonder:
Demand management and distributed generation could transform how consumers interact with the electricity grid and manage energy. Energy consumers may be shifting to view themselves as both consumers and increasingly as suppliers - with renewable energy generation on-site and demand response capability. This new consumer model and the concept of a distributed energy system may be disruptive...
By Clay Nesler In April 2013, with the devastation of Superstorm Sandy still top of mind, the Johnson Controls Institute for Building Efficiency surveyed over 600 energy and facility executives across North America on their current practices and future plans to improve the resiliency of their buildings and energy systems. Many articles in the aftermath of Sandy have offered advice to building...