 |
A quarterly publication of  |
|||
| Second Quarter 2005 | ||||
NEEP Updates: Regional Initiatives and Training and EducationClick here to read an update on energy efficiency policies across the Northeast |
||
Regional Initiatives: Commercial and Residential |
||
| Commercial Motors
For more information about this NEEP initiative, please email Jon Linn at jlinn@neep.org or call him at 207-338-9705. |
Activity |
NEEP and its sponsors continued to promote NEMA Premium® industrial motors. Regional MotorUp, as well as programs in New York and Maine, have produced full service marketing campaigns directed to vendors and customers, offering information, education and dollar incentives for the purchase of qualifying motors. The MotorUp newsletter will soon be available in print and electronic versions, and the Web site will be updated. And finally, new dealer spiffs will be available in 2005 to highlight and call attention to the MotorUp program. |
| Commercial HVAC
For more information about this NEEP initiative, please email Jon Linn at jlinn@neep.org or call him at 207-338-9705. |
and National Activity |
Cool Choice sponsors continue to promote packaged HVAC equipment that meets CEE Tier 2 efficiency specifications, as well as dual enthalpy controllers for economizers. The program has a new message for 2005, shifting from the theme of "Time for Cool Choice" to "Dollar Savings." Please visit the Cool Choice Web site for the latest program news and technical information. Initiative sponsors have also begun developing program options for 2006 that seek energy savings in existing packaged HVAC units as well as the current offerings for new units.
National and regional committees are working in cooperation to identify the best strategies and tactics for efficiency improvements to existing HVAC units. |
| Commercial and Industrial Information Exchange
For more information about this NEEP initiative, please email Jon Linn at jlinn@neep.org or call him at 207-338-9705. |
Activity |
On June 29, NEEP convened its first forum under the new Commercial and Industrial (C&I) Information Exchange initiative. Entitled "Should Utilities Support Green Building Efforts?" presentations and discussions focused on the energy efficiency programs managed by NEEP sponsors, as well as the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standard of the US Green Building Council (USGBC). More than twenty people attended, including program administrators, representatives from electric utilities, energy efficiency contractors, school facilities personnel, and more. The discussion was lively and productive. There will be two additional forums in September and November of this year. |
| ENERGY STAR Products (Residential)
For more information, please email Glenn Reed at greed@neep.org or call him at 781-860-9177 ext. 19. |
|
NEEP participated in two events centering on residential lighting during the second quarter of 2005. In early April, NEEP staff and sponsors attended the ENERGY STAR Lighting Partners meeting in Las Vegas. A key benefit of this meeting was the nearly twenty individual breakout sessions with leading national lighting manufacturers and retailers. Later that month, ENERGY STAR and NEEP co-hosted and co-facilitated an all-day regional lighting market transformation planning meeting, Lighting Vision 2006-2010. Sponsors from eight states participated. Informed by discussions which took place during the meeting, NEEP and ENERGY STAR are drafting a regional market transformation plan which will be reviewed at a regional Appliance and Lighting Working Group meeting this July. |
|
|
Final 2004 National and Regional ENERGY STAR Appliances Market Share Data Released: According to the Department of Energy's (DOE) analysis of 2004 appliance sales data, the regional ENERGY STAR market share for clothes washers, room air conditioner and refrigerators continues to significantly exceed the national average. Data from national retail chains show significantly higher market shares for those regional Initiative sponsors (in Mass., R.I., V.T., Conn. and Long Island) participating in coordinated program delivery as compared to national figures. In 2004, the regional market share for ENERGY STAR clothes washers was 41 percent compared to 27 percent nationally, for refrigerators it was 41 percent regionally compared to 41 percent nationally, and for room air conditioners it was 55 percent regionally compared to 35 percent nationally.
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), which measures its market share among all retailers participating in its program, reported 2004 ENERGY STAR market shares of 37 percent, 44 percent, and 76 percent, respectively, for clothes washers, refrigerators and room air conditioners. |
|
| Residential High Efficiency HVAC
For more information, please email Glenn Reed at greed@neep.org or call him at 781-860-9177 ext. 19. |
Changes in Proposed ENERGY STAR HVAC Specification Influence Regional Efforts: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a revised ENERGY STAR HVAC specification in June. Unlike the previous draft, EPA has decided not to move forward at this time with a planned installation and verification component to the specification. Instead, the new version will focus on equipment efficiency and will include ductless split systems. The new specification will likely become effective in January 2007, coinciding with the change in the federal minimum standard for central air conditioners and heat pumps. While the EPA has deferred development of an installation requirement for ENERGY STAR cooling equipment, quality installation and verification remains a key focus of both national and regional discussions. NEEP's residential HVAC advisor, Chris Neme, is a member of a joint Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE)- Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) committee that is charged with developing requirements for quality installation technician certification, contractor accreditation, and third-party verification. It is expected that the EPA will look to the recommendations of this committee when it returns to develop an installation specification for ENERGY STAR cooling equipment. | |
| Research and Evaluation
For more information on NEEP Research and Evaluation projects, email Elizabeth Titus at etitus@neep.org or call her at 781-860-9177, ext. 11. |
|
NEEP and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities have partnered to offer two retailer sales training sessions on the proper sale of ENERGY STAR Windows in New Jersey this July.
NEEP is also assisting the Delaware State Energy Office plan a windows training session for the fall. In addition, at the request of sponsors, NEEP completed a review of Training and Certification programs for Window Installers. For more information, please contact Elizabeth Titus. |
|
|
The 2005 International Energy Program Evaluation Conference will be held in Brooklyn, NY on August 17-19. This is the first time the conference has been held on the East coast. With the theme of "Reducing Uncertainty Through Evaluation," the conference will include an informal roundtable and networking forum, workshops, and the presentation of papers touching on many cutting-edge topics such as greenhouse gas emission reductions from energy efficiency programs, demand response, and portfolios. Many NEEP sponsors will be featured as participants and several discussions will focus on energy efficiency programs in the Northeast. For registration information, please visit http://iepec.org. | |
| STAC Project | Two field research tasks associated with the State Technologies Advancement Collaborative (STAC) project's research on energy efficiency opportunities in residential HVAC, were launched this June in New York and New Jersey. One task features the monitoring of new high efficiency central air conditioning systems in five homes to measure energy consumption and equipment performance. The results will be analyzed by Proctor Engineering Group. Related to the second task, HVAC experts from Conservation Services Group (CSG) will be assessing the performance and quality of the installation of central air conditioning systems in a sample of over seventy homes in New York and New Jersey to investigate whether installation quality is correlated with the training and certification of the installers. Results are expected in the fall 2005. Please contact Elizabeth Titus at NEEP for more information about this project. |
|
Training and Education |
||
| Building Operator Certification
For more information on the BOC, please contact Ed Londergan via email at elondergan@neep.org or by phone at 781-860-9177, ext. 29. |
|
This quarter, the Building Operator Certification (BOC) Program Advisory Committee held a meeting at Shriners Hospital in Boston. Paul King of the Department of Energy presented the committee with information about the Federal Energy Management Program, discussing components useful for the federal government as well those available to the general public.
The meeting also included substantial discussion about how savings associated with BOC training relate to the business decision of approving facilities training. Suggestions for increasing the effectiveness of marketing the BOC included reaching out to regional associations and trade groups. As a result, BOC committee members have offered to place articles about the program in their association newsletters as a way to improve the visibility of the program. |
|
|
NEEP recently completed an agreement with the Massachusetts Department of Capital Asset Management to provide BOC training to many of the state facilities personnel who are responsible for buildings throughout the Commonwealth. The first class begins in July and the program will conclude in October. | |
|
|
BOC staff members Ed Londergan and Marilyn Toomey manned an information booth at the New England Building and Facilities Show held at the Bayside Expo Center in April. Ed and Louis DeGeorge provided a seminar for show attendees on energy efficiency training opportunities for facilities personnel. Ed and Keith Guernsey attended the New York Building Commissioning Show in May in New York City. Both shows were successful in attracting new students to the BOC program. |
|
| High Performance Schools Exchange
For more information, please contact Don Fudge via email at dfudge@neep.org or by calling him at 781-860-9177, ext. 20. |
|
NEEP joined members of the newly formed Vermont High Performance Schools Initiative to review and revise a funding proposal drafted by the Association for Climate Action for submission to The Henry A. Kendall Foundation. The Initiative proposes to run a series of focus groups for school construction decision-makers to determine barriers and opportunities to building high performance schools. The information gathered from these groups will be used to design the agenda for a day-long conference which is scheduled to coincide with the Better Buildings by Design Conference in February 2006. |
|
|
NEEP made a presentation comparing the Massachusetts version of the Collaborative for High Performance Schools standard (MA-CHPS) to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver standard at the third (of four) Connecticut Green Buildings Council Schools Initiative stakeholders meeting. The Initiative is developing a response to a bill that would require all state-funded buildings (including schools) to be designed to LEED Silver standards, "or the equivalent." The response includes a recommendation that the "equivalent" standard be used and Initiative Stakeholders have agreed to support MA-CHPS as the viable equivalent standard for schools. The Initiative was able to clarify the figure included as the incremental cost of building "green" from 10 percent to 1-2 percent based on the NEEP presentation. | |
|
|
NEEP facilitated meetings with two key figures in promoting high performance school design in Rhode Island: the Chair of the Board of Regents of K-12 Education and the Executive Director of the Education Management Collaborative. The meetings resulted in support by both groups and the expansion of the Rhode Island High Performance Schools Working Group to include architects, builders and interested legislators. The group will begin meeting this summer to review high performance standards, to develop strategies for increasing energy efficiency in Rhode Island, and to prepare for an Energy Summit. | |
|
|
NEEP presented an overview of high performance school principles at the New England School Development Council Facilities Conference and facilitated a breakout session on energy modeling and life cycle cost projection. At the New England Sustainable Energy Association Conference, NEEP presented an overview of high performance schools and participated in a Massachusetts Technology Collaborative workshop. The workshop included a Design Charrette based on the Norfolk, Mass. high performance school project. NEEP presented the concepts associated with high performance renovation and then participated in discussions at the 21st Century Schools Symposium in Washington, DC. NEEP conducted an all-day workshop on Facilities Management Plans and using the Building Operators Certification Course to train operators and reduce energy costs at the Tri-State Association of Business Officials Spring Conference. |
|
|
|
NEEP met with members of the Orange, Mass. School Building Committee, which plans to use MA-CHPS criteria to renovate and build an addition to the local elementary school. NEEP presented high performance principles to member of Three Rivers Community College (Norwich, Conn.) Building Committee. The College is using a schematic design for their new Academic Building and their architects are in the process of determining which additional design elements will help them reach the LEED Silver Certification standard. NEEP answered key questions about the LEED certification process, incremental costs, and the potential for attracting money for these additions. |
|
| Building Energy Codes
For more information, please email Kevin Donahue at kdonahue@neep.org or call him at 781-860-9177, ext. 13. |
|
NEEP's Building Energy Codes Project Manager, Doug Schanne, participated in a meeting of the Region 7 International Code Council Committee May 13, 2005.
Doug is also planning to attend the International Code Council (ICC) Final Action Code Hearings in Detroit, MI in September 2005. The formal comment period for the proposed code changes ended June 16, 2005. For more detailed information, please contact Doug Schanne. |
|
|
Training is ongoing throughout the region with additional training planned in Connecticut, Maryland, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania.
NEEP, in partnership with Connecticut Light & Power, United Illuminating, the Connecticut Department of Public Safety and the Institute for Sustainable Energy, offered a series of one day and half-day seminars on the State of Connecticut's Energy Conservation Code for Commercial Buildings. The full day program was established for architects, designers, engineers, contractors and other commercial building industry professionals. The half-day program provided an overview of the state's commercial energy code. Henry Green, Vice President of the International Code Council was the keynote speaker at the District of Columbia Energy Conference in Washington, DC. In his presentation, Mr. Green stressed the importance of code and energy conservation. The conference was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and was jointly hosted by the DC Energy Office, the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, and the Government of the District of Columbia. The technical energy code sections of the conference were planned and presented by Kevin Donahue and Doug Schanne of NEEP, in coordination with the DC Energy Office and the DOE. Please contact Kevin Donahue or Doug Schanne for more detailed information. |
|
|
|
NEEP prepared and submitted an application for a multi-state grant under the State Energy Program (SEP) Special Projects opportunity. As part of the grant application process, NEEP solicited input from individual states as well as members of the building energy codes community.
NEEP would like to thank everyone who informed the grant process, including Rhode Island and Maryland who hosted this year's grant submittals. If you have any questions, please contact Kevin Donahue. |
|
