Summer is in full swing and cities across the country are experiencing record-high temperatures. And while it’s sizzling outside, that doesn’t mean your utility bills have to increase as the mercury rises. As our countdown to Energy Efficiency Day 2018 continues, here are 5 easy hacks to help you save energy and money while keeping cool this summer.
1. Start with your windows
Keep the sun’s heat out by closing your windows and pulling down the blinds or closing your curtains during the day. If you live in an area where the temperature cools off at sundown, turn off your cooling system at night and open your windows to let the evening air do the trick.
Fans cool off people, not rooms, by creating a wind chill affect. Remember to turn off your fan when you leave the room in order to conserve energy. If you have a ceiling fan at home, make sure that the direction is running counterclockwise. This setting pulls cooler air from the ground and blows it back on you, making a room feel up to 10 degrees cooler.
Instead of loading up your dryer, consider hanging your clothes to dry outside and let the sun’s natural heat do the work.
Your stove and oven can heat up your home when cooking–resulting in additional energy consumption needed to cool it down. Where possible and available, consider cooking and dining al fresco to keep the heat outside your home. It’s also a great opportunity to show off your grilling skills!
5. Turn down the water heater
Lower the temperature on your water heater to 120°F. This will save energy and lower your utility bill.
Want to learn more ways you can save energy and money? Click on this link for additional summer energy saving tips.
To achieve the common and ambitious worldwide goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80% or more by 2050, analyses find that consumers and businesses will need to use a combination of energy efficiency and carbon-free electricity (e.g., electricity from renewable resources, nuclear) or low-carbon electricity (efficient fossil fuel use with carbon capture and storage) for transportation, space heating, and water heating (see here and here). But does electrification save money for homeowners considering making the switch? Our new study, Energy Savings, Consumer Economics, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions from Replacing Oil and Propane Furnaces, Boilers, and Water Heaters with Air-Source Heat Pumps looks at that particular question. The report finds that replacing oil and propane furnaces, boilers, and water heaters with high-efficiency electric heat pumps can often reduce total energy use and energy bills and will also reduce emissions in many cases.
Read more
What a difference a year makes. Last summer, there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding the future of federal energy efficiency programs. The budget blueprint released by the White House in March 2017 recommended deep cuts to most efficiency programs and even the complete elimination of others (e.g. ENERGY STAR). It wasn’t clear how Congress would respond, and decades of work building a national energy efficiency program infrastructure was at risk. A year later, the funding picture is far more promising. In some cases, efficiency programs are seeing increased funding, including in the spending bill that passed the Senate this week by an overwhelming, bipartisan vote of 86-5. How did we get here?
Read More
It’s been over a year since NESP published the groundbreaking National Standard Practice Manual (NSPM). After months of ongoing state outreach to build an understanding of the NSPM, stakeholder interest is intensifying. Some jurisdictions are “dipping their toes in,” while others are venturing from shallow to deeper waters. New developments in NSPM awareness and application show states taking the NSPM from theory to practice around the country.
Read More Here
To achieve the ambitious worldwide goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80% or more by 2050, consumers and businesses will increasingly need to use heat pumps powered by low- or no-carbon electricity for space and water heating. But does electrification make sense for homeowners considering the switch?
This report finds that replacing oil and propane furnaces, boilers, and water heaters with high-efficiency electric heat pumps can often reduce total energy use and energy bills as well as emissions. The report also summarizes studies on consumer acceptance of heat pumps and describes some early programs to promote them for space and water heating.
The most successful programs provide substantial upstream incentives (to wholesalers) or midstream incentives (to contractors) and include contractor training and certification so systems are properly installed.
(Read more)
The Alliance released a new report that examines the public energy efficiency goals of 160 of the nation’s largest companies with a combined 2,100 manufacturing facilities in the United States. The report—Committed to Savings: Major U.S. Manufacturers Set Public Goals for Energy Efficiency—found that forty-three percent of the largest manufacturers in the United States have established robust public targets to reduce their energy use while seventy-nine percent have set ambitious public goals to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
The analysis finds that the companies that are pursuing these public energy efficiency targets are located nationwide, but the heaviest concentrations are in Texas and California, followed by Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Virginia—states with large industrial sectors in the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast.
Read More
Wind, gas, and storage jobs are all increasing in the energy sector, but the fastest employment growth isn’t coming from the supply side, according to the 2018 U.S. Energy and Employment Report. It’s energy efficiency that’s creating the most opportunities, the new analysis concludes in an examination of four energy-focused sectors of the U.S. economy.
The traditional energy and energy efficiency sectors, which employ about 6.5 million Americans, saw a 2% increase in jobs in 2017, or about 133,000 new positions, according to the report. A closer look at the numbers reveals they largely mirror utility sector trends, with growth focused on the advanced energy sector.
One exception is the solar sector. It lost 24,000 jobs — about 6% of the workforce — as the industry installed about 30% less in 2017 than it had the year before.
The “traditional energy sector” is made up of generation and fuels production, along with transmission, distribution, and storage; the report also looks at the energy efficiency and motor vehicle sectors.
Growth in the traditional energy and efficiency sectors made up 7% of all jobs created in the United States last year. But while the overall national employment numbers are strong, former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, founder of the grid-edge think tank Energy Futures Initiative (EFI), believes states will remain the “focal points for solutions to many of the challenges in the energy transformation.”
Read more
As US cities push forward to meet their clean energy goals, they will need a strong, capable energy efficiency workforce to make critical energy-saving upgrades and investments. Our new report, Through the Local Government Lens: Developing the Energy Efficiency Workforce, shows how cities can take an active role in growing the workforce and extend its benefits to underserved communities.
The Energy Efficiency Workforce
Local governments across the United States are increasingly prioritizing energy efficiency, and there are a lot of efficiency jobs out there – 2.25 million. These jobs span diverse industries, from construction to professional and business services. And they are projected to keep multiplying, with a 9% increase predicted for 2018.
Source: ACEEE Jobs; underlying data from US Energy and Employment Report
With the right policies and practices, local governments can develop and grow this robust workforce. From our research and more than 25 interviews, we identified a few key strategies cities can take.
Click here to continue reading.
Dear Michael:
Thank you for taking the time to meet with Chase and me earlier this week. It was a productive meeting, and we appreciated the open dialogue. As I mentioned during that meeting, I have had several discussions with some of the Weatherization Service Providers….
Project Homes delivering their update during the member portion of the spring meeting.
At each of our biannual meetings, VAEEC members are given a platform to share their recent remarkable updates or success stories. Below is a snapshot of what was shared at the Spring 2018 Meeting on May 10th.
Cynthia Adams- Pearl Home Certification
- Energy efficiency improvements increase the value of residential housing. This message has been published and will be sent out to lobby on a Federal level
Michael Hubber- Dominion Energy
- Dominion Energy’s weatherization program has had huge success with over 21,000 multi-family homes being serviced.
- Dominion Energy also started a Small Business weatherization program where energy costs savings are up to $1,100 per month.
Philip Agee- Viridiant
- Viridiant has begun to work with tech support to assist with Energy Efficiency. They have worked with Virginia Tech on a study focused on Energy Efficiency savings. The study showed a 30% savings on utility bills.
Cindy Zork- US Green Building Council
- US Green Building Council held their Leadership Awards on May 3, 2018.
- Read more about USGBC’s award ceremony here.
Benjamin Knopp- Think Little
- Think Little hosted a webinar on how to set up heat pump systems that will deliver high-efficiency heating and cooling. Taking these steps can save the consumer up to 40% on their energy costs.
Abby Kemp- project:Homes
- project:Homes is working closely with Dominion Energy to help them stretch their money for their weatherization program
- Last fall, project:Homes teamed up with the VAEEC to host Delegate Ware at a single-family home they were actively weatherizing. Read about the experience here.
Andy Farmer- State Corporation Commission
- Energy conservation curriculum for Virginia 3rd-graders has been developed with input from several organizations working inside schools.
- This curriculum goes along with the Virginia SOLs and can be found here.
Scott Dicke- Sustainable Real Estate Solutions
- SRS is working with VAEEC and the Mid-Atlantic PACE Alliance to provide education and outreach to Virginia localities.
- Arlington County is the first county in the Commonwealth to fully launch a C-PACE program.
