Energy Efficiency Markets Podcast
385 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 8 years ago - ★★★★ - 8 ratingsTwo seasoned energy writers follow the energy efficiency market, which is poised for major growth in North America. They provide news and analysis, and explain how businesses can make money by reducing their electricity use. Sign up for the free newsletter, Energy Efficiency Markets, by visiting www.energyefficiencymarkets.com
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Episodes
Bring on Energy Storage--With Lower Costs
September 09, 2014 14:25 - 12.6 MBCraig Wilkins, chairman and founder of ViZn Energy Systems, which produces large-scale energy storage technology and just won an award from Frost & Sullivan, identifies the top challenges to bringing more energy storage online. He also discusses the top challenges for microgrid developers: integration and standardization.
Challenges of Microgrid Integration
September 02, 2014 14:57 - 10.2 MBDavid Chiesa, director of commercial and industrial and micro grid market segments for S & C Electric Co., says that the military is on the leading edge of using microgrids to provide reliable power, but it's a big challenge to integrate the new technologies with the old grid.
Innovation in Energy Storage–And its Big Benefits
August 26, 2014 15:16 - 10.7 MBDr. Ryan Wartena, chief executive officer and founder of Growing Energy Labs, Inc. (GELI), which recently won an innovation award from Energy Storage North America, in this podcast identifies the challenges to integrating energy storage, especially in California. He discusses some solutions–and the many benefits to getting more energy storage online.
Efficiency Standards: The Cost-Effective Way to Save Energy
August 19, 2014 15:39 - 12.1 MBEfficiency standards are the most cost-effective way to save money, says Andrew deLaski, executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project. While AHRI says the government is moving too quickly to implement standards, deLaski says, if anything, the process is too slow and explains how it works.
Do Smart Meters Provide a Route For Attacks on Homeowners?
August 12, 2014 14:44 - 7.63 MBSmart meters can give--and are giving--criminals a route into people's homes, says Tom Kellermann, chief cybersecurity officer at Trend Micro. While the frequency of incidents in small now, it's expected to increase. He explains in this podcast what needs to be done to prevent the problem.
New Technology Helps Cut Fuel Costs, Emissions in Trucks
August 05, 2014 14:46 - 14.9 MBMaglev Energy, in partnership with University of Central Florida researchers, has developed a technology that will reduce fossil fuel use in commercial trucks, potentially saving fleet owners more than $2 million a year and reducing carbon emissions. In this podcast, Jon Harms, president and CEO of Maglev, explains the technology.
Fuel Cells for Microgrid, Off-Grid Applications
August 01, 2014 13:46 - 9.56 MBFuel cells provide a number of benefits in microgrid and off-grid applications in developing countries, for the military, and after disasters such as hurricanes. In this podcast, Chris D'Couto, president and CEO, Neah Power Systems, describes the many applications and their benefits.
Leveraging Free Data for Energy Savings: Schneider Electric
July 22, 2014 14:51 - 14.2 MBSchneider Electric has teamed up with Pepco to take advantage of the Green Button Connect My Data program, which stems from the DOE's request to utilities to make available utility data to encourage innovation by third parties. While some utilities have not yet responded to the DOE request, Pepco is enthusiastically opening up its data in this project. Paul Hamilton, vice president, government relations, Schneider Electric, and Greg Thompson, manager, smart grid offers at Schneider Electric, ...
Why The Market for PV-Plus-Storage is Growing
July 15, 2014 15:32 - 14.1 MBWith PV costs dropping, storage costs dropping, and the price of serving remote locations using diesel increasing, the market for solar plus storage is increasing. Paul Bundschuh, president and chief commercial officer of Ideal Power discusses this trend and explains why his company's latest product makes solar plus storage even more attractive.
Hawaii's Innovative EE Financing Should Serve As US Model
July 08, 2014 15:01 - 11.5 MBAn innovative green finance program from the state of Hawaii should become a national model, says Cisco DeVries, CEO of Renewable Funding, which was recently awarded a contract to develop and manage the program. Listen to this podcast to learn about the program and its many benefits in Hawaii, where electricity prices are the highest in the nation.
Which Utilities Are Most Open to Innovative New Companies?
July 01, 2014 03:38 - 12.8 MBIdan Edry, acting CEO of Nation-E–a company based in Israel that brings big data into the energy domain–discusses the challenges and advantages of entering the market in the US. In this podcast interview he also identifies which utilities are most open to innovation.
The Multi-Tasking Energy Storage Battery
July 01, 2014 03:37 - 13.8 MBMost energy storage batteries can only address short-term issues – for example, frequency and voltage regulation – or long-term issues, including time-shifting and ramping. However, with the help of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, a new company has released a battery that does both simultaneously. Russ Weed, vice president of business development for UniEnergy Technologies, which is an offshoot of Pacific Northwest National Labs, explains in this podcast interview.
Why Microgrids Need Standards and Who's Providing Them
June 16, 2014 15:38 - 12.6 MBNo standards exist for microgrids that address reliability, connection to the grid, efficiency and other issues, says Michael Overturf, CEO of ZF Energy Development. His firm has partnered with the Perfect Power Institute to provide LEED-like standards for these facilities, located in campuses, medical facilities, industrial plants and other areas. ZF Energy is now applying these standards to some of its projects. Joining Overturf in this podcast is John Kelly, executive director of the Perfe...
EPA: Don't Forget Smart Grid, Demand Response in CO2 Regs
June 09, 2014 03:57 - 8.98 MBThe Association for Demand Response & Smart Grid applauds the federal EPA for its draft plan for reducing carbon emissions, but wants to see the agency directly spell out the important role of smart grid and demand response in reducing emissions. The EPA didn't acknowledge the importance of these tools in its plan, says Dan Delurey, executive director of the organization. Industry members need to write the EPA to voice their opinion, he says.
Residential Demand Response Yields 5 to 23% Savings: Opower
June 02, 2014 05:56 - 9.37 MBOpower's new residential demand response program has yielded 23% savings in homes that have load control devices and peak rebate rates. Homeowners that have taken voluntary action--such as changing thermostat settings--have seen 5% savings. As a result, the company is expanding its program to include 1 million customers, said Tom Mercer, group product manager
Energy Storage To Avert Disasters
May 26, 2014 02:16 - 12.1 MBWhat's one of the best ways for consumers, businesses and towns/cities to avoid the kinds of emergencies we experienced with Hurricane Sandy? Energy storage allows consumers and businesses to reduce their reliance on the grid, and can be implemented in a number of ways, says Darren Hammell, co-founder and chief strategic officer for Princeton Power Systems. He explains why solar users lost power during Hurricane Sandy and what they should have done differently. He outlines some of the challen...
What Microgrids Need From Policy Makers Now
May 19, 2014 03:20 - 14.4 MBWhat do microgrid developers need from policymakers now? Rob Thornton, president and CEO of IDEA, explains how Hurricane Sandy made micro grids ”cool.” But regulations and policy still stand in the way of realizing the many benefits of microgrids, which can provide reliable power, especially during storms like Sandy. Mayors, CEOs, schools and universities are beginning to see the advantages of microgrids, he says. But developers should be properly compensated for the important services they p...
Data Centers' Surprise at "Seeing" their Energy Savings
May 04, 2014 16:41 - 10.4 MBThe power costs associated with operating a data center are about 30 percent of total expenses. And most data center operators know that. But save them a little energy, and show them the results, and they're often surprised. Aaron Rallo, founder and CEO of TSO Logic, has released a dashboard that helps data centers "see" the results of their efficiency efforts and explains what it means to the customers.
Avoiding Risk When Adopting New Smart Appliances
April 28, 2014 05:26 - 9.68 MBSmart appliances offer lots of opportunities for energy savings, but there are risks too. Energy Efficiency Markets interviews Thomas Blewitt, Director of Principal Engineers for the appliance and lighting industries at Underwriters Laboratories about some of the challenges that may arise when new users adopt smart appliances for the first time, like more complicated installations and challenges operating the new user interfaces.
Legislation That Boosts Energy Storage and Self Generation
April 21, 2014 02:58 - 10.4 MBCalifornia is a leader in boosting energy storage and self generation for commercial and industrial energy users with its Self Generation Incentive Program. Other states are expected to follow, says Vic Shao, CEO of Green Charge Networks in this podcast interview. Keep an eye on New York, New England, Texas and Hawaii.
Benchmarking In These Cities and States Yields 7% Savings
April 13, 2014 01:34 - 13 MBA number of states and cities now require benchmarking of buildings, which involves collecting energy use data and plugging it into software that feeds data to the EPA. The states--California and Washington--plus eight major cities have achieved a 7% reduction in savings over the past three years, says Timothy Croman, manager of energy efficiency business for Standard Energy Solutions. What's more, their energy intensity scores increased by 6 points. Expect more benchmarking regulations and t...
Transform the Energy Efficiency Industry For Savings, Profit
April 06, 2014 18:36 - 17.4 MBThe money pumped into the energy efficiency industry is not yielding sustainable results: What we need is a performance-based industry, says Matt Golden, principal, Efficiency.org. Golden is spearheading a movement to transform the industry into a market-based approach in which incentives match real savings--not predicted savings. Under his model, utilities would issue RFPs for energy efficiency and would treat efficiency like other resources. Competition would drive innovation, benefitting c...
Why California's Energy Storage Law Is So Hard to Implement
March 30, 2014 17:10 - 10.9 MBWhy is California's energy storage mandate so difficult to implement? In part, the challenge stems from the fact that there are so many energy storage products available. How can they be priced? That process has just begun. Listen to our interview with Elliot Hines, a partner with Akin Gump, to find out more.
Protecting Connecticut Citizens From Outages With Microgrids
March 24, 2014 14:31 - 9.27 MBConnecticut has seen its share in recent years of severe weather events that have sparked outages--one, in fact, that left numerous residents in the dark for days. The state sees microgrids as a way to provide a "baseline level of safety and security." How is the state getting funding its microgrid program and what are its plans for the future? Listen to this podcast with Alex Kraigie, Deputy Chief of Staff for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to find out.
Are Commissioning Laws A Bitter Pill or a Benefit?
March 17, 2014 06:16 - 9.72 MBLaws in California, New York and Illinois now require owners of certain sized new buildings to "commission," or survey their energy use. Are these a bitter pill for building owners or do they yield important benefits? Energy Efficiency Markets interviews Jerry Schmits, director of business development with KLH Engineers, Energy solutions group, about some unexpected benefits that arise from commissioning.
What's Behind the Upward Trend in Energy Efficiency Spending
March 10, 2014 05:59 - 8.07 MBEnergy efficiency spending has jumped from $5.5 billion to $11.5 billion over the last five years, and 40% of that is commercial and industrial customers, says Swap Shah, CEO of energy use intelligence provider FirstFuel. What's driving the increase? Shah provides some insight in this podcast.
Saving 300-400 percent in Inefficient Commercial Buildings
March 03, 2014 07:01 - 10 MBCall them the outliers–the buildings that are massively inefficient. With energy efficiency, you can take these outliers and reap savings as high as 300% to 400%, says Barun Singh, CTO and cofounder of WegoWise. The company is now helping these energy users and others better understand big-picture trends with a new visualization tool. Listen to this podcast to learn more about the tool and the trends.
Using Energy Storage to Flatten Peaks and Save Money
February 24, 2014 07:12 - 8.89 MBWhat's one way to avoid high peak usage charges? Vic Shao, CEO of GreenCharge Networks, says in this podcast interview that energy storage can solve the problem, especially when it's combined with predictive analytics. By predicting peak usage, and using energy storage to change energy usage during peak usage, customers can save money and utilities can avoid building peaking plants. He also addresses legislation affecting energy storage, noting that Hawaii, New York and California are at the ...
Energy Analytics Company Claims 6% Energy Savings in Homes
February 16, 2014 02:38 - 9.69 MBEnergy data analytics company Bidgely says it can reduce energy consumption in homes by 6%, which is 300% better than other home energy platforms, the company says. This is based on a survey of 500 users, says Abhay Gupta, CEO. How is this happening? The company uses "whole house data," providing information about what air conditioners, lights, and other electricity users are consuming, he claims. This allows residents to see where they need to cut back. Listen to our podcast interview with G...
Benchmarking in Seattle For Up to 12% Savings
February 10, 2014 02:57 - 5.89 MBSeattle, one of the first cities to implement benchmarking, has released a report about the initial results of its benchmarking efforts: A retirement home focused on behavioral changes and cut energy bills by 12 percent. What's more, of the 8,000 buildings that needed to be benchmarked, 90 percent have benchmarked. The city expects $90 million a year in savings from its benchmarking. Corey Weathers, principle of Catalyst 2030, outlines the city's benchmarking successes in this podcast.
From AESP Conference: Buyers Still Going for Incandescents
January 30, 2014 20:40 - 7.41 MBIn Massachusetts, consumers aren't exactly racing to get their hands on efficient bulbs, even though some incandescents are no longer available. They're likely to purchase any incandescent instead of one of the newer, non-incandescent, efficient bulbs. A podcast interview with Wendy Todd, lead analyst with National Grid, reporting from the AESP conference.
Truck Fleet Helps Stabilize The Grid--And Earn Income
January 26, 2014 21:14 - 7.61 MBIn a pilot project with the Southwest Research Institute and ERCOT, a fleet of electric powered trucks is making money by helping stabilize grid frequency. Electric trucks stop charging quickly and automatically when the grid's frequency is unstable, and the un-named fleet owner gets paid for doing this. In this podcast, Sean Mitchem, a project manager for the research institute, explains this "fast response regulation service" project.
Providing EE Education to a Captive Audience
January 20, 2014 07:34 - 9.88 MBThink about all the people who fill up at a water cooler every day. With a new product provided by Aqwastream--stations that allow people to fill up their own bottles with water--the company flashes the water fillers with energy efficiency messages. In addition to providing energy efficiency education--especially to college students--the company aims to help cut the energy used in producing plastic bottles. In 2006, a whopping 17 million barrels of oil were used to produce plastic bottles by ...
New Business Opportunities in Energy Efficiency in 2014
January 13, 2014 00:09 - 10.5 MBUtilities will need to change their business model and offer new services and products next year, says Jill Feblowitz, vice president, IDC Energy Insights in this podcast interview. This is due in part to the new power coming into the grid from microgrids, solar and other sources. Because the grid was designed for one-way traffic, there's a need for balancing, and this creates new business opportunities, including demand response opportunities, she says. Listen to learn more about the company...
Cut Energy Use 5% to 30% With Submeters Plus Controls
January 05, 2014 20:19 - 10.4 MBSubmetering helps commercial and industrial companies understand where they're using the most energy and gives them critical information, which, combined with controls, can cut energy use by up to 30%. In this podcast interview, Mark Straton, senior vice president for GridPoint, outlines this and other benefits of submetering. The company provides energy management solutions for leading enterprises and government agencies, including seven of the top 10 retailers nationwide and seven of the to...
Sell That Energy Efficiency To Utility CFOs With These Tips
December 22, 2013 00:20 - 11.7 MBWhat keeps utility CFOs from embracing energy efficiency and demand-side management? What convinces them to invest in energy efficiency and demand-side management? Ward Eames, president, NTC, which provides educational content for utilities, provides tips based on his new ebook, "7 Strategies to Power Up Your CFO's Support." Listen to the podcast interview to learn about how NTC helps utilities reach their customers--by providing education in the schools that trickles up to parents. Eames sa...
Energy Efficiency Tops Cleantech Investment Charts in Q3
December 16, 2013 03:30 - 11.7 MBWhile cleantech investment in general has dropped over the past five years, investment in energy efficiency is booming, says Sheeraz Haji, CEO of the market intelligence firm Cleantech Group. In its latest report–about third quarter 2013–the energy efficiency topped the investment charts in clean tech, with 33 investment deals in energy efficiency. In addition, there was a 33 percent jump in the number of energy efficiency companies on the Global Cleantech 100 list. The trend is due to the co...
Cutting Energy Use in Casinos 12 Percent to 18 Percent
December 09, 2013 02:51 - 10.7 MBAutomated energy management software from BuildinIQ cuts energy use by 12 percent in one casino, and is expected to slash energy use in other casinos by 12 percent to 18 percent, says Pete Bickinson, CTO of BuildingIQ in a podcast interview. The software, provided to NV Energy, the utility that supplies energy to the city of Las Vegas, provides both energy efficiency and demand response. The automated system responds to pricing, weather conditions, market conditions, and comfort levels. The s...
Lower Cost Battery Technology Wins Innovation Award
November 26, 2013 00:43 - 10.2 MBUnited Technologies Research Center (UTRC), the research and innovation arm of United Technologies Corp. (UTX), has won an innovation award for its PureStorage flow battery energy storage technology. The award comes from industry experts and the editors of R&D Magazine, and is listed among the 100 most technologically significant products introduced during 2012. In this podcast interview, Sri Divakaruni, director, innovation business development, and Mike Perry, project leader for UTRC, expla...
Can Michigan Achieve 10% to 16% Energy Savings
November 18, 2013 21:55 - 8.68 MBIn a draft report, Michigan revealed that it has surpassed its 1 percent annual electricity savings targets by 116 percent to 124 percent. That was achieved at a cost of $20 per megawatt-hour, much less than the $60 per megawatt-hour for electricity from gas-fired units, said Michigan Public Service Commission Chairman John Quackenbush in this podcast interview. Now, the commission wants to achieve 10.8 percent to 14.7 percent savings for gas, and 14.5 percent to 16.1 percent savings for elec...
Integrating Data & Engineering for Up to 20% Savings: Siemens
November 10, 2013 00:32 - 8.96 MBAccenture and Siemens have launched a joint venture, Omnetric Group, in the smart-grid field that will work with utilities to improve energy efficiency, grid operations and reliability. Jack Azagury, global managing director for Accenture Grid Services, explains in this podcast that the effort will help utilities solve the problem of integrating data with engineering. For example, the joint venture will take smart metering data and package it to help customers make better decisions about savi...
Energy Efficiency: It's Not the Technology, It's Financing
November 04, 2013 16:00 - 15.5 MBWe've got much of the technology needed to solve the climate crisis. What we need now is financing innovation, says Jigar Shaw, author of "Creating Climate Wealth" in an interview with Lisa Cohn of EnergyEffficiencyMarkets.com. If we can break that barrier, we'll create what he calls climate wealth. The founder of SunEdison and the former CEO of the Carbon War Room quotes the EIA, saying we need $10 trillion by 2020 to fight climate change. We're on the path to invest $4.5 billion. "We have t...
Jobs Abound in Energy Efficiency As Boomers Retire
October 31, 2013 15:00 - 9.42 MBWhere are the jobs? You don't have to look far, when it comes to energy efficiency, says Suzanne Jones, vice president of sales and marketing for the Association of Energy Services Professionals (AES). In fact, filling the void created by retiring baby boomers is a big challenge for the industry. People are needed across the board, especially at utilities, where many boomers stayed for 20 years and are now retiring, she says. Researchers, marketers, energy efficiency program designers, and pr...
The Link Between Distributed Generation and Efficiency
October 28, 2013 04:53 - 11.4 MBAs more distributed generation comes online, will we see more energy efficiency? The number of rooftop solar systems has increased dramatically. It makes most sense for solar users to focus on efficiency first, says Tom Hulsevosch, managing director, energy and utility practice, West Monroe Partners. This presents an opportunity for both energy efficiency companies and solar installers: They could focus on both installing solar and providing efficiency, he says.
How To Implement California's Energy Storage Plan
October 19, 2013 01:10 - 8.3 MBCalifornia's plan calling for a massive amount of energy storage poses challenges for utilities that would be required to implement it. Mark MacCracken, CEO of Calmac, a manufacturer of thermal energy storage systems, discusses the technology options available to utilities in this podcast interview with Lisa Cohn of EnergyEfficiencyMarkets.com. "There will be a big learning curve," he says. "We'll see some test projects." Utilities will experience multiple benefits with energy storage under t...
Cutting Electricity Use in Water Production: Big Opportunities
October 14, 2013 06:19 - 7.72 MBThe EPA estimates that 3 to 4 percent of national annual electricity consumption (or approximately 56 billion kilowatts), or $4 billion, is used to provide drinking water and wastewater services. Albert Cho, vice president for strategy and business development at Xylem, says this can account for 30 percent of the energy used by a city. Much of that energy is wasted, he says. One solution is adding equipment that can change how air is blown into the water to provide aeration, cutting by 50 per...
Follow The Money in Clean Energy To Energy Efficiency
October 07, 2013 12:54 - 10.3 MBIf you follow the money in clean energy, the first place you'll stop is energy efficiency, says Craig Shields, author of "Renewable Energy – Following the Money." The editor of 2greenenergy.com says, "If you want to put people back to work, energy efficiency is the place to start." His book, based on interviews with economists, philosophers and scientists, says the trajectory for long-term, high-paying jobs is energy efficiency. However, a number of challenges stand in the way, chief among th...
Can LED Lights Be Used for All Applications Now?
September 29, 2013 21:03 - 5.14 MBWith California's strict new guidelines for LED lighting, manufacturers are working to come up with LED lights that provide both energy savings and lighting quality. As they work to improve their technologies, we're seeing LED lights that can be used for many, if not all, applications. That's the word from Mike Watson, vice president of corporate marketing for the LED manufacturer Cree. The company has released the first LED bulb to exceed the California Energy Commission2019s new guidelines...
Radiant Barriers Cut Cooling costs By 17%
September 23, 2013 03:13 - 8.96 MBRadiant barriers, which reduce air conditioning costs, have been around for many years. They save up to 17% per month on cooling costs by reducing attic temperatures by up to 30 degrees. They achieve this by blocking radiant heat from the sun. New building codes and mandates have boosted the market for radiant barriers. Lisa Cohn of EnergyEfficiencyMarkets.com interviews Lorraine Bittles, the OSB product manager for LP Building Products about the uses and market for radiant barriers. Intere...
Saving Energy With Quantum Computing In Complex Applications
September 19, 2013 05:01 - 9.94 MBHow can quantum computing reap energy efficiency? In lots of ways. It helps solve complex problems in ways that reap energy efficiency. For example, it can be used to solve complicated scheduling challenges for Fed Ex, which leads to more efficient routes and gas savings. It can help airlines schedule flights more efficiently, again, saving on fuel costs. And it can be used to help decide how best to plug surplus energy into the grid. In this podcast, Lisa Cohn of EnergyEfficiencyMarkets.co...