According to a new study presented by the Renovate Europe Campaign, weatherizing European buildings in an important way could boost local GDP by up to 291 billion Euros ($370 billion) by 2017.

Furthermore, gross annual investments of €41 to €78 billion per year in the EU could bring ongoing annual (more…)

A look across the US landscape reveals several rich markets for energy efficiency over the next year. Some emerge out of unfortunate natural disasters; others arise from the growing realization by state governments that it is typically cheaper to save energy than produce it.

Superstorm Sandy leveled neighborhoods in New (more…)

With the relationship between utilities and their customers changing in unprecedented ways, new companies are deploying vast amounts of data and social psychology techniques to try to persuade people to use less electricity in their homes.

Visit the website of Opower and your eye will be (more…)

Is all this effort to save energy worth it?

Consider this. Had we neglected energy efficiency from 1980 to 2010, worldwide energy use would be 35 percent higher. What does this mean? Look at the amount of energy used in the world’s two largest economies – the United States and China. That’s about how much energy the world saved. (more…)

Four years after the US credit market crashed, energy efficiency projects continue to struggle to secure financing.

What’s the problem? A slow economy, of course. But when it comes to energy efficiency – and on-site renewable energy – the problem runs deeper.

It’s not lack of interest in green energy. To the (more…)

A previous post discussed Honeywell’s patent infringement suit against Nest Labs (Nest) asserting seven thermostat control patents. Since then Nest has requested that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) reexamine all seven of the patents-in-suit.

A reexamination proceeding allows a third party to submit prior art to the USPTO in connection with a (more…)

Will new technologies democratize energy much the way the Internet did information?

Industry movement seems to point in that direction with the rise of the smart grid, time-of-day pricing, distributed solar, and the electric vehicle. Together these technologies offer a vision of a less centralized energy system, one where communities and households ‘vote in’ or shape the (more…)

In 2010, China built more housing than Spain has homes. That factoid underscores the significance of energy efficiency for buildings in a report released this week by an affiliate of the respected publication, The Economist.

Commissioned by the Global Buildings Performance (more…)

The prestigious research firm Cleantech Group has just published its fourth annual Global Cleantech 100 list, which lists the upcoming private companies to watch in the global cleantech arena. Israel, which ranked as the #2 country in the 2012 Global Cleantech Innovation Index, is in a unique leadership position, with companies that are both innovative (more…)

October is National Energy Action Month. The timing of this festive observance is no accident. For most Americans, it is the time of year to prepare for the inevitable pleasantries that come with the season: wind, sleet and snow. Of course, colder temperatures are also sure to follow. (more…)