A vast gap exists between the detailed information financial institutions need to support energy efficiency financing and the limited data they currently have. Several examples suggest these loan programs can succeed, but there are no large datasets supporting investment in energy efficiency.

Providing energy efficiency loans could give financial (more…)

How do you consume electricity in your home? For many households, this isn’t a question often considered. The question “How much do you spend on electricity?” resonates more with households and bill payers. Most people need an easy and actionable plan for managing costs, which at the same time will reduce overall energy consumption. Understanding (more…)

One of my least favorite things to do is go grocery shopping. I’m usually there at the worst times (right after work, along with the rest of the population of Vancouver), I usually forget my list (and subsequently all the items of which I’m most in need), and I almost always end up in line behind someone (more…)

One important component of our energy policy is to provide American families with the tools that they need to make choices that will reduce costs and save energy.  Every time families fill up their gas tanks or look at their energy bills their pocket books feel the pinch. That’s why we are looking toward new and innovative solutions to (more…)

You might think by this headline that I’m about to rant about the news regarding energy efficiency policy that was circulating last week. President Obama outlined a plan called the Better Buildings Initiative to incentivize energy efficiency in commercial buildings during his visit to Penn State. Actually, I want to explain why multifamily energy management struggles with this (more…)

Rocky Mountain Institute, a leading think tank that engages with the building, energy, and transportation sectors to drive the efficient and restorative use of resources, recently launched a groundbreaking website to accelerate the retrofit industry in the United States. Through its larger RetroFit Initiative, RMI has been working with its client partners to test the waters for deep (more…)

Although Latin America boasts a number of the world’s largest urban areas, green building in Latin America has lagged far behind its counterparts north of the Rio Grande. The green building market in Latin America is an early-stage market in which the main developments center around risk-takers and early adopters. Many building owners still don’t understand green building (more…)

When businesses consider strategies to increase energy efficiency, they look for the sweet spots where actions that shrink their company’s energy use also lead to boosting the bottom line. The key is to find upgrades and retrofits that will achieve a quick payback by lowering energy costs, (more…)

With the recent surge in money going towards renewable energy research and implementation, many people are forgetting a key factor in reducing our impact on the environment: energy efficiency.

Utilizing renewable energy in your home or commercial building is great, don’t get me wrong, but before this expensive option is employed, you should first look at the efficiency of your home or building’s energy systems.

If your building wastes energy, you should prioritize improving this aspect and use the money that you had set aside for a renewable project to accomplish the task.

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