There has been a lot of hype about the Internet of Things, but how important is it to energy efficiency? The new ZigBee IP standard for wireless RF mesh networking gives us a glimpse at how the smart grid and the Internet of Things can come together to enhance energy efficiency. ZigBee IP is the Continue reading →
Energy efficiency can be a great investment, but a lack of capital is often a barrier. Energy-efficiency financing programs designed to help energy users overcome this barrier have been around for at least 30 years. But in the residential sector, few of these programs have been successful. via Rural co-ops hold the secret to energy-efficiency Continue reading →
The California Energy Commission today announced outreach to manufacturers and others to make California appliances the best in the nation through energy efficiency and innovation. The Energy Commission, which recently approved the first-in-the-nation’s energy efficiency standards for battery chargers, issued an Invitation to Participate to gather market data from manufacturers, consumer rights groups, utility companies, Continue reading →
EnerNOC Inc. (ENOC), a provider of energy management applications, extended one of its largest utility contracts to deliver energy efficiency solutions to commercial and industrial (C&I) energy users. via EnerNOC signs utility contract for energy efficiency in California – Electric Light & Power.
ThinkEco, the developer of cloud-based energy-efficiency and demand-response solutions, and Carrier, the world’s leader in high-technology heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration solutions, have partnered to integrate the Carrier® ComfortChoice® Touch thermostat with ThinkEco’s modlet® cloud platform. This integration now enables ThinkEco’s utility customers to enroll central and window air conditioners into the same energy-efficiency or demand-response Continue reading →
Energy efficiency is increasingly being recognized as a key performance attribute of many electronic systems – and of embedded designs in particular. In products ranging from smart meters to wireless sensor nodes and from mobile health monitors to intruder alarms, designers need to take every step possible to limit energy consumption. via Embedded MCUs get Continue reading →
GE put out a substantial report this morning on what it thinks are the opportunities for the industrial internet, which will be followed up by an event on the same subject in San Francisco later this week. As my colleague Barb Darrow wrote, it’s not a big shocker, and the move is really a rebranding Continue reading →
South Korea plans to consider various ways to expand the use of the smart grid system as part of its efforts to enhance the nation’s long-term energy efficiency, according to Ministry of Strategy and Finance. In a recently held meeting, the government had reviewed future energy policy directions and discussed ways to enhance energy efficiency Continue reading →
If the presidential debate is any indication, energy issues will top the list of to-dos for the next four years. But what will remain sidelined is energy efficiency, which can eliminate the building of new of infrastructure but which is also fraught with details that must still get resolved. via Energy Efficiency May Run out Continue reading →
V. S. K. Murthy Balijepalli, Research Scholar, IIT Bombay, has developed a tool that will lead to more efficient management of the energy sector in India. A Bachelor of Technology graduate in electrical engineering, he was concerned by the heavy power distribution losses that afflict our country and started toying with the ways to better Continue reading →
EnerNOC, Inc. (Nasdaq:ENOC), a leading provider of energy efficiency solutions and services for commercial, institutional, and industrial energy users, today announced that Northern Illinois University (NIU) has selected EnerNOC’s EfficiencySMART™ Commissioning solution to improve energy use at its Stevenson Towers residence halls. In this retro-commissioning project, EnerNOC will identify and address energy efficiency measures in Continue reading →
President Obama on Thursday signed an executive order outlining the administration’s intent to promote and facilitate investments in industrial energy efficiency. The order also underscored the administration’s support for combined heat and power (CHP) and noted that investments in CHP technology as well as industrial energy efficiency overall can save manufacturers as much as tens Continue reading →
For countless city governments, energy efficiency has become the cornerstone of their sustainability efforts. With municipal budgets across the country constrained or even in crisis, finding cost savings has become an imperative. Energy costs are a major component of city budgets, and across the country those costs are increasing every year. You’d be hard pressed to find a local Continue reading →
Honeywell (NYSE: HON) today announced it is delivering residential and small commercial demand response and energy efficiency programs for three Ontario-based utilities — Burlington Hydro, Hydro Ottawa and PowerStream. The utilities’ peaksaver PLUS ™ programs will help meet requirements established by the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) to alleviate strain on the electrical grid and empower Continue reading →
They may do a lot of things bigger in Texas, but the Pacific Northwest has bragging rights too. SGN reported in June on the Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project, the country’s largest smart grid initiative. Now the region can boast about the country’s largest solar highway and energy efficiency initiatives. In Oregon, Portland General Continue reading →
As part of the Energize Connecticut initiative, the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund and the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (CEFIA) have joined forces to launch a new and improved version of the nationally recognized Clean Energy Communities program, an initiative that incentivizes Connecticut municipalities to improve energy efficiency and promote the use of renewable Continue reading →
Here’s a new mission for Starbucks: make coffee in a more energy-efficient way. The retailer plans to launch on Wednesday a competition that will pit 10 of its stores against one another to see who can cut electricity use the most in 30 days. The competition is part of a 1-year project by the coffee Continue reading →
When it comes to energy efficiency, the state of California is pretty clear on where its priorities lie — and when it comes to efficiency standards, it’s not afraid to flex some muscles to prove it. Consider the fact that the state has already set some of the highest standards in the nation for everything from television sets to cell phone Continue reading →
Susan Story, president and chief executive officer of Southern Company Services says the Georgia-based utility has spent $1 billion on building smart devices and infrastructure to help increase its operating efficiency and it customers’ energy efficiency. Story discussed the company’s green efforts at the University of Alabama at Birmingham‘s Leader to Leader Breakfast Series. She Continue reading →
By virtually all accounts, energy efficiency is a win-win situation: It reduces consumer and business electric bills at the same time that it eliminates the need to build capital-intensive new power plants that would drive up energy costs. But an unusually diverse coalition of industry groups, including the operator of the nation’s largest regional power Continue reading →
