French partnership between construction economists and Electricité de France

The National Union of Economists of the Construction Industry in France and EDF signed a partnership to contribute jointly to improving the energy performance of buildings. Economists accompany construction projects to renovate buildings, to optimise cost, quality and timeliness of design and production operations. Guarantors of budget estimates, they work with builders or contractors to … Continue reading French partnership between construction economists and Electricité de France →

Follow up on Russian energy conservation policies

Following the EID post of April 16th, there has recently been an important all-Russia conference on energy conservation. The following is from the Russian Business News. Particularly note the comment on financing energy conservation by the first vice president of Gazprombank that the government is only prepared to allocate 7 % of needed funds with … Continue reading Follow up on Russian energy conservation policies →

Energy efficiency laws in Russia – starting the journey

With high potential, Russia has much to do to improve its energy efficiency in all sectors. Rod Janssen of EiD has worked in many parts of Russia and knows first hand the problems that the country faces. This is an excellent article from the Moscow Times giving an overview of the policies and the challenges … Continue reading Energy efficiency laws in Russia – starting the journey →

Why are few Singaporeans going ‘green’?

This is a question that many if not most countries should be asking. This is a good article from the Straits Times of Singapore showing the behavioural studies that Singapore is undertaking to understand more about consumer behaviour. Interestingly, the International Energy Agency’s Implementing Agreement on Demand Side Management has a new focus on behavioural … Continue reading Why are few Singaporeans going ‘green’? →

Question of the week

Reuter’s news agency reports that of Romania’s 19 million population, less than five million are workers paying taxes, with most of the rest pensioners, children, subsistence farmers or people working illegally. Costs for the more than five million pensioners amounted to 9% of GDP in 2010. Also, Romania, the EU’s second-poorest member with an average … Continue reading Question of the week →

Hannover Fair to host roundtable on financing energy efficiency in industry

Energy Efficiency in Industrial Processes (EEIP), a Brussels-based independent not-for-profit platform for business and policy in Europe, is organising a roundtable to discuss financing issues related to investing in energy efficiency in the industrial sector on April 24th at the world famous Hannover Messe, which is billed as the world’s most important technology event. The … Continue reading Hannover Fair to host roundtable on financing energy efficiency in industry →

Housing project becomes a beacon

This is a very good article from the New York Times about a housing project about a 15 minute walk from the EiD office. The results on energy performance are good and can probably even be better. But they show that important upgrades can be made to public housing. Hopefully this "beacon" will inspire changes … Continue reading Housing project becomes a beacon →

China making significant progress in building energy code compliance

A new report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and the Global Buildings Performance Network, published mid March, shows that compliance on building codes in China has been steadily improving since 2005. "The significant improvement is rooted in strong governmental regulatory support; clear rules about the responsibilities of key stakeholders and penalties for … Continue reading China making significant progress in building energy code compliance →

Consumer energy bills rise dramatically since 2001 in UK

Newspaper reports show that, according to official figures, average household consumption of gas and electricity fell by 11.3% between 2001 and 2011 as people tried to protect themselves against spiralling prices. Despite this reduction in use, the amount families, pensioners and others spent on keeping warm rose by 23.5%, according to the Office of National … Continue reading Consumer energy bills rise dramatically since 2001 in UK →

Financing energy efficiency in buildings – the American way

Financing energy efficiency in buildings is a challenge to policy makers, to consumers and to the energy efficiency industries (services and products). Two innovative approaches have recently been discussed in the US. SolarCity SolarCity, a national provider of clean energy services, on March 27th unveiled a Home Energy Loan for energy efficiency upgrades that will … Continue reading Financing energy efficiency in buildings – the American way →