Efforts to preserve historic buildings have greatly hampered their ability to be retrofitted with energy-efficient solutions

Academics find that preservation policies preventing historic buildings from being fitted with energy-efficient measures added £5.6 billion to energy bills across an eight-year period in England. These costs ought to be weighed against any benefits of preservation. Chris Lines explains in an article on the City, University of London website. The energy costs of … Continue reading Efforts to preserve historic buildings have greatly hampered their ability to be retrofitted with energy-efficient solutions →

Understanding how people decide to use less energy at home or at work is crucial to boost virtuous behaviours

Understanding how people decide to use less energy at home or at work is crucial to boost virtuous behaviours. Our reaction to any novelty is so complex that a lot of socio-psychological research has been done to try to make it more predictable. Gianluca Dotti discusses much of this research in an article on the … Continue reading Understanding how people decide to use less energy at home or at work is crucial to boost virtuous behaviours →

With buildings empty, service providers hungry for work and capital cheap, it seems a great time to bring buildings into the 21st century

Sarah Golden writes on the Greenbiz website about the opportunity right now during the lockdown to improve the energy performance of commercial buildings. Now is a great time to optimize energy in buildings. You'd think Despite being mostly empty, commercial real estate energy bills are mostly unchanged. Commercial buildings in the United Kingdom have … Continue reading With buildings empty, service providers hungry for work and capital cheap, it seems a great time to bring buildings into the 21st century →

European Court of Auditors states that greater focus on cost-effectiveness still needed in co-funded energy efficiency investments in buildings

The European Court of Auditors recently assessed whether EU co-funded energy efficiency investments in buildings had cost-effectively helped the EU toward its 2020 energy saving target. Cost-effectiveness is not a determining factor for allocating public funding to energy efficiency measures in residential buildings, according to a new report from the ECA. Despite improved guidance from … Continue reading European Court of Auditors states that greater focus on cost-effectiveness still needed in co-funded energy efficiency investments in buildings →

Our buildings need to be ready for the changing climate

The European Commission wants us to start a renovation wave for our buildings and it considers that the national long-term renovation strategies are an important input to the 'renovation wave’ initiative announced as part of the European Green Deal. While they were due early March, only six Member States have submitted their strategies and of … Continue reading Our buildings need to be ready for the changing climate →

Strong argument for renovating homes in America’s Great Lakes region

Increasingly, arguments are being made that strategies to encourage renovation of buildings to address climate change. Nicholas Rajkovich, Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York explains in an article on The Conversation website the many benefits from renovating buildings. To protect people in the Great Lakes … Continue reading Strong argument for renovating homes in America’s Great Lakes region →

US Department of Energy sued over its energy efficiency process

The NRDC has sued the Department of Energy because of its illegal changes to its “Process Rule” represent yet another attack on the nation’s highly successful energy efficiency standards programme. Latest developments are explained in a news item on the NRDC website. NRDC Sues Over Department of Energy’s New Rule Hampering Energy-Saving Standards Natural … Continue reading US Department of Energy sued over its energy efficiency process →

Utilities in the US are being required to increase energy efficiency to address climate change challenges

Rachel Gold from ACEEE writes on the GreenBiz website about the efforts by several states in the US to lean on local utilities to ramp up their energy efficiency programmes. What are utilities in your region doing? States step up climate efforts by requiring utilities to increase energy efficiency Before the COVID-19 pandemic adjourned … Continue reading Utilities in the US are being required to increase energy efficiency to address climate change challenges →

Large enterprises required to have regular mandatory audits but that policy is still not a game changer

For many organisations it was merely a box-ticking exercise required under the 2012 EU Energy Efficiency Directive. In Britain it was called the Energy Saving Opportunity Scheme and there were hopes it would really make a difference and drive energy efficiency investments. Andrew Warren, chairman of the British Energy Efficiency Federation and a friend of … Continue reading Large enterprises required to have regular mandatory audits but that policy is still not a game changer →

The important role of improved energy efficiency in microgrid projects

Why do microgrid projects need to start with energy monitoring and energy efficiency? Jules Nohra, director of optimisation services, Veolia North America, explains in an interview with Yasmin Ali, Microgrid Knowledge contributor to its website. Why Microgrid Projects Start with Energy Monitoring and Energy Efficiency Why is it important to make a facility as … Continue reading The important role of improved energy efficiency in microgrid projects →