Energy Efficiency Markets Podcast

About 97 percent of the energy efficiency market is untapped due to the difficulty finding investors and other issues, says Dennis Quinn, COO of Joule Assets. And that’s a big market: nearly $279 billion in the US, he says. In this podcast, Quinn and Richard Jones, senior vice president of Hartford Steam Boiler explain how they’re going to help solve the problem by boosting investor confidence in projects. The two companies announced a portfolio-wide insurance product designed to meet the needs of small to medium-sized enterprises.

USGBC Colorado has seen a number of existing multi-family building owners invest in energy efficiency recently.“The new level of attention these leading multi-family buildings are paying to energy efficiency through their voluntary participation in the Denver City Energy Project (DCEP) points to a new trend that multi-family properties are establishing towards increased investment in energy efficiency,” said Patti Mason, Executive Director, USGBC Colorado. “This positive effort and investment will benefit Denver’s triple bottom line for decades to come."

Government energy efficiency mandates--especially those relating to appliances--are clunky and ineffective, says Ted Gayer, Brookings Institution vice president of economic studies. The costs outweigh the benefits, he says. It would make more economic sense to tax energy use or companies that produce pollution. Learn more about Gayer's views here: http://www.brookings.edu/research/testimony/2015/04/30-energy-efficiency-legislation-gayer

How are solar plus energy storage helping alleviate problems created by the drought in California? Neil Fromer, executive director, Resnick Institute of Sustainability at Caltech, explains the link between water availability and energy generation.

Which ethnic group invests most in energy efficiency? How to homeowners link solar and energy efficiency? Learn the answers to these questions by listening to this interview with Dave Treston, senior account planner at KSV, who give details about a recent energy efficiency study by KSV.

When we get a message from our cell phone provider that we're about to go over our limits, we generally cut back our calls. That's also true of consumers who opt for pre-pay energy, says Jamie Wimberly, CEO of Distributed Energy Financial Group, which has released a study showing that consumer like pre-pay energy and cut their energy use by up to 15% with it.

In 2013, Before California's initiative requiring utilities to install 1,325 MW of energy storage, the market was just in test phases. But now, the market has really heated up and energy storage competes with other sources of energy. Mike Hopkins, CEO of Ice Energy, gives his perspective on the state of the market in California--and the contracts his company has won.

In Ithaca, NY, Herbert Dwyer, president and CEO, ASI Energy, is developing the state's first "nodal microgrid," which is being built in phases. The project combines CHP with solar to provide heat and electricity. In this podcast, Dwyer explains the reasoning behind the "nodal" concept and its benefits.

Here's an interesting idea: creating a system that allows people to save energy, and then donate the amount saved to someone else who needs it! A new project, "Community First! Village" takes a step in that direction. Listen to our interview with Michele Negley, vice president, southern region, CLEAResult.

People Power's Presence Pro Energy Pilot Program--whose app was a Number One seller in the Apple store--has yielded 9% to 10% energy savings. The program first attracts participants with programs that allow them to monitor pets and relatives at home, then adds energy efficiency. Gene Wang, CEO of People Power, explains.

A project at Las Positas College in Livermore, funded by a $1.5 million grant from the California Energy Commission, will test the powers of energy storage and microgrids to integrate renewable energy sources, curb peak power and take a mission-critical circuit off-grid. Herve Mazzocco, vice president of solutions for Imergy Power Systems, describes the project.

Can California double the efficiency of existing buildings? Lauren Faber, west coast political director for the Environmental Defense Fund, describes California's new package of bills aimed at fighting climate change, including an effort to double the energy efficiency of existing buildings.

Building efficiency and energy storage are creating jobs in North Carolina, according to the 2014 North Carolina Clean Energy Industry Census, which showed about 25% annual job growth in clean energy overall since 2012, outpacing growth of other industries in the state. Ivan Urlaub, executive director of the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association, explains the gains in the energy efficiency industry revealed in the report.

With PG&E planning to offer solar as both a community solar and green power program, we asked what's the difference--and who would be interested in community solar instead of green power. Erica Schroeder McConnell, attorney for Interstate Renewable Energy Council, answers the question in this podcast.

This year's Super Bowl was the first Super Bowl played under LED lighting. What are the advantages to LED lighting in stadiums? What are the biggest energy users in sports stadiums, which generally consume huge amounts of electricity? What are the best ways to green them? Jim Fitzpatrick, business development manager for CLEAResult, answers these questions in this podcast.