EMS

Statewide LG EE Best Practices: Weekly Update

Here are your wEEkly updates:

1. Save the Date: the Capital Region’s Climate Readiness Collaborative will hold its Quarterly Meeting June 21st, and will feature work around developing resilient communities, including a project pursuing Living Building Certification and Zero Net Energy affordable housing.

2. EDAC Survey to Local Governments: There is a special opportunity to take part in a short local government survey (released this week) to help the Energy Data Access Committee better understand how current energy data rules align with the needs of local governments in their development of greenhouse gas inventories and climate action plans.

3. Need weatherization funds? I’ve been getting a number of questions regarding weatherization funding, so I checked in with a representative on weatherization funding opportunities at California’s Department of Community Services and Development (CSD) – who shared information on three weatherization programs CSD administers to provide California with EE and solar funds – and how local governments can get involved.

4. EE and roofs: while on the topic of building envelope, a range of resources to make roofs more energy efficient (including air barriers, matching roof color to climate, and green roofs) is covered by Energy Manager here.

5. Showcasing innovation: The California Energy Commission (CEC) has launched a new Energy Innovation Showcase website to communicate and track progress on innovative projects awarded funding under the CEC’s EPIC program – with information on microgrids, innovative EE, and more.

6. Open EPIC solicitations: pre-application questions and answers are now posted for those interested in applying to the Los Angeles Regional Innovation Energy Cluster grant funding opportunity. (Or click here for more on funding.)

7. Using energy data and EMS to save: energy management systems allow for better building control, avoiding wasted energy, money, and improving building comfort. Learn what commercial real estate and municipal leads are doing to save.

8. Congratulations to the City of Oakland: Oakland was the first to use ACEEE’s new self-reporting tool to share EE policies and programs at the local level, and was found to be a top scorer nationwide.

9. EE residential savings as a financial commodity? Learn about a new method for motivating and financing residential energy efficiency upgrades that has earned a $5 million investment from the New York Green Bank.

10. Hotel EE and water management: Are hotels part of your community's energy footprint? Learn what motivates hotels on energy and water savings in a hotel survey covered by Environmental Leader.

11. EE and cost savings through VRF: Learn more about how a school is finding energy and cost savings through an HVAC upgrade to variable refrigerant flow here.

12. Advanced Energy Jobs: AEE reviews the U.S. DOE’s recent Energy and Employment Report using an energy index, and finds 2.7 million employed in advanced energy nationwide, and more.

13. New incentives for generation? A new Proposed Decision revising the Self Generation Incentive Program was released by the CPUC this week. See the major changes and get a link to the full Proposed Decision.

14. Solar+storage for multi-family: a new report reviews the economics of adding solar to storage in California’s affordable multi-family housing – and makes some interesting discoveries (which will be covered in a June 15th webinar).

15. TDV Workshop Presentations: Those working toward zero net energy (ZNE) may be interested in reviewing the Time Dependent Value (TDV) of energy presentations now available from the California Energy Commission (CEC)’s May 12th workshop, now available.

16. Funding deadline: for those submitting to the Healthy Cities and Counties Challenge, a reminder that the deadline is May 31st.

17. Benchmarking in the news: San Francisco, Los Angeles, and others make the news this week for energy benchmarking.

18. The latest in all-electric buses: new battery technology is changing the equation for deployment of electric buses. Learn how, and who’s moving on electric buses.

19. SDG&E EV Pilot: for more on electric vehicles, SDG&E has kicked off its $52.5 million electric vehicle pilot. Read more in the San Diego Union Tribune.

20. Who’s Coolest in Residential EE: Highlights from the Cool California Awards for top participating cities are now available! Miss which cities won Coolest Cities of 2016? Take a look at Energy Upgrade California’s April press release.

21. Job announcement: California’s Air Resources Board is hiring! Learn more about their open Air Pollution Specialist position.

22. Job announcement: the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is hiring! Learn more about their open Public Relations Assistant position.

As always, you can keep track of relevant events by connecting to the EE Events Calendar, and find more resources being added daily on the EECoordinator website – including past WEEkly Updates.



That’s all for this week!

Statewide LG EE Best Practices: Weekly Update

Here are your wEEkly updates:

1. EECC Stage 2 Update: Stage 2 Subcommittee meetings of the EE Coordinating Committee are underway, offering stakeholders a great and unprecedented chance to hear and get involved in the funds and offerings of future energy efficiency programs. The Public Sector Subcommittee Meeting will be held this Monday, May 2nd , and can be attended in San Diego, San Francisco, or by WebEx. Workforce Education and Training, Codes and Standards, Emerging Technologies, and Industrial Subcommittee Stage 2 meetings are all being held this week as well. Commercial and residential Stage 2 meetings were held earlier this week. This process is moving very quickly and will wrap up in a few months, and stakeholder feedback is critical – if you have any questions on how to get involved visit caeecc.org or contact me at any time.

2. Millions of $ in Federal Funding: click here to review the U.S. EPA’s local government newsletter, sharing $889M available for local government and tribal energy efficiency and sustainability. ($500M closes today – TIGER applicants, don’t forget to submit!)

3. Post Earth Day Climate Action Updates: Earth Day resulted in the signing of Paris Agreement by more than 150 countries – learn more about national and local government action, and hear from global businesses that are on board with limiting carbon emissions (and how they’ll play a role for the next Conference of Parties meeting this November).

4. On Climate and Business: An article from GreenBiz covers how businesses can (and are motivated to) support local government action on climate change

5. Two EE Baselines Updates: The CPUC released a staff white paper last week, primarily in response to the AB 802’s requirement that energy efficiency programs provide incentives based on metered energy savings. Yesterday, a correction to the white paper was released, resulting in the extension of the deadline for comments.

6. Monday Clarification Call: The CPUC also announced that a conference call for clarifications will be held May 2nd.

7. Successes and Challenges in National Local Government EE: In honor of Earth Day last Friday, the ICMA has shared some key findings from their national 2015 Local Government Sustainability Practices Survey – including the two top motivating factors in local government rollout of sustainability.

8. Lowering the Energy Burden and Achieving EE in Low-Income: There’s been lots of news lately highlighting the opportunity (and the need) for pairing energy efficiency investments with low-income and underserved communities. Read the latest on program best practices from ACEEE and EDF, and see resources offered in California, here. Information on an energy burden report shared last week featuring urban areas across the nation (including 5 California cities) can be found here.

9. On-site Title 24 trainings: Trainings on the upcoming energy code are being held at no-cost at various sites in SCE territory. Click here for more information. For more on training opportunities click here.

10. Are companies responding to the market for green purchasing? Many local governments are adopting green or sustainable purchasing policies, and may be interested in a first ever impact report on sustainability in global consumer goods supply chains has been developed by The Sustainability Consortium.

11. More on green purchasing: Hear from Environmental Leader on opportunities for green purchasing in green cleaning.

12. Residential EE Opportunity Graphic: For a nice graphic to inform the community on typical home energy use and energy efficiency opportunities from HomeSelfe, click here.

13. SoCal Gas HOPPs Call: SoCal Gas has shared an opportunity to join a planning call May 5th for multifamily program offerings under the new High Opportunity Program or Projects (HOPPs). (Click here for language and the CPUC ruling on HOPPs.)

14. New National Energy Bill: Take a look at the latest (and opinions on both sides) on the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2016.

15. Can’t “See” the Value of Demand Response? For data geeks, or maybe just for those that want a great visual of aggregated energy use load curves (812,000 of them) to visualize the power of demand response, click here.

16. EE RTU Action: Rooftop units (RTUs) can consume a tremendous amount of energy, and are therefore a great place to look for savings – through more efficient compressors, controls, and more. The U.S. Dept. of Energy is recognizing six companies for their retrofits and investments in high-efficiency RTUs and RTU management. Learn how they are achieving savings here.

17. Building EE Opportunities for Efficient Cities: Click here to review MIT analysis findings on how building energy efficiency can make cities more efficient.

18. Energy Management System Pilots: nine companies are joining the North American Energy Management Pilot Program. Energy Management Systems (EMS) are a powerful way to integrate energy management into existing building management systems – learn more from the U.S. DOE here.

19. Why Energy Management Systems: Looking for ways to gain support for investment in an energy management system? Take a look at these tips from EnerNoc.

20. Scoring Solar Performance: Considering solar photovoltaic (PV) investments? DNV GL has a new solar PV scorecard report you may want to review. Click here for more.

21. EV Best Practices: For those engaged in EV planning, the CEC held a workshop earlier this week to hear updates and best practices from electric vehicle project and program leads. Presentations and background are available here.

As always, you can keep track of relevant events by connecting to the EE Events Calendar, and find more resources being added daily on the EECoordinator website.



That is all for this week!