Building Performance

Your building as a system.

May 12, 2020 — 0

City of St. Louis Becomes the First in the Midwest to Pass a Building Energy Performance Standard

City of St. Louis Becomes the First in the Midwest to Pass a Building Energy Performance Standard

ST LOUIS, MO – MayorLydaKrewson has signed an ambitious bill that would require buildings in the City of St. Louis to meet energy efficiency standards and establishes resources to help building owners achieve the savings that come with decreased energy usage.

Buildings account for about 80% of St. Louis’s GHG emissions, so increasing energy efficiency is crucial to reaching the city’s goal of 100% GHG reductions by 2050. As in other cities, the St. Louis BPS creates a legal requirement for building owners to ensure their buildings meet a minimum level of energy performance (the standard) within a series of multi-year compliance cycles. The policy will use Site Energy Use Intensity (EUI) as its chief performance metric.The St. Louis BPS covers buildings 50,000 square feet or larger, which have been required to report the energy and water use of their properties since 2017 under the city’s Building Energy Awareness Ordinance. The BPS will now go beyond reporting to require energy-saving action. […]

April 13, 2018 — 0

[From City Metric] A fifth of private tenants suffer from fuel poverty. So why are energy efficiency standards so soft on landlords?

A fifth of private tenants suffer from fuel poverty. So why are energy efficiency standards so soft on landlords?

A fifth of private tenants suffer from fuel poverty. So why are energy efficiency standards so soft on landlords?

There is a trend in the UK for more and more people to rent their homes, many from private landlords. Too often, these are cold, energy inefficient homes: over 280,000 homes in cities across the UK that do not meet minimum energy efficient standards. […]

April 11, 2018 — 0

[From Home Energy Pros forum] When Good Incentives Go Bad

When Good Incentives Go Bad

The problem with incentives is that if you get them wrong, you won’t get the result you’re looking for, and you might even encourage behaviors that are counterproductive, costing you time and energy. Even worse is when someone gets too dependent on an incentive the motivation disappears. Ever had a dog that only behaved if you gave them a treat? Parents do this with their kids, inadvertently teaching them that the only reason for doing something is an external reward. In the marketplace, over-reliance on incentives can be just as bad as it can encourage unsustainable business models that collapse when the incentives change or disappear.[…]

It’s a common practice to try to encourage or change behavior with incentives. Parents do it all the time. Have you ever agreed to do something for the reward that was promised upon completion? Finished your dinner so you could have ice cream? Or as Pink Floyd famously sang […]

April 11, 2018 — 0

[From Southside Daily] Energy efficiency goes a long way. Just ask Virginia Beach City Public Schools

VIRGINIA BEACH — The Virginia Beach City Public Schools has been named an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the second consecutive year. Only 163 honorees were selected across the nation from among Fortune 500 companies, schools, hospitals, retailers, manufacturers, home builders […]

April 11, 2018 — 0

[From Taryn Holowka at RealClear Politics] Energy Efficiency: A Rare Bipartisan Consensus

Energy Efficiency: A Rare Bipartisan Consensus

In the Trump era, deregulation and less federal interference was supposed to prevail at almost every turn, especially when it came to environmental protections. Fortunately, Congress has pushed back against proposed shrinking of federal responsibilities that would hit the type of environmentalism that’s supported by both Democrats and Republicans: […]

The U.S. Department of Energy gets a major funding boost under the legislation. Its Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, for example, will receive $2.3 billion, an increase of about $230 million compared to fiscal 2017. The legislation also suggests what the office’s priorities should include additional energy-efficiency research into solid state lighting and residential smart-grid systems – both major energy efficiency initiatives.[…]

April 5, 2018 — 0

Natural Gas vs Oil

There is a LOT of misinformation out there regarding residential heating systems, particularly when it comes to comparisons of natural gas and oil. Much of the pro-oil data is propagated by industry groups representing the oil dealers.∗ That is not to say that natural gas systems are better – they have their marketers, too – only that this is a subject that requires a little extra effort to counter the spin.More…

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