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Berkeley pioneered a way to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy installations on buildings in 2008. Since then, 22 states have introduced similar programs. But the Property Assessed Clean Energy Program (PACE) is being blocked for the time being by, of all things, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, holders of about half of the home mortgages in the country and a major player in the financial crisis that we are still recovering from. PACE adds jobs and ... [continue reading]
Remember the Hydrogen Highway that would run the length of California and provide the infrastructure for the Hydrogen Economy? California Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger talked up the idea in his 2004 State of the State Address: [continue reading]
Can growing marijuana change the way homes use electricity? In rural Humboldt County, in far-northern California, there’s no doubt that it can. Figure 1 tracks average monthly residential electricity use in Humboldt County and in California. Until the mid-1990s, these two values were almost identical. But after 1996, Humboldt County’s electricity use suddenly turned upward. What happened? In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215, which legalized the medical use of marijuana. In practice, Proposition 215 ... [continue reading]
Photo by Jovan Peric - Fotolia.com Homes with high energy consumption are likely to provide us more opportunities to save energy. If that’s true, then why don’t we see more programs and businesses geared toward the high users? [continue reading]
Home Energy magazine’s Annual Training Guide for Home Performance Professionals--published in past years in print and as a downloadable PDF on our Web site--is now perpetual. And searchable. Every two years, we have published a resource of training programs in the United States and Canada, connecting trainers to students. Last year, the Guide went from a list with a short description of each trainer organization and its offerings, to a grid, showing ... [continue reading]
The nice thing about TED talks is that they are efficiently presented, compressing information into a few stimulating moments. [continue reading]
Scientists are figuring out how to squeeze more electricity out of photovoltaic (PV) panels. PV panels take the sun’s energy and convert it into electricity. The sun’s energy is abundant, but in order for solar electricity to compete with cheaper forms of electricity, such as that produced from highly polluting coal-fired power plants, PV panels have to be more efficient. And they need to be cheaper. Higher efficiency gets you more ... [continue reading]
Like a lot of people, I’ve been thinking about the devastation from the earthquake in Haiti, seeing images of collapsed buildings and dead people on the news and in the newspapers. I wonder why less than a hundred people in the Bay Area died in the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, and perhaps as many as 200,000 have died from the earthquake last month in Haiti. The Transamerica Building in downtown San Francisco swayed about ... [continue reading]
Home Energy Monitors, that is, devices that display a home’s energy consumption have been touted as Silicon Valley’s contribution to the national energy conservation effort. A Home Energy Monitor (or HEM) constantly informs the occupants of their home’s electricity and gas consumption, along with conversions to monthly costs and comparisons with previous periods. Some models can (or will) communicate with heating and air conditioning systems. These devices will enable ... [continue reading]
The three R's after any disaster are: Response, Recovery & Rebuild. Response is the first few days, as rescue workers try their best and aid begins arriving. Recovery is the next few weeks, as aid gets out into the field, roads get cleared, water and electricity is restored, sewers are fixed, and temporary accommodation built. But the biggest challenge is the long rebuild which can take months and years, and usually takes place when ... [continue reading]
