Energy Efficiency Research is Good for Our Industry – And The World!
Everybody knows that air conditioning uses a lot of energy and costs a lot of money. And we all know that with ceiling fans, we use a lot less air conditioning, and save a lot of money on our utility bills. We can even get that the savings we’d see on our utility bills over time would pay for the ceiling fan. So why aren’t more of us installing ceiling fans? Well, a new research project is about to find out.
The Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkley has partnered with MIT’s Centre for Energy and Environmental Policy Research to work on a new research project called E2e – how to find smart ways to go from using larger amounts of energy, or “E”, to smaller amounts of energy, “e”.
The Project
The idea for the research project came from what’s called the “McKinsey Curve”, which says that there are “negative cost” energy efficient investments that basically pay for themselves. The E2e project has three main objectives:
1) Determine if these “negative cost” investments really exist
2) Figure out which of these investments offers the greatest return on the investment
3) Figure out why people and companies aren’t making these changes if the investments would really pay for themselves
E2e has already started with one study looking at the federal government’s Weatherization Assistance Program, where low-income homes get free energy-efficiency upgrades like insulation and weatherproofing. The results are being audited over time to figure out the actual gains in energy efficiency.
Bigger Goal to Save the Planet
The E2e project has a larger goal in all of this – to manage climate change, and get people to use less energy – not just so that they save money, but so that they can save the environment.
If the project can figure out which negative investments have the greatest impact, they can share this information with government, who can then put programs in place to help people make these investments – like financing programs, rebate programs to make energy efficiency upgrades more accessible to more people.
Good for Energy Efficiency Industry
Let’s face it, all this research that gets governments and people into action saving energy is good for our industry. Whether you’re an energy auditor or a weatherization contractor, you’ll benefit from these programs.
Need More Training?
If you’re interested in getting more energy efficiency training, call Green Training USA for a free career consultation. We’ll help you figure out the best courses to advance your career. Call 1-800-518-1877 or visit www.GreenTrainingUSA.com
