Whitepapers
Low-E & Behold: Low-E Storm Window Solution
Infrared images of buildings show that windows are often one of the largest heating and cooling sinks, or “holes” in the thermal envelope. Single‐pane windows are the most egregious offenders, particularly in colder climates such as the Vermont climate.
Home Energy Reports: Providing Low-Cost Savings
Until recently, there hasn’t been an effective method to measure energy savings driven by conservation actions. Behavioral Savings quantify conservation efforts by measuring energy use before and after a change in behavior. In the fall of 2014, Efficiency Vermont launched the Home Energy Reports pilot as a programmatic approach to achieving Behavior Savings. This report explores this method, and energy savings results to date.
Net zero energy feasibility study
In 2015, Efficiency Vermont supported a research project conducted by Maclay Architects to examine the financial feasibility of net zero energy buildings in Vermont and beyond. The study provides background for developers, contractors, designers, consultants, and building clients that will show the relevance and financial benefit of building beyond code standards to net zero energy standards.
Are thermostats the new energy audits?
In 2013, Efficiency Vermont conducted a field research study to examine the potential of identifying the “heat-loss rate” of buildings with thermostat data. Researchers explored the hypothesis that a programmable communicating thermostat paired with location, weather, and other broadly available information sources could be used to discern meaningful differences in household thermal performance. A small sample of data from 13 thermostats in Vermont homes and small businesses was used to complete the study. Results suggest that using remote diagnostics incorporating data from thermostats may be a cost-effective strategy for efficiency programs and could provide meaningful site-specific insights.
Efficiency Vermont's ENERGY STAR Program Report
The Efficiency Vermont Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program officially launched in 2005. In 2008, when the Vermont Legislature set a statewide goal to weatherize 80,000 homes by the year 2020, the program was galvanized. The legislation sought to harness energy efficiency as a driver of savings for consumers and economic development in Vermont. In order to meet the goal, Vermont’s residential retrofit programs would need to scale up.
Electric vehicles as grid resources in ISO-NE and Vermont
In 2013, Efficiency Vermont supported a small research and development project to examine the potential impact of electric vehicles on Vermont's power infrastructure. The study outlines various ways in which electric vehicles can serve as resources to the electric grid, in the context of Vermont's Comprehensive Energy Plan goal to power 25% of vehicles with renewable energy sources by 2030.
The Vermont Home Energy Challenge final report
The Vermont Home Energy Challenge (VHEC) was a yearlong engagement effort to test the potential of local community organizations to help raise awareness of energy efficiency and increase completion of projects under Efficiency Vermont’s Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® program.
The Barriers to Home Energy Efficiency Improvements
The Vermont legislature has established an ambitious goal to improve the energy fitness of 25% of Vermont’s housing units, about 80,000 homes and apartments, by 2020. This will require a substantial increase in the number of Vermont households completing energy efficiency improvements.
The once and future CFL
For most people, compact fluorescent light bulbs (or CFLs) are the face of energy efficiency. This is not surprising, given that the CFL has utterly transformed energy efficiency over the last decade. The rise of the CFL has enabled massive savings forenergy efficiency programs, and has greatly expanded the reach of energy efficiency efforts by serving as a low cost, firstpoint of entry for consumers looking to reduce their electric bills.
Individual and community engagement
Energy efficiency service providers, such as Efficiency Vermont, know that an understanding of the customer is essential to their effectiveness. Multiple factors—including customers’ priorities, budgets, depth of efficiency knowledge and more—have an impact on customers’ decisions to participate in their programs.
A new dawn in efficient lighting
Lighting has played a central role in energy efficiency programs for decades. Often dubbed low-hanging fruit, lighting has presented savings opportunities for nearly every customer and has offered efficiency programs the ability to obtain a magnitude of energy savings unmatched by any other single technology.
Finding Big Savings: The Value of Energy Efficiency
If you have been paying attention to the energy efficiency field in recent years, you have probably noticed a great deal of excitement about the potential of data. But those of us who work with it every day will tell you that it is not about data; it is about information.
Energy Improvement Brings Efficiency to Next Level
At most facilities, everyone consumes energy but only a few are accountable for the costs incurred. Continuous Energy Improvement (CEI) is a new model in energy efficiency which assures, in effect, that energy efficiency and conservation become an integral part of the business culture, and that controlling energy costs is important to everyone. The CEI model goes far beyond capital upgrades — which have traditionally been the major driver of business energy efficiency initiatives — and applies innovative strategies to achieve process improvements, update maintenance cycles, and increase employee engagement. This holistic, long-term, and data-driven approach enables businesses to fully understand how they use energy, and to also generate an actionable "roadmap" for effectively managing this critical component of their production costs against a variable landscape.