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Evaluation Results Help Programs Cool Off!
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| Presenter(s):
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| Lark Lee, PA Consulting Group, lark.lee@paconsulting.com
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| Laura Schauer, PA Consulting Group, laura.schauer@paconsulting.com
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| Abstract:
The air conditioning (AC) market is experiencing unprecedented changes in standard efficiency levels. In October 2009, leading manufacturers of central air conditioners, furnaces, and heat pumps signed a historic, voluntary agreement with the nation's leading energy efficiency advocacy organizations supporting new federal standards for those products. These changes come on the heels of industry-driving trends, including increased efficiency requirements as part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, increased manufacturer rebates, and utility program initiatives.
With a multitude of factors influencing the AC market, why are some programs wildly successful, smashing their goals, while other programs struggle to succeed? This paper will synthesize results across separate evaluation efforts in New York, Michigan and Colorado to highlight the primary drivers of these programs’ performance, characterizing and disentangling, to the extent feasible, the role and influence various demographic, economic, and programmatic factors played in the programs' performances in 2009.
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Evaluation of Progress to Develop and Evaluate Sustainable Federal Facilities
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| Presenter(s):
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| Dale Pahl, United States Environmental Protection Agency, pahl.dale@epa.gov
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| Dan Amon, United States Environmental Protection Agency, amon.dan@epa.gov
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| Bill Ridge, United States Environmental Protection Agency, ridge.william@epa.gov
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| Andy Miller, United States Environmental Protection Agency, miller.andy@epa.gov
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| Bob Thompson, United States Environmental Protection Agency, thompson.bob@epa.gov
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| Abstract:
This presentation focuses on the evaluation implications of Executive Order 13514, which directs that sustainability is integral to federal leadership for environmental, energy, and economic performance in the United States. To achieve the national goal of a sustainable and clean energy economy, this executive order directs all federal agencies to extend their strategic goals and plans to: increase energy efficiency; reduce greenhouse gas emissions; conserve and protect water resources; operate high performance sustainable buildings; ensure that new federal buildings are designed to achieve zero-net-energy by 2030; and evaluate progress to achieve performance goals for sustainable facilities.
The potential environmental and energy benefits of this executive order are significant because the ‘footprint’ of federal facilities in the United States is immense. For example, the federal government is among the largest buyers of energy in the nation and the federal facilities portfolio is estimated to include 550,000 buildings.
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Why Market Evaluations Matter! Significantly Improving Energy Program Outcomes With Market Intelligence in the Large Commercial Building Sector
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| Presenter(s):
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| John Reed, Innovologie LLC, jreed@innovologie.com
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| Abstract:
The development and use of market evaluations has not been widely discussed but they are extremely important for determining how best to implement robust programs that achieve their goals. Programs commonly address a specific issue in the absence of understanding the larger (market) context. This paper describes and defines market evaluation. It describes methods for uncovering market structure, decision makers, networks, decision criteria, and “modeling” decision outcomes. It provides examples of several market evaluations for the large commercial building sector in the US. It then describes how these market evaluations have been used to re-define, more carefully target, and make more robust energy efficiency programs targeting the large commercial building sector. More specifically it shows how using market intelligence resulted in redirecting programs that targeted decision-makers, architects, vendors, and building engineers at the building level to targeting high-level decision makers who control not one but many properties resulting in more rapid adoption of efficient technologies.
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When Designing a High Quality Evaluation Involves Complex and Evolving Program Issues: Strategies From an Evaluation of an Industrial Process Energy Efficiency Program
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| Presenter(s):
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| Kara Crohn, Research Into Action, kara.crohn@gmail.com
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| Marjorie McCrae, Research Into Action, marjorie@researchintoaction.com
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| Abstract:
The “greening” of industry rightly focuses on reducing resource consumption. In the past two years there has been an increasing spotlight on energy consumption. Incentive programs have been in place for many years to assist industrial firms in replacing inefficient equipment with highly energy-efficient equipment. Through the Industrial Process Efficiency (IPE) program in the New York State Energy Research & Development Agency (NYSERDA) a strategic change is underway to encourage industrial firms to reduce energy consumption throughout their production lines. While potential resource and cost savings may be substantial, the perceived risk of making process changes can be higher. This presentation will discuss strategic and methodological issues involved in designing an evaluation that seeks to assist the program in identifying key factors in encouraging potential and current program participants to pursue energy-efficient process improvements, especially decision-making processes, program representatives’ relations with various levels of decision-makers, and incentives that outweigh risks.
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