The buildings we occupy are complex. Each one is slightly different, and minor variances can significantly impact how they perform. Rebate programs and verification protocols do a reasonable job of…
Charley Cormany
Posted by Charley Cormany, EFCA Executive Director It’s human nature — everyone wants to find that magic “silver bullet” that will solve all their problems. It’s no different in the energy efficiency space, where the industry is constantly looking to find the latest and greatest technology or product that will fix everything. But while we have a lot of innovative solutions, from the simple (smart thermostats) to the complex (hydronic space heating paired with solar thermal collectors), the thing they
Posted by Charley Cormany, EFCA Executive Director Over the past 50 years, energy efficiency has played a critical role in California. The state’s aggressive efforts to reduce energy consumption, triggered by the oil crisis in the 1970s, has paid off. The results speak for themselves. Appliance standards, building codes, and efficiency rebate programs have worked collectively to reduce consumption. As a result, over the past four decades per capita energy use in California has stayed flat, even as the state’s
Posted by Charley Cormany, EFCA Executive Director A little over five years ago, I took on the position of executive director at Efficiency First California. It was a challenging time. I was taking over an organization that had been shrinking in size and was basically in a holding pattern, fighting for survival. My predecessor, our interim ED, had done his best to downsize and streamline the organization. He had already made some of the hard decisions, such as letting some staff go and shifting
Posted by Charley Cormany, EFCA Executive Director If you ask tradespeople or contractors about how and why they perform a specific task they do regularly in a certain way–like hanging HVAC ducts up high on the rafters in the attic–you usually get one of two responses: Lots of people will fall back on their training or early experience: “I learned to do it this way when I worked for _______ (fill in the blank), and I have done it like that ever since.” Others justify their methods
Posted by Charley Cormany, EFCA Executive Director There is no doubt the electrification trend is taking hold in California. As reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) becomes the most important goal for energy policy, it makes sense to shift end uses of energy away from the limited resource of fossil fuels to the electric grid. Recently, the increase in renewable generation has quickly made electricity our least impactful energy source, and the grid will continue to get cleaner over time. The transportation
Posted by Charley Cormany, EFCA Executive Director Recently, there has been a noticeable shift in California energy efficiency policy. For years the focus has been on the overall reduction in energy use. Today, the goals are much more complicated, with aggressive state mandates specifically targeting greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, when energy savings occur has become a factor, often superseding total consumption. The utilities have responded with time-of-use rates and incentives. In California, the transportation sector is by far
