Posts Tagged ‘Energy conservation’

Promoting Energy Conservation in Master-Metered Apartments through Group Financial Incentives’

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  • Added:Thursday, May 13th, 2010
  • Writer(s):Lou McClelland and Stuart W. Cook
  • Publication Date:1980
  • Publisher:Journal of Applied Social Psychology
  • Abstract:An energy conservation contest among four groups of apartments (44 to 70 units each) in a University of Colorado family housing complex was conducted February-April, 1977. The winning group in each of six 2-week contests won $80 to use however it determined. The program produced a drop of about 10% in use of natural gas during the first contest; energy savings were smaller but still statistically significant throughout the first 8 weeks. Over a 12-week period, savings averaged 6.6%. Some changes in energy-using behaviors were reported by residents surveyed at the contest's end; however, knowledge of contest results by residents was minimal. The results are compared to those of other contest and rebate programs, the practical problems of costs exceeding savings and inaccurate estimates of energy savings are discussed, and implications for future research are suggested.
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The Cost-Effectiveness of Commissioning New and Existing Commercial Buildings: Lessons from 224 Buildings

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  • Added:Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
  • Writer(s):Evan Mills, Norman Bourassa, Mary Ann Piette, Hannah Friedman, Tudi Haasl, Tehesia Powell, David Claridge
  • Publication Date:May 4-6, 2005
  • Publisher:National Conference on Building Commissioning
  • Abstract:Scattered case studies and anecdotal information inform the conventional wisdom that building commissioning is highly cost-effective. Given that this belief has not been systematically or comprehensively documented, however, it is perhaps of no surprise that the most frequently cited barrier to widespread use of commissioning is decision-makers' lack of information pertaining to costs and associated savings. Designed as a “meta-analysis,” this paper compiles and synthesizes published and unpublished data from real-world commissioning and retro-commissioning projects, establishing the largest available collection of standardized information on new and existing building commissioning experience in actual buildings. We analyze results from 224 buildings, representing 30.4 million square feet of commissioned space, across 21 states. We developed a detailed and uniform methodology for characterizing the results of projects and normalizing the data to maximize inter-comparisons. For the commissioning of existing buildings, we found median energy cost savings of 15% [7% to 29% interquartile range, i.e. 25th to 75th percentiles] or $0.27/ft2-year, and median payback times of 0.7 years [0.2 to 1.7 years]. For new buildings, median commissioning costs were 0.6% [0.3% to 0.9%] of total construction costs or($1.00/ft2), yielding a median payback time of 4.8 years [1.2 to 16.6 years]. These results exclude non-energy impacts. When non-energy impacts are included cost-effectiveness increases considerably, and the net cost for new buildings is often zero or even negative. Cost-effective results occur across a range of building types, sizes and pre-commissioning energy intensities. We find that building commissioning can play a major and strategically important role in attaining broader national energy savings goals—with a potential of $18 billion or more in savings each year. As technologies and applications change and/or become more complex in the effort to capture greater energy savings, the risk of under-performance will rise and the value of building commissioning will increase. Indeed, innovation driven by the desire for increased energy efficiency may itself inadvertently create energy waste if those systems are not designed, implemented, and operated properly.
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The Benefits of Information on the Efficient Usage of Consumer Durables: Experimental Evidence Concerning Residential Energy Conservation

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  • Added:Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
  • Writer(s):Isamu Matsukawa
  • Publication Date:November 30, 2004
  • Publisher:Musashi University Discussion Paper No. 38
  • Abstract:This paper attempts to measure the benefits of information about efficient usage of electric appliances consumers receive through energy conservation, using data from a Japanese experiment. In the experiment, households could easily obtain information on how to achieve efficient usage of electric appliances through a display installed at their residence. The data were used to estimate a utility-consistent, discrete-continuous model of display usage and electricity demand. Full information maximum likelihood estimates of a tranlsog indirect utility function and electricity cost share function indicate that information provision contributed to energy conservation and to welfare improvements of consumers in the experiment.
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