Utility Tracking and Benchmarking Blog | WegoBlog

It’s definitely tough to be in the city and think of how “green” it can be, especially because cities are mostly built environments. Aside from industrialization, you can’t stop from noticing the streets covered in trash, air full of car exhaust, and lack of large green spaces! However, some cities in the U.S. have begun to push these stereotypes aside. The WegoWise, Inc. team decided to gather 7 cities that have promoted sustainability in great ways. Check it out!

As more and more people leave single-family and multi-family suburban homes, they begin to move towards the city. Places like Boston, New York, and Los Angeles are flooded with young professionals who are on the look-out for apartments that will make their wallet feel comfortable while being close to their work place. For these young professionals, moving allows them to develop their career path in a fast-paced , urban environment. A city like Boston, where WegoWise, Inc. is based, can tell you that living in a city where there is growth in demand for downtown living causes limited housing space. Enter micro units, a small sized apartment, perfect for one or two, that just might be a new and innovative way of living in urban downtowns.

What to expect when you're expecting...Solar Power. Last year my wife and I decided to take the plunge, we signed up for residential solar power.  After living in China and breathing really dirty air for 2 years, I became interested in the advantages of solar power.  I dreamt of a solar world.

EPA Investing in New Energy Star Portfolio Manager Web Services   The EPA is closing in on the scheduled release of their newly upgraded Energy Star Portfolio Manager that will make benchmarking building energy efficiency more, for lack of a better word, efficient.   The upgrade will include changes to the database architecture, system processing, web services, and user interface.  All changes are being made with an overarching purpose of improving functionality and usability for all parties.  Most notable for the Portfolio Manager user, is that the web services, formally known as Automated Benchmarking Services (ABS), will have a new software design to simplify the process of exchanging data with Portfolio Manager.

After decades of deliberation, the owners of the historic Empire State Building in New York City have decided to IPO, allowing the public to purchase shares of the Manhattan icon. This means that ownership in the famous structure are available to you and me, regardless of whether we are real estate moguls. Because I am an energy nerd, this analysis focuses on the impact of recent green projects on the building's value.

The WegoWise office is abuzz today in anticipation of our homecity's own music festival, Boston Calling, this weekend. Music festivals continue to gain popularity around the world, with thousands of eventgoers streaming in to remote (and not-so-remote) locations to celebrate and listen to some tunes.  With such a concentration of people staying, partying, and doing the things people do, music festivals have an uphill struggle to avoid potentially serious environmental impacts.  Whether your a concerned citizen, an avid festival-goer, or planning your own Memorial Day "boombox, burgers and buds" backyard festival this weekend, take a look at our Friday links and get some knowledge!

We provide tracking and benchmarking services to a lot of multifamily and commercial buildings throughout the US. As leaders in this space, we often get asked what we think of energy benchmarking and disclosure laws. Recently, this debate came to our backyard, with Boston's consideration of the Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO). The ordinance passed a vote of the Boston City Council vote only two weeks ago.

While rural areas by definition have fewer buildings, their energy use reduction potential at a national level should not be forgotten.  For logical reasons, most building energy efficiency improvement initiatives have targeted urban areas where buildings are concentrated. As part of our nation’s commitment to becoming more energy independent, supporting efforts to improve the efficiency of buildings in diverse rural areas represents an opportunity to achieve those goals holistically. The Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) supports underserved rural small businesses and agricultural providers seeking to use renewable energy resources and cut energy waste in their operations. This program represents an important step in responding to the energy reduction challenges facing the US.

We love energy tracking, the key idea behind the US Government's Better Building Challenge. Over the next few weeks there are a number of terrific events focused on reducing energy and saving money by improving the built environment through energy efficiency upgrades.