Utility Tracking and Benchmarking Blog | WegoBlog

At WegoWise, we’re always on the lookout for cutting edge energy efficiency initiatives happening across the United States and world.  That’s why today we’re excited to tell you about Architecture 2030, a non-profit organization committed to promoting the reduction of fossil fuel use in buildings.  Well ahead of the curve in 2002, Architecture 2030 issued the 2030 Challenge with an emphasis on spurring rapid innovation in the U.S. and global building sector.

While you may still be enjoying the warm September weather, colder temperatures will be creeping in before you know it.  Around the WegoWise office in Boston, harsh winter weather is a serious consideration for homeowners when thinking about insulating their homes for the upcoming seasons. Attics are one of the most important areas of a home to insulate to reduce heat loss and thereby decrease energy consumption. Understanding and improving aged or inadequate attic insulation before the winter begins is an important step to insure a comfortable and energy efficient home during the upcoming months.

A few weeks ago, we had a guest post from Shiva Prakesh with New Ecology, discussing residential cogeneration. Micro-CHP (Combined Heat and Power) systems are a smaller-scale evolution of the more common CHP systems serving large sections of cities or industrial complexes. At WegoWise, we love cogeneration systems because they drastically improve energy efficiency of power production. Tom Casten (an expert in the co-gen field) predicted in 2008 that by using cogeneration systems, the US could provide about 20% of its energy needs from simply recycling industrial waste heat. 

Whether you want to be a more informed citizen or just want to kill some time before 5 on a Friday afternoon, WegoWise has got you covered. So peruse our best links, give us some feedback and be sure to share some of the info you just gleaned with other interested parties at the parties you are hopefully attending this weekend. Brought to you by Dan, Nate, Lily, Kate and Bert.

Whether you want to be a more informed citizen or just want to kill some time before 5 on a Friday afternoon, WegoWise has got you covered. So peruse our best links, give us some feedback and be sure to share some of the info you just gleaned with other interested parties at the parties you are hopefully attending this weekend. Brought to you by Dan, Nate, Sean, Lily, Catherine, Casey and Bert.

Windows are often the bane of high performance buildings.  With low R-values and need for significant quality control to ensure proper installation, building gurus have long desired high efficiency glazing.  However, a remarkable new product has recently been developed in Europe and is now being brought to the North American market. The high tech GlassX window is an insulated glass assembly that incorporates a phase-change material (PCM) between two of the glass panes.  Read on to learn more!

Whether you want to be a more informed citizen or just want to kill some time before 5 on a Friday afternoon, WegoWise has got you covered. This week we take a look at reducing energy consumption and getting the energy we do use from better sources.  So peruse our best links, give us some feedback and be sure to share some of the info you just gleaned with other interested parties at the parties you are hopefully attending this weekend. Brought to you by Dan, Nate, Sean, Lily, Catherine, and Casey.

Using "utility allowances" and "fun" in the same sentence is a bit of a stretch, but knowledgeable property owners can increase profitability through good management of utility costs.  Affordable housing property owners have to continually find a balance between the revenues they can generate through rent and their tenants' utility costs.  Most affordable properties are subject to a "gross rent" limit.  The gross rent limit is the maximum combined amount tenants can pay each month in rent and utility expenses.  High utility costs for the tenants means lower rent revenue for owners.  Some progressive developers have started to take concrete steps to ensure they maximize the rent they can collect.   

WegoWise joined over a thousand attendees (and Daryl Hannah) at the annual ACI National conference last week in Baltimore, MD, where we found great weather for walking by the harbor, a huge variety of sessions, and a lot of knowledgeable people from different industries.  A Home Energy Leadership Summit led off the week, followed by the Home Performance Conference.