Utility Tracking and Benchmarking Blog | WegoBlog

Whether you're networking over some Green Drinks or schmoozing with your in-laws, you're going to need something to talk about this weekend, and WegoWise has got you covered.  For our new talking points series we're combing the internet to give you a primer on the latest energy, sustainability, and technological trends so that you can burn off a Friday afternoon, recharge your list of talking points, and go into your weekend with a fresh take on familiar conversations.

The United States consumes 20 percent of the world’s energy – 40 percent of this quantity comes from our residential and commercial buildings. As obvious as it sounds, reducing our buildings’ energy use will go a long way in minimizing our carbon output and ensuring a sustainable environment for our homes and workplaces.

Whether you're looking to become a more informed citizen, kill some time on a Friday, or check out a funny video of a dog, WegoWise has got you covered.  Check out this week's links for some neat photos, interesting thoughts on LED bulbs, and perhaps the greatest GIF of them all.

Whether you're looking to become a more informed citizen, or just kill some time before 5 on a Friday, WegoWise has got you covered!  Resilience is the idea that in a world that is increasingly unpredictable, simple sustainability is not enough, and that we need to be prepared to cope with consistently changing conditions.  Resilience applies to just about every facet of society, including the environment, our food supply, geopolitics and the economy.  Think of it as a way of understanding complex and volatile systems, and preparing to adapt.  Go ahead and peruse our best links, drop a comment below, and be sure to share some of the information you just learned with other interested parties at the parties you're hopefully attending this weekend.

Formed in conversation with Sustainability, Resilience is the idea that in a future of more frequent severe weather events, long-term global climate change, and geopolitical turmoil, we should restructure our major cultural systems to not only tread lightly on the earth, but to be resilient to disaster, and more adaptable to unexpected changes. 

Resilience is predicated on the fact that the major systems structuring our lives are static and fragile.  Our transportation, food system, and electrical grid, for example, are all massive, complicated systems that we rely upon daily, but which are prone to break during disaster events such as hurricanes, drought, or fuel shortages.  Specifically in this blog post, I’d like to talk about how resilience applies to energy.  

Whether you're looking to become a more informed citizen, or just kill some time before 5 on a Friday, WegoWise has got you covered.  William Gibson famously said: "The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed." Each news cycle brings more support to his claim as wild technologies aim to transform the way we use energy, grow food, and live on our planet . Read up on some of the latest revolutions happening around us, and be sure to share the information you learn with other interested parties at the parties you're hopefully attending this weekend.

Whether you're looking to become a more informed citizen, or just kill some time before 5 on a Friday, WegoWise has got you covered.  With President Obama's State-of-the-Union endorsement of energy efficiency, we're looking forward to seeing what new initiatives get pushed forward in the coming years.  One rising trend in energy legislation is the growth of municipal benchmarking and disclosure laws.  From New York to Seattle to Washington, D.C., cities are catching on to the value of measuring, comparing, and analyzing how buildings use energy. So read up on some of the latest developments in this field, and be sure to share the information you learn with other interested parties at the parties you're hopefully attending this President's Day weekend.

As the first major city to pass Energy Star benchmarking and disclosure laws, Washington DC led the country. However New York City left DC behind with NYC Local Law 84 implementation.  Now the DC energy disclosure rules are final and the time has arrived to report your Energy Star score for your commercial building.  Multi-family buildings also have to submit their energy usage to the EPA through Energy Star Portfolio Manager, though they don’t have to collect tenant data (yet). 

Trying to stay warm is perpetually on the minds of New Englanders during the winter months (or at least those native to more southern states). However, climate change considerations and heating bills keep many of us from cranking up the thermostat. While the occasional jumping jacks in your apartment can help stave off the shivers, there are other options to maximize energy efficiency while keeping your home or apartment cozy when temperatures drop below freezing.