Ridgeline and Efficiency Maine Remove Residential Fossil Fuel Systems and Replace with Heat Pumps

July 2022 - Research done by Ridgeline Energy Analytics for Efficiency Maine demonstrates that replacing homes’ entire heating systems with heat pumps can deliver comfort and cost savings even in subzero temperatures.. Maine is well on its way to a goal of installing 100,000 heat pumps by 2025.  Energy News Network - In Maine, heat pumps are proving themselves even against extreme cold

June 2022 - Developing a Community-Led Certification Process for Facility Power Outage Resilience: Findings from a Massachusetts Pilot Study With an increase in the climate change-linked frequency and intensity of severe weather events that affect electric distribution infrastructure, there is an urgent need to define power outage resilience and identify methods to assess and certify whether and how planning actions and project implementations have made communities more resilient. Accordingly, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center initiated the Clean Energy and Resiliency (CLEAR) program to provide technical services to nine community sites in the commonwealth, which formed the basis of a convenience sample for this study. A RAND team—comprising Converge Strategies, XENDEE, and Ridgeline Energy Analytics—conducted stakeholder interviews and a literature review to articulate power outage resilience metrics, piloted a certification program, and used focus groups to assess pathways to the CLEAR program's operationalization and administration. The For more information on the CLEAR project visit, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.  

April 2022 - The Clean Energy and Resiliency (CLEAR) Report evaluated how to provide energy resilience for residential recovery services programs located on the Boston Public Health Commission’s Mattapan Campus to allow the programs’ clients to shelter in place during emergencies. The CLEAR Project Team —Converge Strategies, Ridgeline Energy Analytics, XENDEE Corporation, and RAND Corporation — presents the findings of the energy resilience survey and techno-economic analysis conducted on behalf of the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC), in partnership with the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA), the Mayor’s Office of Environment, Energy, and Open Space (EEOS), and the Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM). It provides an overview of the City of Boston’s climate, energy and resilience strategy, and the energy resilience initiatives of the four municipal organizations supporting the CLEAR program.  It then reviews the findings of the energy resilience assessment conducted for BPHC’s Mattapan facilities, including their energy resilience requirements, their existing energy resilience capabilities, and new opportunities  For more information on the CLEAR project visit, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.  

April 1, 2022

9:00-4:00

Zoom Webinar

Eventbrite registration

6 NABCEP CEUs for MA licensed electrician professional development hours

An in-depth analysis of the 2020 National Electrical Code requirements for solar PV system installations in Massachusetts. 

The Solar Energy Business Association of New England (SEBANE) welcomes all PV installers, electrical and building inspectors to attend the most up-to-date training available on PV Systems and the 2020 National Electrical Code.

Join Matt Piantedosi, Ridgeline Energy Analytics, for an in-depth analysis of the 2020 National Electrical Code requirements for solar PV system installations in Massachusetts. Key code changes will be provided for sections pertaining to PV installations, including Articles 690 and 705, as well as services in Article 230, grounding and bonding in Article 250, and wiring methods in Chapter 3.

This informative one-day program will include two sessions (morning and afternoon), covering the following:

• Array, disconnects, inverter, and solar labeling requirements and updates
• Rapid shutdown review
• Chapter 11 of NFPA 1: Fire Code Review
• Interconnection and Article 705 requirements and calculations
• In-depth analysis of PV system grounding
• MA SMART Solar Program requirements and best-practices

November 2021  - The Clean Energy and Resiliency (CLEAR) Report summarizes the findings of the energy resilience analysis conducted for Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The CLEAR Project Team — Converge Strategies, Ridgeline Energy Analytics, XENDEE Corporation, and Rand Corporation — evaluated the energy resilience posture of Brigham and Women’s Hospital to ensure that its lifeline facilities and emergency services are positioned to serve its community when they are most in need.  The report reviews BWH compliance for maintaining reliable power and uninterrupted service in healthcare facilities. It found that BWH is not on track to meet the City of Boston’s zero emissions by 2050 decarbonization target through energy efficiency and building upgrades alone.  The report provides recommendations for BWH to partner with the neighboring residential and institutional partners in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area to make joint clean energy and resilience investments.  For more information on the CLEAR project visit, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.  

August 2021 - Ridgeline Energy Analytics and Advanced Building Analytics conducted a baseline energy efficiency study of residential new construction in Maine for the Efficiency Maine Trust.  The Trust sought to understand the level of building code compliance and savings opportunities in home construction. The study examined 127 homes across Maine, 29 of which were manufactured (mobile) homes. Home raters visited each home and recorded a detailed assessment of all home components that contribute to the energy use of the home, including the thermal envelope, heating equipment, lighting, and appliances. The on-site assessments were performed using Home Energy Rating System (HERS) inspections developed by RESNET, Inc. The study team modeled as-built energy use and potential energy savings through increased compliance with codes using REM/Rate and Ekotrope Rater4 software. The study team found that homes built between 2017 and 2020 are more energy efficient than the homes assessed for a 2008 study, showing improvement in code compliance and construction techniques. Many of the new homes had one or more components that did not meet code. According to Laura Martel, Research and Evaluation Manager at the Trust, “The findings of the study indicate that code compliance improves over time as builders become more familiar with the requirements and techniques required to meet them. The Trust sees an opportunity to accelerate that process, with the recent adoption of IECC 2015 statewide, by offering training to builders and code enforcement officers.  The Trust will continue to offer incentives for the most efficient heating equipment for which new homes are eligible. The Trust will focus on whole home space heating solutions for new construction and continue to offer incentives on the most efficient domestic water heating solutions.”

March 2021  - The Clean Energy and Resiliency (CLEAR) Report summarizes the findings of the energy resilience analysis conducted for the Town of West Tisbury and presents ideas for energy resilience upgrades that will support the Town's goals of being 100% renewable by 2040. As an island community, West Tisbury, MA is vulnerable to extreme weather events and the prolonged power outages that they bring. Residents of Martha’s Vineyard cannot easily evacuate during severe weather events. They must shelter in place, making it essential that the town has access to adequate services in times of emergency. Upon identifying possible risks, their most immediate focus is making the town’s buildings more resilient by adopting solar plus storage. Additionally, the island towns have a resolution of shifting to 100% Renewable Energy by 2040. The CLEAR Project Team —Converge Strategies, Ridgeline Energy Analytics, XENDEE Corporation, and RAND Corporation —outlined how the town of West Tisbury can strengthen its energy infrastructure against extreme weather and grid interruptions to ensure that its lifeline facilities and emergency services are positioned to serve its community when they are most in need.  For more information on the CLEAR project visit, the  Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.    

February 2021 - Demand Side Analytics and Ridgeline Energy Analytics performed an impact evaluation of Efficiency Maine Trust's Small Business Initiative lighting program. The program delivers LED lamps, fixture retrofit kits, new fixtures, and controls to small businesses in Maine.  The evaluation assessed projects completed in FY2019 and metered lighting from October 2019 through November 2020. The evaluation found that the program was cost effective under all considered cases. The SBI Program is very influential in transitioning small business lighting to LEDs with a net to gross ratio of 91.4%. Findings from the evaluation will be incorporated into the FY2022 Commercial/Industrial/Multifamily Technical Reference Manual (TRM). 

December 3, 2020 - A team of leading resilience experts — XENDEE Corporation, RAND Corporation, Converge Strategies, LLC, and Ridgeline Energy Analytics — will support the Town of West Tisbury and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in their planning and design of climate-resilient energy infrastructure.  This community-level project is funded by the Baker-Polito Administration through the Clean Energy and Resiliency (CLEAR) program, launched by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC).  Read more on Businesswire.com

July 1, 2020 - Ridgeline Energy Analytics, a woman-owned and rapidly growing energy efficiency and renewable energy consulting firm, announced that it received national certifications as a Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) and a Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB) under the WOSB Federal Contract Program by the Center for Women and Enterprise (CWE), a regional certifying partner of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). Ridgeline is also certified in Massachusetts and Illinois as a Women Business Enterprise (WBE).

Nancy Dickson, Ridgeline’s co-founder and CEO, said, “We are pleased to be officially certified as this benefits our clients by helping them to achieve their supplier diversity goals.”  The WBENC certifications will enable Ridgeline to be listed as an approved and qualified woman-owned business for government agencies and businesses that are committed to supplier diversity. 

Founded in 1997, WBENC is the nation’s leader in women’s business development and the leading third-party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women, with more than 13,000 certified Women’s Business Enterprises, 14 national Regional Partner Organizations, and over 300 Corporate Members. More than 1,000 corporations representing America’s most prestigious brands as well as many states, cities, and other entities accept WBENC Certification. www.wbenc.org

Efficiency Valuation Organization releases a new IPMVP Application Guide, April 16, 2018

The Efficiency Valuation Organization (EVO) is pleased to announce the release of a new application guide Uncertainty Assessment for IPMVP (EVO 10100: 1:2018). This document is a revised and expanded version of the Statistics and Uncertainty for IPMVP (EVO 10100 1:2014) application guide published in 2014. The new application guide includes examples for each of the four IPMVP options.

M&V efforts are designed to determine energy and demand savings with some reasonable accuracy. However, this objective can be affected by either systematic error (i.e., not occurring by chance, including measurement error) or random error (i.e., occurring by chance and often due to using a sample rather than a census to develop the measured value). More.  [Table of Contents]

Committee Chair: M. Sami Khawaja, Ph.D. – Cadmus 

Brian Ball, Ph.D. – National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

Dakers Gowans, P.E. – Left Fork Energy, Inc. 

David Jump, Ph.D., CMVP – kW Engineering 

Bill Koran, P.E., CMVP – SBW 

Dave Korn, P.E. – Ridgeline Energy Analytics 

Steve Kromer, P.E. – SKEE 

Jesse Smith, M.Sc. – Demand Side Analytics 

Kevin Warren, P.E. – Warren Energy Engineering

Korn, David. Kicking off Guidance for the Northeast.NEEP M&V 2.0 Workshop: Evolving the Paradigms For M&V. November 7, 2018.

EVO IPMVP Uncertainty Assessment sub-committee. Uncertainty Assessment for IPMVP, April 2018. [Table of Contents]

Korn, David, J. Walczyk, and A. Jackson. Evaluating Cold Climate Heat Pumps: Understanding How and Where Cold Climate Heat Pumps Can Displace Less Efficient Heating Sources.  IEPEC Annual Conference, August 8, 2017.

Korn, David. Examining Technologies and Selected Results. Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership Regional EM&V Forum Webinar on Non-intrusive load metering: Advances and Opportunities, July 31, 2017.

Korn, David, A. Jackson. Cold Climate ASHP Evaluation. NEEPAir Source Heat Pump Workshop, June 2017. 

Korn, David and J. Walczyk, Interaction of Cold Weather Ductless Heat Pumps and Primary Fossil Systems, ACEEE Summer Study, 2016.

Korn, David and J. Walczyk, Exactly What Is a Full Load Cooling Hour and Does Size Really Matter?ACEEE Summer Study, 2016.