Energy Efficiency | Page 302

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy released its annual ranking of states by their energy efficiency policy and program efforts, applauding collaboration between businesses, governments and citizens in accelerating the push for energy efficiency as a resource.

This report details recent energy efficiency successes from a growing number of manufacturing organizations — including big corporations like 3M, Celanese, General Mills, General Motors and Procter & Gamble — within the U.S. Department of Energy's Better Plants program.

Offering a new progress update on the Better Plants program, the U.S. DOE announced that 12 manufacturers met their energy or water savings goals in 2016 and 30 new partners have joined the challenge. In 2015, partners reported an estimated cumulative energy savings of 600 trillion British thermal units and saved more than $3.1 billion in energy costs.

This case study presented by Constellation outlines how the team helped the National Aquarium in Baltimore develop an energy management strategy that promotes efficiency and conservation.

The U.S. DOE has launched a new program within the Better Buildings Initiative aimed at helping commercial building reduce their energy use with Macy's, Wendy's, Whole Foods and 15 other organizations as partners.

Energy efficiency software provider EnerNOC on Sept. 23 announced a restructuring of its subscription-based energy information systems business that will result in a 15% reduction in the company's global workforce.

Financing has been obtained for Colorado's first Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy, or C-PACE, project; the associated energy upgrades to a commercial and industrial property include a 100 kW rooftop solar array and LED lighting.

The regulated natural gas utility subsidiary of WGL Holdings said it has surpassed its 2020 greenhouse gas and methane emissions reduction goals.

Bank of America has announced a new set of environmental goals, including a commitment to powering its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2020 and reducing its energy use by 40%.

As part of its effort to serve the information needs of large commercial and industrial energy executives, Smart Energy Decisions on Sept. 19 announced the launch of its inaugural event: the Smart Energy Decisions Innovation Summit.