Don’t miss any of the upcoming Technical Assistance Program (TAP) webinars. This month’s webinars will explore best practices and technical information for state, city, county and tribal energy practitioners.
Registration is now open for the April webinars, which will address a range of topics including:
- Financial institution partnerships
- Best practices for combustion air zone (CAZ)
- Advanced benchmarking for EPA’s Portfolio Manager
- Solid-state lighting solutions
- Modeling tools and techniques for grantees
- An overview of research on interactions between energy efficiency programs funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and utility customer-funded energy efficiency programs
The complete webinar schedule for April can be found below. Please remember the webinar details are subject to change. A description of each webinar, as well as sign up information can also be found on the TAP Blog. For information on past TAP webinars, please visit the Webcasts page on the Solution Center.
Don’t see a webinar for a topic you’re interested in? Make a comment on our blog or send an email to solutioncenter@ee.doe.gov.
Engaging Financial Institution Partners
Host: Mark Zimring, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Date: April 11, 2011
Time: 2:00-3:30 EDT
Description: Stimulus grantees across the country are partnering with financial institutions to offer loan products that help households overcome the upfront cost barrier to investing in energy efficiency. This webinar will feature expert guidance on strategies for engaging financial institutions, as well as insights from energy efficiency program managers and their financial partners on the keys to successful negotiations.
Combustion Air Zone (CAZ) Best Practices
Host: Phil Jones, ICF International and J.C. Martel, Southwest Energy Efficiency Project
Date: April 13, 2011
Time: 1:00-2:30 EDT
Description: This webinar will discuss using combustion air zone (CAZ) best practices to ensure that sealing homes to be more energy-efficient does not cause indoor air quality problems. CAZs exist where combustion appliances are located in confined spaces within the building envelope.
Advanced Benchmarking: Benchmark Building Energy Use Quickly and Accurately Using EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager
Host: Peter Flippen, ICF International
Date: April 14, 2011
Time: 2:00-3:00 EDT
Description: This Webinar will go beyond the basics of benchmarking energy performance using Portfolio Manager. This webinar will give attendees familiar with Portfolio Manager another layer of detail related to getting data into the tool quickly and accurately. An example of how to benchmark a complex office building will be presented along with tips for benchmarking other public sector building types. Spreadsheet import options and EPA’s Automated Benchmarking System will be reviewed as well to help attendees determine the best most efficient approach to benchmarking.
Exterior Solid-State Lighting Solutions for Municipalities
Host: Chad Bulman, Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance
Date: April 19, 2011
Time: 2:00-3:00 EDT
Description: Municipalities around the nation are increasingly saving on energy costs by renovating or retrofitting exterior street lighting fixtures. This webinar will inform participants on the basics of exterior-based, solid-state lighting (SSL), especially for municipal applications, as well as present best practices in specifying and implementing cost effective projects. In addition, the topics of manufacturer claim verification and available resources will be described by an expert in the field of SSL. This webinar is for municipalities who are interested in understanding the tools needed to implement high efficiency lighting.
Modeling for Grantees
Host: Ed Pierce, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Date: April 27, 2011
Time: 3:00-4:15 EDT
Description: The first step in determining feasibility of an energy conservation measure is to estimate the savings that can be achieved. This webinar will briefly survey the available estimation modeling tools and techniques and provide examples of the type of energy conservation measures to which grantees can apply them.
Interactions Between Energy Efficiency Programs Funded Under the Recovery Act and Utility Customer-Funded Energy Efficiency Programs
Host: Chuck Goldman, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Date: April 28, 2011
Time: 2:00-3:30 EDT
Description: The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) provided billions of federal dollars to support investments in energy efficiency at the state and local level. How state energy offices chose to allocate those funds and how those programs interacted with the existing utility customer-funded programs is the subject of a new report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) entitled, “Interactions between Energy Efficiency Programs Funded under the Recovery Act and Utility Customer-Funded Energy Efficiency.” This webinar will present findings from the LBNL report.
Residential Retrofit Program Design Guide Overview
Host: Team 4 – Vermont Energy Investment Corporation
Date: May 3, 2011
Time: 2:00-3:00 EDT
Description: As states and municipalities plan for—and start to roll out—residential retrofit programs, having a trusted “operations manual” to turn to will help save time and avoid potential pitfalls. The “Residential Retrofit Program Design Guide” is just such a manual, designed to provide guidance to program planners and implementers based on decades of experience from successful retrofit programs. This webinar will introduce the Residential Retrofit Program Design Guide and provide an overview of its content and structure, with a focus on how programs can use it for planning and as an on-going resource.
Environmental News Bits 