Comments on: Energy Efficiency: Can You Save Money Without Spending Money?

By: Eric Myers

Eric Myers — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 03:03:41 +0000

Great article. I think its important to find ways to improve office efficiency while keeping costs low and staying green. For my company I recently switched to using a telephone answering service. Its really been great working with them and the software they have integrated into office procedures. It has really helped us connect with customers too.

By: moon815

moon815 — Mon, 31 May 2010 17:53:19 +0000

Great article! Indeed money has to be spent in most cases, but I find making the most of an easy saver program and other similar schemes can save a lot of money as well. Of course energy saving light bulbs are an obvious thing to do but I'm shocked by how many people still don't use them.

By: moon815

moon815 — Mon, 31 May 2010 10:53:19 +0000

Great article!

By: Scott Johnson

Scott Johnson — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:53:34 +0000

@Matt Golden:
Thanks for the tip on the “On-Tax Bill financing” options that are now being launched throughout the state. It would be great to have this initiative rolled out at a state-wide level vs. city-by-city.
I very much enjoyed the NPR interview (and recalled it during my conversation with the CFO sometime later).

By: Scott Johnson

Scott Johnson — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:40:34 +0000

@Chris Kaiser:
In response to your question on, “I knew about ESCOs for larger companies, but what solutions are there for small businesses?”, I have been working with several small companies recently – and in all cases, they have leveraged the energy audit services from local utilities like PG&E (with their SmartLights program) or SCE to do a “free” energy audit, and to identify the retrofit and associated rebate opportunities. In these cases, their upfont investments have been very reasonable.

By: southerngirl

southerngirl — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:43:49 +0000

If the “green”, liberal, progressive, blue state way of doing things is really superior, then why do so many Northerners keep moving South to red states and not the reverse?

By: Brandon Conard

Brandon Conard — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:31:00 +0000

Have the CFO call BlueMap Inc. – this is exactly what we do. We specialize in helping small to mid-size companies find rapid ROI energy efficiency and other green projects, that can be paid for by the savings realized. We always start-off with a no-cost audit.

Also, after much investigation, I’d caution the optimism for the fleet management system software. The MPG reduction is frequently overstated. Although they can help you route deliveries more efficiently, and thus cut down on some gas consumption, this really only applies to a certain type of delivery based companies. The primary benefit realized from fleet management software is a reduction in fraud/bad behavior by drivers. For example, the plumber stops taking the company truck to the bar between jobs because he knows you know where he is due to the GPS unit. This is an important benefit, but very hard to quantify, and not really relevant to the environment.

Brandon – BlueMap Inc. – http://www.bluemapinc.com

By: Chris Kaiser

Chris Kaiser — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:39:24 +0000

Great article on efficiency. While my blog, http://blog.mapawatt.com focuses on what individuals can do in their homes for energy efficiency, I’ve been working on selling energy efficiency to large industrial users for years. It is very tough! Most of the time, the biggest problem is that companies just don’t have energy managers. Until companies decide to get serous about conserving energy, no amount of financing will help.
I knew about ESCOs for larger companies, but what solutions are there for small businesses?

By: Kelly Birdwell

Kelly Birdwell — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:53:34 +0000

I would also recommend looking to your local energy utility for energy efficiency incentives and rebates. Incentives are highly variable across the country, but some utility providers are working to help customers increase their efficiency. In certain cases, there are measures which can be implemented at low-to-no-cost, particularly for small businesses!
As an example, here is Pacific Gas & Electric’s EE rebate site for business customers:
http://www.pge.com/mybusiness/energysavingsrebates/rebatesincentives/

By: Matt Golden

Matt Golden — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:09:08 +0000

This is Matt Golden, founder of Sustainable Spaces (http://www.sustainablespaces.com) I was the person quoted on NPR discussing the cost of energy efficiency on homes for this article. Interestingly, the NPR interview referenced in this blog as an example of the “upfront” costs of Energy Efficiency was specifically discussing Berkeley CA, which is a pioneer in the arena of Financing. Berkeley was the birth place of On-Tax Bill financing where homeowners can finance these types of projects (and auditing costs) through a municipal financing program that allows for zero upfront costs, for terms as long as 20 years (making most projects cash-flow positive in year one). In addition, if a homeowner moves, the financing stays with the house, not the individual.
These programs are currently being launched in cities and regions through the state, including Berkeley, Palm Desert, Sonoma County (just to name a few). Over the coming months we will see programs of this sort becoming available through out the state.
http://www.ab811.org/
http://empoweredbysolar.com/empower-blog/ab-811-sonoma-county-energy-independence-program

By: Matt Golden

Matt Golden — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:02:40 +0000

Interesting, the NPR interview referenced in this blog as an example of the “upfront” costs of Energy Efficiency was specifically discussing Berkeley CA, which is a pioneer in the arena of Financing.
Berkeley was the birth place of On-Tax Bill financing where homeowners can finance these types of projects (and auditing costs) through a municipal financing program that allows for zero upfront costs, for terms as long as 20 years (making most projects cash-flow positive in year one). In addition, if a homeowner moves, the financing stays with the house, not the individual.
These programs are currently being launched in cities and regions through the state, including Berkeley, Palm Desert, Sonoma County (just to name a few). Over the coming months we will see programs of this sort becoming available through out the state.
http://www.ab811.org/
http://empoweredbysolar.com/empower-blog/ab-811-sonoma-county-energy-independence-program