Response to the latest CEE Industry Partners Meeting was extremely positive, based on feedback from attendees and the results of productive discussions between energy efficiency and industry representatives. One hundred thirty-five attendees, including 63 members and 68 industry partners, participated in the meeting, held October 14–16 at the Loews Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The goal of the various general and breakout sessions was partnering and collaborating on ways to achieve energy efficiency savings targets. Attendees came away with plenty of helpful ideas, new networking contacts, and useful information on a number of issues and trends facing the energy efficiency program industry.

Participants like Lydia Auoani, from Natural Resources Canada, expressed their appreciation, “Good networking! This was my first CEE meeting, so I learned a lot of things… it was good to hear where other people are and better understand how to position ourselves. I really appreciated talking to people face-to-face.” Other typical comments included that of Chris Payne, LBNL, FEMP, who said, “I think the opportunity to have energy and efficiency players in the same room is useful,” and Ella Abadir, of LIPA, “I learned things other utilities are doing that I can use in my own programs.”

The event began with premeeting workshops on Solid State Lighting, Energy Management, and Data Centers on Tuesday, October 14, along with the kickoff of the CEE Campaign for ENERGY STAR Water Heating.

On Wednesday, meeting sessions included a report on this year’s results of CEE Annual Budgets and Impacts Research, a forum on “Energy Efficiency as Core to Success,” discussions of industry efforts to reduce energy consumption and address climate change, and an update on the ENERGY STAR program. Breakout sessions focused on commercial office building components and systems; energy efficiency gains for existing homes; and municipal water and wastewater efficiency.

Wednesday night’s reception on the beautiful Plaza d’Italia created lots of opportunity for networking and information exchange.

Thursday’s sessions featured Jim McMahon’s popular and clear review of what’s being done in the area of carbon mitigation, including various accounting and credit allocation methods, and the implications for those in the energy efficiency field. A second general session explored energy savings estimates for emerging electric and gas end uses, offering an example of how new gas technologies become mainstream programs. Thursday breakout sessions offered a continuation of the office building discussions; new efficiency programs for industrial motors and motor systems; energy efficiency in consumer electronics; and natural gas water heater program and technology developments.

Industry partners also spoke highly of the activities. Drake Erbe, of Air Xchange (an AHRI member), said “This is excellent. I appreciated being invited to present the concept of system efficiency. Manufacturing is at the state of the art, so it’s good to recognize the contribution of combinations of products. That is what’s going to get us to building efficiency over time.”

For more information on the New Orleans meeting, along with follow-up resources, stay tuned to CEE News for more details. You may also contact CEE directly via email regarding specific questions or topics.

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