December 2009

EE Programs Break $6 Billion
Budgets for ratepayer funded energy efficiency programs in the United States and Canada topped a record six billion dollars for 2009, illustrating the ongoing and growing support for energy savings and environmental benefits at the state and provincial level. Read more...

2009 CEE Highlights
CEE had a busy and productive year. Below are highlights of CEE member activities and achievements. All of the participants who make up CEE should be proud of everything we've done this past year, our eighteenth since we were founded. Read more...

Seth Wylie Joins CEE
CEE is happy to announce new hire Seth Wylie, who joined the Residential Team in early December of 2009. Read more...

IP Meeting Proves Promise for Commercial Boiler Advancements
Since the last exploration of commercial boilers in 2001, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of gas programs with deeper savings targets. Read more...

Position Paper Helps Members Assess SSL Readiness
The joint CEE Commercial and Residential Solid-State Lighting (SSL) Committee has defined the information that energy efficiency programs need from manufacturers to evaluate SSL products for possible inclusion in programs. Read more...

November 2009

CEE Revises Commercial Refrigeration Specification
Effective January 1, 2010, CEE will replace the current CEE Commercial Refrigeration specification with a new specification equivalent to the ENERGY STAR^® Version 2.0 specification. Read more...

Project Home Again: Making a Difference with Energy Efficiency
Members and industry guests toured Phase 2 of Project Home Again, a nonprofit development funded by the Leonard and Louise Riggio Foundation in New Orleans, Louisiana. Read more...

October 2009

New Relationship with EPA-DOE CEE Recommendations Implemented
Cathy Zoi, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at DOE, and Maria Vargas, ENERGY STAR^® Communications and Brand Manager at EPA, announced the Expanded EPA DOE Partnership on Energy Efficiency. Read more...

DOE Requests CEE Help to Transform Windows Market
CEE will be ramping up its support of work to advance market adoption of high performance windows thanks to a grant from the Department of Energy. Read more...

CEE Sixth Annual Industry Partners Meeting: New Energy Tapped for Energy Efficiency
“We are facing the urgency of the climate crisis, and carbon is going to be the driving force,” Gene Rodrigues of Southern California Edison reminded the audience of 159 individuals representing 52 companies, and 40 CEE members in New Orleans. Read more...

Aggressive DOE EE Agenda Announced: New EPA-DOE Working Agreement
Cathy Zoi, DOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, chose the CEE Industry Partners meeting as the venue for verbally announcing an aggressive agenda to invigorate great achievements in energy efficiency. Read more...

September 2009

Lighting for Tomorrow 2009 Winners Announced!
The seventh annual Lighting for Tomorrow competition continued to recognize the best designed, energy efficient lighting products in the residential market. This year resulted in several unique winners given many changes to the 2009 entry categories. Read more...

Central Source for Efficient HVAC Updated
CEE^SM is happy to announce a new, improved CEE-AHRI HVAC directory, http://www.ceedirectory.org/. Since 2004, the CEE-AHRI directory of energy efficient central air conditioner and air source heat pumps has served as a resource for consumers, contractors, and program administrators. Read more...

August 2009

M&MS Committee Focuses on Savings Through Drives
Increasing the adoption of adjustable speed drives (ASDs) is a big savings opportunity for efficiency programs. It is not uncommon for motor-driven equipment to operate at full speed even when the loads they serve are less than their capacity. Read more...

Monica Nevius Promoted
CEE Evaluation, Research and Behavior team lead, Monica Nevius, was recently promoted to Principal Program Manager for the group. Read more...

Gas Technology Institute and Consortium for Energy Efficiency Work Together To Advance Gas Energy Efficiency
Gas Technology Institute (GTI) and the Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) have signed a memorandum of understanding that provides a mechanism for the two organizations to collaborate regarding the development, introduction, and market adoption of new, high efficiency natural gas equipment and appliances throughout the United States and Canada. Read more...

Joanne O'Donnell Promoted
Joanne O'Donnell, a member of the CEE Natural Gas Program team, was recently promoted to Senior Program Associate. Read more...

Higher Dishwasher Tiers Provide Differentiation; Include Water Use
CEE Tier 1 dishwashers (0.65 EF or greater) represented 86 percent of sales as of the fourth quarter of 2007. In response to these market conditions, the residential Appliance Committee recommended to the Board on June 6 that Tier 1 move to 0.72 EF, with a water requirement of 5.0 gallons per cycle. Read more...

July 2009

CEE Members Work with Blower Manufacturers
Increased mechanical efficiency in blower components, and dynamic load-following control strategies present an opportunity for significant energy savings in wastewater treatment. Read more...

CEE-Philips Color Kinetics Tour Sheds Light on Promising SSL Applications; CFLs Continue Savings
Participants at the CEE recent onsite workshop and tour at the Philips Color Kinetics facility in Massachusetts described the event as "informative" and "fun." The topic of the day was SSL lighting technology and its potential for energy savings. Read more...

CEE Board Increases Representation
Thank you to the directors who have given so much of their time and effort to CEE governance over the past year! While our committee members provide the crucial direction for specific initiatives, Board insights guide CEE in the larger sphere. Read more...

Kira Ashby Joins CEE
Thanks to the generosity of our members, CEE has hired Kira Ashby to fill the need for a Program Manager on the CEE Research, Evaluation, and Behavior team. Read more...

June 2009

Stimulus Funding Brings Unprecedented Attention to Energy Efficiency; Implications for Programs
CEE June Program Meeting opened with a full morning discussion on the high priority the new Obama administration is placing on both energy efficiency and climate change through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Read more...

CEE Experts Discuss Smart Grid Potential
Preventing regional power blackouts, improving demand-side energy management, offering new customized pricing options, helping the environment—all these benefits were the subject of smart grid presentations at the recent CEE June Program Meeting. Read more...

Latest in Building Benchmarking Programs Focus of CEE Workshop
With more aggressive efficiency program savings targets and increased corporate and institutional focus on energy efficiency as a backdrop, CEE members came together on June 2 in Boston for a day long Ask the Experts Whole Building Benchmarking Workshop. Read more...

Summary of Recovery Act Resources
The Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board was created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to coordinate and conduct oversight of funds distributed under this law in order to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse. Read more...

Board News: TV Spec Successful; Higher Tiers Added
Consumer electronics is a unique work area for CEE members due to the rate at which new products are developed and brought to market. The current CEE Tier 2 level has been very rapidly adopted in the marketplace. Read more...

ENERGY STAR® Recognizes Canadian Members
CEE Board member, John Cockburn, served as master of ceremonies at the Canadian ENERGY STAR® Recognition Awards Presentations on May 25, 2009. Read more...

May 2009

CEE and EPRI Kickoff Partnership
Since signing a memorandum of understanding this past winter, CEE and EPRI have begun to find joint projects. Every sector has made contact with EPRI. Read more...

Energy Efficiency Program Targets Entire Community
How do you achieve a savings of two megawatts and 25 megawatt hours in only nine months? Simple—sign up 850 homes and businesses for a new, community energy efficiency program. Read more...

April 2009

EPA Honors Efficiency Programs for Climate Protection
Marc Hoffman, representing the members of the Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE), accepted the U.S. EPA Climate Protection Award at a ceremony on April 21, 2009 in Washington, DC. Read more...

2008 ENERGY STAR® Survey Reveals Continued Success!
EPA has released their analysis of data CEE collects in National Awareness of ENERGY STAR® for 2008: Analysis of 2008 CEE Household Survey. The survey is available online. Read more...

CEE Members Recognized with ENERGY STAR® Awards
CEE members were well-represented among the 89 organizations at the 17th annual ENERGY STAR® Awards. The ceremony, held on March 31, 2009 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, showcased efforts to reduce the impact of climate change through energy efficiency. Read more...

Regional Trends Explored at MT Symposium
Day two of the recent ACEEE-CEE MT Symposium opened with the traditional Regional Roundup. Moderated by Marc Hoffman, CEE executive director, this year’s version was structured with a new twist that allowed the panel to go into depth on topics with a regional flavor. Read more...

March 2009

CEE Specifications Provide Market Guidance on Super Efficient Performance
Residential Central Air Conditioning is one of the CEE initiatives members frequently use. The central air conditioning specifications were first developed in 1995, and have been maintained over time to ensure they represent performance valued by CEE members and their customers. Read more...

Board News: 2009 Committee Goals
Committees have proposed to focus in the following areas for 2009, and the Board has approved their work plans. Individuals from member organizations who are interested in participating can contact the sector leads listed at the end of each section. Read more...

CEE Unveils Coalition for ENERGY STAR® Water Heaters
As it became clear that ENERGY STAR® would align their water heater level with the product specifications in the CEE High Efficiency Residential Gas Water Heating Initiative last year, members formed a supplemental project to promote ENERGY STAR water heaters up and down the supply chain. Read more...

Transparency and Representation for a Larger CEE
Insuring transparency and broad representation during a period of rapid growth was a major concern of the Board at its January meeting. As a result, the CEE Board has made some significant changes to CEE governance. Read more...

February 2009

CEE Members Dive into the Commercial Kitchens
On January 13, more than 30 CEE members and foodservice industry partners traveled to the Pacific Gas and Electric Food Service Technology Center (FSTC) in San Ramon, California. Read more...

Canada Updates ENERGY STAR Categories for 2009
With the start of the year, new designations for Canadian ENERGY STAR® will begin having an increasing impact on energy use. Here are a few of the highlights. Read more...

Three Year LFT Plan Approved
With the recommendation of the Lighting for Tomorrow (LFT) sponsors, the Board approved the 2009-2011 LFT Program Plan. They were supportive of the proposed changes for Phase V (2009-2011) of the competition in order to address current market needs and continue to be relevant. Read more...

CEE Members Tour High Tech Data Center at Berkeley Lab
Forty individuals from over 15 CEE member organizations got to experience energy efficiency research and management in full display at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on January 13. Read more...

January 2009

CEE Members Connect, Confer at January Program Meeting
CEE members attending the January 2009 Program Meeting in San Francisco walked away with more than a "business as usual" feeling—many emerged extremely energized and ready to put new ideas into practice. Read more...

CEE TV Tiers on Display at Consumer Electronics Show
CEE efforts to bolster the market for efficient televisions have already made inroads. The Toshiba booth at the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show, held in early January, proudly listed CEE Tier 2 qualification as one of the features of their products. Read more...

CEE to Work Together with EPRI Advancing Energy Efficiency
CEE and EPRI have signed a memorandum of understanding identifying shared objectives and work areas of mutual interest, with a goal of collaborating to leverage each other’s expertise. Read more...