Overview

Strategies for Enabling Deep Energy Efficiency in Buildings: Can Efficiency Save Us from this Energy Mess?

MIT Energy Efficiency Research Director and MIT Lecturer Harvey Michaels, a distinguished energy entrepreneur and executive, will be speaking about massive-scale efficiency for buildings without reductions in comfort or function.

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Across campus, MIT faculty and students are researching innovative methods to achieving the deep efficiency goals now required by imbalanced world energy supply and demand, as well as needed to prevent unmanageable, irreversible climate change. 

How do we realize massive-scale efficiency that may reduce the energy use of homes, buildings, and communities by 50% or more over the next 20 years without sacrificing comfort or function?

$50 Billion in Efficiency Funds economic stimulus, plus an additional $11 Billion for Smart Grid, plus aggressive state laws challenge us to get real, big, fast “shovel-ready” efficiency done now.

We will discuss the urgency of energy efficiency and several promising directions being researched today including:
* Smart Grid: Pricing/AMI, and info/behavioral technologies,
* Rebates/Direct-install: funded by utilities, carbon cap-and-trade,
* New building codes, upgrade on transfer, appliance standards.
* Enabling communities to lead efficiency campaigns, and
* Financing methods to accelerate funding of cost-effective projects at institutions such as MIT.

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Harvey Michaels
Energy Efficiency Research Director and Lecturer
Environmental Policy and Planning and MIT Energy Initiative

Harvey Michaels' 30+ year career has focused on developing new approaches to enabling energy efficiency. In 2008, he joined MIT as a scientist and lecturer on energy efficiency.  From 1997 to 2007, Harvey led Nexus Energy Software (now Aclara Software) which builds utility efficiency and customer service Web sites, as well as smart grid Meter Data Management systems. Before founding Nexus, Harvey was president of XENERGY (now part of Kema Consulting and Con Edison Solutions), which specialized in efficiency resource studies and analysis systems.  

Handouts

Michaels_Energy_Club_22509_sh.pdf

Strategies for Enabling Deep Energy Efficiency in Buildings: Can Efficiency Save Us from this Energy Mess?

06:00-07:00PM Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Leader: Harvey Michaels; MIT Energy Efficiency Research Director and MIT Lecturer
Location: 4-153