News Updates for the Week of February 11

1.      Protocols for Performance Measurement Published - From Craig Dilouie cdilouie@zinginc.com Tools and techniques for measuring, managing and improving the performance of a facility as demonstrated by its energy and water use and indoor environmental quality, are contained in a new guide. Performance Measurement Procedures for Commercial Buildings: Best Practices Guide serves as the how-to guide for continuously evaluating and improving the performance of commercial buildings throughout their service life. Published by ASHRAE and funded in part through a grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the book provides specific best practices in the areas of energy use, water use and four elements of indoor environmental quality (IEQ): thermal comfort, indoor air quality (IAQ), lighting/daylighting and acoustics. www.ashrae.org/bookstore

2.      Commission Lays Out U.S. Energy Efficiency Roadmap Through 2030 - The United States can double energy productivity over the next 20 years by boosting investments in energy efficiency, reforming tax credits for energy savings and engaging state and local governments, a report released on Thursday said. With a new session of Congress beginning, the report laid out a sweeping vision for cutting the energy used to support a growing U.S. economy by 2030. Energy efficiency is one of the few areas of energy policy that analysts say might gain traction among deeply divided lawmakers this year. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/07

3.      Smart Cities Will Represent More Than $20 Billion in Annual Market Value by 2020 - Across the globe, the number of people living in cities will increase to 6.3 billion by 2050, up from 3.6 billion in 2010. It is projected that by 2025 there will be 37 megacities with populations of more than 10 million; 22 of those cities will be in Asia. According to a new report from Pike Research, one consequence of this explosive urbanization will be a corresponding growth in smart city initiatives–characterized by the integration of technology into a strategic approach to sustainability, citizen well-being, and economic development. The smart city technology market will surpass $20 billion in annual value by 2020, the study concludes. http://www.pikeresearch.com/research/smart-cities

4.      Failing Firms Cloud China's LED Lighting Vision - One in five Chinese LED lighting companies may fail this year as falling prices and oversupply batter an industry that Beijing bankrolled to try to build an energy-efficient future. About 4,000 companies in China are producing LEDs, tempted by tax breaks, subsidies and offers of cheap land for factories. Now they are locked in intense competition that has halved prices over the past three years. Just as over-investment and sagging exports dragged down Beijing's solar panel and wind turbine champions, China's much-hyped LED lighting sector, the largest in the world, is now facing a drastic shake-up. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/08/us-china-led-idUSBRE91701H20130208

5.      LEDucation 7 Announces Speaker Line Up for Annual Event on LED Technology - The Designers Lighting Forum of New York (DLFNY) announced its versatile speaker line up and also notify attendees that event registration for “LEDucation 7” is officially open. As the premier lighting event dedicated to advancing the education of the lighting community, LEDucation 7 will take place in New York City on Wednesday, March 20, 2013 at the Hotel Pennsylvania – Penn Plaza Pavilion. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/faa3fctmhh36c31/FWqCH2l1Ry

6.      The U.S. DOE Tenth Annual SSL R&D Workshop - Held last week in Long Beach, CA, focused on the knotty issues that are being encountered with today’s SSL products.  Look for the workshop presentations to be posted soon at www.ssl.energy.gov/past_conferences.html  The following organizations were recognized by DOE for significant breakthroughs and achievements in 2012:

• Philips Lumileds for its efforts to develop a novel warm-white LED package that boosts efficacy with a hybrid approach to producing white light.
• RTI International for its work in developing an accelerated model to predict the reliability and evaluate the performance of SSL luminaires.
• University at Buffalo for developing quantum-dot phosphors to improve the efficiency of general-illumination LEDs.
• Soraa for its efforts to reduce current and thermal droop by growing semi- and non-polar gallium nitride wafers on gallium nitride substrates.
• PPG Industries for its work in developing a low-cost, integrated glass substrate for general-illumination OLEDs.  www.ssl.energy.gov/projects.html

7.      It's Not Too Late to Get Your Epact Deduction for 2012 - Have you worked on a large lighting project in 2012? If so, that project may still qualify for a significant tax deduction thanks to the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Because the EPAct certification does not need to happen at installation, any lighting project put into service in 2012 can still qualify for the deduction. That means you can save money when filing your taxes for 2012. However, you have to act now or you will lose the opportunity. http://www.briteswitch.com/newsletter/Jan12-3.html

8.      Treasury Announce Availability of $150 Million in Tax Credits for Clean Energy Manufacturers - The Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit was established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support investment in domestic, clean energy and energy efficiency manufacturing facilities through a competitively-awarded 30 percent investment tax credit. The initial round provided $2.3 billion in credits to 183 projects across the country. The $150 million in tax credits are being made available today because they were not used by the previous awardees. http://energy.gov/downloads/fact-sheet-48c-manufacturing-tax-credits

9.      To Illuminate or Not to Illuminate: Roadway Lighting as it Affects Traffic Safety at Intersections- Lighting Research Center and Penn State Researchers identify links between visibility and safety from roadway lighting. The team used lighting and crash data for state highway intersections in Minnesota to develop quantitative models relating nighttime driving safety to the presence of lighting at these intersections. Importantly, these models also included the effects of features like signals, medians and other intersection design and operational features in order to segregate the effects of lighting from these other aspects. Quality lighting, such as the uniform coverage that LED-based luminaires are capable of, can result in a 12% lower night-to-day crash ratio in urban intersections. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457512004514

10.  WSU in Ohio Will Save $35.8 Million by Reducing Energy Consumption - The Wright State University Board of Trustees will vote on Feb. 15 to approve a $25.2 million contract with ABM Industries Inc. to modernize heating and cooling plants at its Fairborn and Lake campuses. The plan includes eliminating 30 major pieces of equipment, tying the entire main campus to one main boiler system, replacing light fixtures with LED and using the pond near the Nutter Center for year-round geothermal cooling. The investment will cut campus energy consumption by nearly 40 percent. 2/05 Dayton Daily News

New Posting for the Lighting Positions Network!

1. From Jan Furste jan@netshare.com of NETSHARE - The following is a small sample of real positions that have been posted with NETSHARE over the past week. This list changes every day…with some dropping off and some added. View the job listings below and many more on our website. Email your interest and resumes, reference the EnergyWatchBlog, directly to Jan Furste.

• Chief Operating Officer, South Florida, $225,000-$250,000 plus 10% bonus
• Chief Executive Officer, Northeast, Competitive 
• General Manager, Midwest, $175,000-$200,000 plus 30%-50% bonus 
• Chief Operating Officer, Denver, CO, $175,000-$200,000 plus $50K potential bonus 
• Chief Operating Officer, Southeast, U.S., $200,000-$250,000 plus bonus

Something to Think About

The 7 Ps of Customer Retention Marketing by Karl Wirth 

When we think of marketing, we often think of Marketing's efforts to acquire customers. Customer retention is just as important as customer acquisition. So how do the 7 Ps of marketing apply to customer retention marketing?

1. People are the most important. Retaining customers is about building relationships, and relationships are about people. Treat your customer as a person, and not a customer; start by hiring people who show they care about others. 

2. Product is a very close second in importance to "People." When designing your product or service for maximum customer retention, provide quick time to value, continued value over time and high quality. 

3. Place obviously matters when you are figuring out where to put your physical store, but what about when you're online? “Place” is context, and context matters.  If I am looking to communicate with my customer and offer them an upsell, I could send them an email or message them right while they are shopping, browsing, or working on my site. 

4. Price. Our customers assume that we will look after them. That is what they pay us to do. In an e-commerce business, that sort of relationship means providing deals for our recurring customers. 

5. Promotion. Use information to message existing customers in a more targeted, appropriate, helpful, and effective way. Don't spam them with the same generic info you send to everyone else. Send them targeted emails and in-context messages.

6. Processes. To succeed in all of the previous Ps, you need good processes, such as monitoring social media and engaging customers there, surveying customers for satisfaction, and implementing marketing automation.    

        

7. Positioning. If you want to retain your customers, you have to know who you are and communicate that clearly and repeatedly to them so they know who you are as well.

News Updates for the Week of February 2

1.      National Grid Assembles Smart Grid Team - National Grid has assembled a team of technology and business solutions companies from across the United States to help test and deliver the energy system of the future for more than 15,000 customers in Worcester, Massachusetts. National Grid’s smart grid pilot is designed to provide participating customers a new level of choice and control over their energy use through advanced technology, with the goals of empowering customers to save energy, increasing electric service reliability and improving response to power outages. The pilot calls for installation of advanced metering systems that provide the very latest in technology and security. http://www.nationalgridus.com/non_html/SmartGrid_city.pdf

2.      $3.1M for Lights Approved by City - Downtown Salina, KS could be getting a little brighter after Salina city commissioners approved a $3.1 million contract with Johnson Controls to install new LED lights. The total cost of the project is $3,108,534. The city's loan payments, at 1.9 percent interest, would be $3,435,599 over 16 years. The lights are expected to be installed by Nov. 23. 1/29 The Salina Journal

3.      SDG&E Customers Can Connect Home Area Network Devices With Smart Meters - San Diego Gas & Electric customers can now purchase and install home area network devices to see how much energy they are using in near real-time and help identify high energy use appliances. With in-home energy display devices connected to their electric smart meters, SDG&E customers have access to a new tool to help them make smart energy consumption decisions to reduce their overall energy usage and costs. http://www.sdge.com/residential/home-and-business-area-network

4.      Sacramento, CA Energy Efficiency Effort - Sacramento officials have launched a $100 million effort to upgrade the energy efficiency of the city's homes and commercial buildings - at no up-front cost to property owners. The Clean Energy Sacramento program lets building owners pay for upgrades over the course of up to 20 years through a line item added to their property taxes. They can use the financing to add new, efficient lighting and air conditioning. Or they can install solar panels, immediately lowering their electric bills while paying for the equipment bit by bit. https://www.ygrene.us/ca/sacramento

5.      Minneapolis Plan Aims to Let Market Drive Efficiency - Minneapolis is poised to become the first city in the Midwest to adopt an energy benchmarking and disclosure rule for commercial buildings. The City Council’s energy and environment committee unanimously passed a proposal Monday 1/28 to require large commercial building owners to annually measure and report energy consumption data. http://v.qwikcast.tv/view.aspx?q=61J53  

6.      LFE Solutions Looking to Fill Void in Current Value Chain - Veteran energy industry and ESCO professionals Robert Quintal and Mike Doucette formed LFE Solutions – an acronym for Lighting For ESCOs, a bridge between manufacturers who do not have a direct channel to the ESCO and the ESCO who is being inundated with new LED and other products, many with unrecognizable names and bold offerings.  The ESCO and Manufacturer have finally reached the tipping point where changes in the old supply chain are required to keep pace with the ultimate goal; utilization of leading-edge cost-effective solutions for lighting retrofit and upgrade projects. www.LFESolutions.com

7.      Westinghouse Lighting Bolsters Focus on Canadian Market with Joint Venture - Westinghouse Lighting-US, Philadelphia, announced the establishment of Westinghouse Lighting Canada (WL-C), a joint venture between Westinghouse Lighting-U.S. and Combi Inc. Westinghouse Lighting-U.S. currently sells products into Canada through distributors and retail partners. Combi will remain Westinghouse Lighting’s representative and third-party logistics provider. The new entity will have dedicated resources including an office and distribution facility in Montreal.

8.      US Economy Shrinks 0.1 Percent - The U.S. economy unexpectedly shrank at an annual rate of 0.1 percent from October through December, the first quarterly drop since 2009 and a reminder of the economy’s vulnerability as automatic cuts in government spending loom. The Commerce Department said the economy shrank mainly because companies restocked at a slower rate and the government slashed defense spending. Economists say those factors could prove temporary, and the likelihood of another recession appears remote. Still, the sharp slowdown from the 3.1 percent annual growth rate in the July-September quarter raised concerns about 2013. 1/30 Washington Post

9.      US Economy Adds 157,000 Jobs in January, but Unemployment Rate Ticks Up to 7.9 Percent -The Labor Department report Friday showed a jump in hiring in the final two months of last year, just when the economy was sputtering and facing the threat of deep government spending cuts and tax increases from the fiscal cliff. The department revised up the estimated job gains for November from 161,000 to 247,000 and for December from 155,000 to 196,000. The mostly encouraging jobs report included one negative sign: The unemployment rate rose to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent in December. 2/01 Washington Post

10.  Energy Efficient Lamps and Ballasts Market - Latin America – The report is designed to provide insight into the Latin America market for energy efficient lamps and ballasts, with focus on key growth regions, namely--South America, Caribbean, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Central America. The report includes industry analysis, market size, share, growth, trends and forecast, 2012 – 2018 as well as a cross sectional analysis of the market across all these regions. For more info: http://www.researchandmarkets.com/publication/qj9374/energy_efficient_lamps_and_ballasts_market   

11.  Lighting Retrofit (Without Upgrade) Equals Wasted Opportunity - Instructed by Stan Walerczyk. A 2-Hour Distance Learning Seminar Earns 0.2 CEU/2 PDH; Presented in one 2-hour live online session. New Program Starts March 15. Experience has shown repeatedly that if customers are provided upscale options--and understand their benefits--they will often choose them. The brand new dimming and Kelvin changing LED troffers, troffer kits and task lights and their personal control, circadian rhythm, visual acuity and energy saving benefits will also be briefly discussed during this program. www.aeeprograms.com/realtime