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In partnership with AESP: The increasing roles of DERs, connected technology and Big Data are driving rapid change in energy efficiency. As we shape the Utility of the future, this community will help you keep up with the latest developments.
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Energy Efficiency Provides Health Benefits
A new pitch to induce customers to deploy energy efficient systems has emerged. Typically, such messaging centered on price reductions and recently smaller carbon footprints. Energy-efficient facilities also deliver healthier living environments, according to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri.
High moisture levels, dust, and other allergens cause poor indoor air quality. Weatherizing a home or an office and making other energy-efficiency upgrades reduces those levels, according to Kevin Kennedy, the environmental health program director at the hospital
Better health is one ripple effect from such improvements. The change eventually reduces the number of visits patients make to the doctor and the amount of medication that they take to manage their conditions.
More Staff Needed
To institute such a program would require changes to a utility’ energy efficiency staffing. Typically, they send a person who looks at the building, its energy support systems, and how the building is designed, built, operated, and maintained. They then recommend changes to maximize energy usage.
In the new use case, they would also need to send someone capable of explaining energy efficiency’s potential health benefits. That person would examine individuals’ health records, general behavior patterns, and how the company manages and cleans the facility. They correlate that data to possible health benefits and financial savings for individuals and corporations. Energy companies have to train people for this position.
Utilities have been pushing energy efficiency programs, often with not as much impact as desired. The focus on health provides them with the opportunity to convince more customers about the benefits of such programs.
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