There’s energy efficiency and there’s intellectual efficiency. And at the intersection of EE and e-learning lies Conduit ED.
The program, which began in 2015, offers e-courses that are akin to a “10-minute university” or TED Talk. They’re available on
Conduitnw.org, an online community for energy efficiency professionals launched by BPA and the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance in 2011.
The e-courses are free of charge and available 24/7 to utility professionals wishing to quickly advance their understanding of a foundational area of BPA’s mission and identity with a minimum of effort.
“Conduit ED delivers in-depth information, videos and articles on a particular facet of the energy efficiency business in the Northwest,” says Veronica Marzilli, corporate marketing and communications manager at NEEA. “The information is intended to be broad enough to educate those new to the industry, but leverage experts on each subject so that even seasoned veterans will learn something new and have an opportunity to share their knowledge.”
The latest series invites both utility geeks and their less technical co-workers to gain fluency about a significant side benefit of the decades of impactful energy efficiency work by BPA and its regional partners, including the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and utility customers.
Yes, we know what you’re saying. That’s why the first
mini-lesson is titled, “What the
#@%& are these savings?”
That’s also why the course offers a half dozen short videos, including two animated shorts, perfect for watching at your desk to get some brain nutrition while you munch lunch.
The back story on momentum savings: As part of their mission under the 1980 Northwest Power Act, BPA and its utility partners offer financial and technical support to encourage homeowners and businesses around the Northwest to adopt products that make better use of electricity. These updated products range from improved lightbulbs to windows to appliances to heating and cooling equipment.
The effort by BPA and its public utility customers has saved more than 5 average gigawatts of energy, enough to power the city of Seattle four times over for a year, making it the equivalent of the second-largest power resource in the Northwest after hydropower.
Now imagine a time when you worked really tenaciously and were lucky enough to witness that hard work finally take on a life of its own. Maybe the project gained traction and succeeded in being adopted well beyond the direct result of your efforts.
That’s like momentum savings in EE. In short, it’s the gains in the energy efficiency market that happen without the financial incentive from BPA and other utilities. Prices decline, technologies mature, consumer taste springs forward … and voila! People begin to make energy efficient investments of their own accord. No incentive, no coupon in their utility bill.
In recent years, BPA and its partners started to drill down and measure the magnitude of momentum savings. The findings help BPA target and spend limited EE funding in the most effective way.
BPA’s Carrie Cobb leads a presentation about energy savings that occur beyond utility rebates.
"We expected to see around 10 to 15 percent of BPA's energy efficiency outside of rebate programs,” says Carrie Cobb, BPA market research lead. “But when we did the analysis, we found so much more. We saw consumers adopting energy efficiency at a higher rate than expected, which allows us to use that energy efficiency to better understand how future energy consumption might change."
“We measure success by polling students before and after to find out if their level of knowledge on the topic has changed,” says Summer Goodwin, BPA’s project manager for Conduit. “We’ve gotten really good feedback, and people are asking for deeper, more detailed information.”
Adds Marzilli, “For the last two – Power Planning and Momentum Savings – we developed a series of videos to allow viewers the chance to dive deeper on these topics, so at their own convenience they can hear directly from the region’s experts about the history and complexity behind these topics that are really helping to shape EE.
“Overall, this makes Conduit ED unique opportunity to access this level of information without having to spend a lot of time on research or having to travel to a conference.”