With new technology emerging all the time and innovations abounding at every turn, our industry is filled with change. This isn’t slowing down any time soon, but Franklin Energy stays at the forefront of grid optimization by continuously looking toward the future and what’s coming next. One of the ways we believe in effectively serving the utility of the future is by paving the way for our industry’s future leaders, which is why we are proud to announce our fifth annual Experts of Tomorrow scholarship.

It's not uncommon for tenants and building owners to dance around the subject of energy efficiency, looking for the other to take the first step in making the building more energy efficient. The complex nature of these relationships and differing responsibilities only complicate things further.

Given that people spend about 90 percent of their time inside buildings, it’s not surprising that the indoor environment can have a substantial impact on health.

While this isn’t an issue that people often consider, it poses real problems. Of all building stock in the United States, 53 percent is more than 35 years old – and some of that contains hazardous construction materials like asbestos and lead. In fact, around 4 million US homes are exposing children to dangerously high levels of lead.

In the United States today, nearly 28 percent of families live on incomes less than 200 percent of the federal poverty line. And although they may be the least able to bear it, low-income families face disproportionately higher energy burdens than wealthier households. They spend a far larger percentage of their total household income on paying utility bills than the average U.S. household. In fact, a recent report found that, for families living in large cities, the median low-income household’s energy burden was more than three times as high as that of non-low-income households. This provides the context for why improving the efficiency for low-income households is so important. 

The rise of LED lighting has meant major energy savings over the last 10 years, particularly in the residential sector. But savings opportunities for these residential utility lighting programs will soon be fading out because of growing LED market saturation, as well as potential federal standards coming into effect entering the next decade.