Continuing its series of interviews with the Northwest's leading energy officials, nwcurrent this month talks with Margie Gardner, executive director of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA). Gardner, who has served as NEEA’s executive director for 10 years, has nearly 25 years of experience working in energy conservation.

Based in Portland, NEEA is a nonprofit organization funded by local utilities, Bonneville Power Administration and the Energy Trust of Oregon to accelerate the development and adoption of energy-efficient products and services. To date, the organization’s efforts have saved the region about 160 average megawatts (a MW), or enough electricity to power more than 100,000 homes for a year.

In this exclusive interview, Gardner discusses the region’s biggest opportunities for energy efficiency, strategies for increasing adoption of energy-efficiency products and services in the region, and NEEA’s goals for 2008.

nwc: What do you see as the biggest opportunities for energy conservation in the Northwest?
Gardner: The biggest opportunity I see on the horizon, which has the biggest potential impact over the next 10 to 20 years, is “business practice change.” By getting companies to understand that energy efficiency is in their business interest, they are more likely to incorporate efficiency into everyday business practices. Companies will change their business practices around energy when they see that saving energy can also increase their productivity, their sales and their general business.
For example, industrial companies track safety. They want to make sure they know their target for safety, they monitor their safety practices and data, and they accomplish their goals. We want to see energy become as important a business practice as safety. That represents a very big opportunity for the region and would really open the flood gates over the next 10 to 20 years, allowing existing technologies to gain more market share, as well as furthering the development of advanced technologies.
NEEA is piloting business practice change in the commercial and industrial sectors. I am already seeing very promising results, but there’s a very long road ahead. If our results continue to show success, business practice change could become a very big component of energy efficiency.

nwc: One of NEEA’s goals is to encourage new technologies that improve energy efficiency. What are some new technologies that you think will have a big impact on the region’s ability to meet the conservation goals set by the NW Fifth Power Plan?
Gardner: Heat-pump water heaters and fluorescent lighting are key technologies that were set out in the Fifth Power Plan. We are well on our way toward compact fluorescent lighting. Some new technologies have emerged in the short time since the last power plan. One emerging technology that could make a difference in our region, which is experiencing a growing cooling load, is ductless heat pumps, which essentially both heat and cool in residential and small commercial applications. And going forward, LED [light-emitting diode] lighting could have a significant positive impact on reducing the region’s load. Currently, LEDs are not as efficient as compact fluorescents, but they could provide important savings in the lighting arena for both commercial and residential uses.
Voltage regulation strategies also show potential. This is a different way to think about new technologies because it is neither a residential nor commercial application: How can utilities regulate voltage in a way that serves customers’ needs and reduces overall electricity consumption? Those are some technologies that are bubbling around over here that we look at and think about.

nwc: NEEA was named the Energy Star Partner of the Year in 2007. Why do you think the region has been so successful in marketing Energy Star programs to consumers?
Gardner: Our region is very creative, and we’ve been doing conservation for a long time. I think NEEA has been lucky to tap into the creativity of both utilities and contractors in our region; it has enabled us to leverage each other’s work so that we can work together more effectively than any of us would be able to do working alone. And I think that shows up nationally as why we have achieved higher market share for Energy Star programs than any of the other regions and why we received the Energy Star Partner of the Year award.

nwc: Many of the programs NEEA promotes, including Energy Star for Homes and Better Bricks, are focused on improving building performance. What have been some effective ways to convince builders and commercial building owners to buy into these programs? 
Gardner: Our strategy is working towards changing business practices around building energy use. That allows us to influence both the building and the energy systems in the building, as well as building operations and maintenance. To accomplish this, we try to work with residential builders and/or the influencers in commercial buildings so they understand that energy efficiency helps their bottom line.
In the residential sector, through Energy Star Homes, we work with builders to show them that the Energy Star label helps give their projects an edge. The Energy Star for Homes label provides them with differentiation from other builders because they offer a feature — energy efficiency — that many home buyers desire. In commercial buildings, we focus on the benefits to tenants: You might see higher productivity with better daylighting, you might see lower turnover of nurses in a hospital that is well-lit, etc. We try to show that energy-efficient buildings make good business sense for owners and operators.

nwc: What are NEEA’s top goals for 2008?
Gardner: A major focus for us is putting together a strategic business plan intended to define the goals and the value NEEA would produce for this region in the period 2010 to 2014. It’s a pretty key document for NEEA moving forward in determining value for the region. Another goal in ’08 is to produce more electricity savings — somewhere around 30 aMW — that utilities can use to achieve their least-cost planning targets. We are also likely to have a revised board of directors, so getting the board operational, functional and behind the mission is a key goal. NEEA is looking at changing its bylaws to reduce the size of the board and have it act more as a governing board.