2021 Webinar Recordings

Building a More Resilient Iowa with Ground Source Heat Pumps

Presenter: Will Lange, WaterFurnace International

Iowa has long been the cradle of development for ground source heat pumps. Today thousands of these systems are quietly heating and cooling homes and buildings across the state, all while harvesting renewable energy and operating at efficiencies 2, 3, even 4 times higher than any alternative. Electrical utilities in Iowa enjoy higher load factors and many megawatts of peak load reduction from these heat pumps saving Iowans millions of dollars every year. Let's look at the data and see what we can do to make Iowa even stronger and more resilient.

The Real Bang for the Buck in Home Retrofits and EE Programs – Huge Adders and Other Inferences from NEI Research

Presenter: Lisa Skumatz, Skumatz Economic Research Associates (SERA)

Households value comfort and other non-energy impacts very highly – the data proves it and we can use it!  In fact, more than 20 years of increasingly in-depth research shows that the dollar value that households attribute to the non-energy impacts (NEIs) from Home Retrofits has higher value to them than the energy savings.  Not only is this OK, it is a great opportunity for home retrofitters and programs.  Many of the NEIs are a lot easier to market and are more attractive than energy savings.  Varying which of the NEIs that are put out front during marketing can attract the next and next and next participants.  And the mounds of data can help make the case for much stronger ROI and payback than using only energy savings to influence decisions.  

This presentation provides detailed results on the wide array of monetized NEIs for home retrofit programs, including comfort, reduced noise, O&M, and dozens of other effects, and a host of specific, monetized health impacts – a factor of particular interest for low-income homes.  We also identify NEIs related to equity. 

These results are available at the program level, but we also provide information on the NEIs associated with specific measures, which can help make the case for equipment with substantial costs or incremental costs. 

We present the NEIs for three perspectives – NEIs for the participant, those accruing to the program deliverer / program administrator / utility, and those benefitting the community in which the program is delivered.  We then step back and briefly examine:

• A comparison of State NEI adders nationwide and their relationship to well-established values from the literature.
• Commercial NEIs, which are available, but less studied.
• Program Design – Using NEIs to Address Barriers in a Meaningful / Actionable Way
• Improving Program Implementation and Uptake by Identifying “Disconnects” in Program Actors / Influencers
• NEIs and the potential to inform the Energy Optimization / Beneficial Electrification Debate
• Assessing Equity, Quality of Life, and Environmental Justice Issues with NEIs
• Applications related to Realtors / Appraisers and potentially Codes

NEBs / NEIs are very useful in their traditional roles, but conducting a NEB study can inform a whole host of other issues and policies – for residential, low income and commercial programs and beyond.  To develop these estimates, the authors used a comprehensive NEI database (“NEB-It”) including more than 40,000 data elements, with an associated model that estimates more than 100 NEIs.  This presentation will help the attendees understand the basics of measurement methods for these “hard to measure” effects, give important information on NEI values by category and measure for key NEIs, show examples of the NEIs from programs (with a focus on home retrofit), and provide real-world examples of the application of NEIs, and the broader applications.

Heat Recovery Chillers: Opportunities, De-Carbonization, and Other Considerations

Presenter: Alan Niles, Dunham-Bush Americas

Opportunities:
- Heat Recovery on Condenser Water Systems
- Code Compliance
- Minimum Expense/Maximum Recovery

De-Carbonization
-Economic Path toward 100% Fossil-Fee Heat

Other Considerations
-Non-HVAC "free" heat recovery sources often overlooked
-Flooded Evaporator Condenser Benefits

Compressed Air System Energy Efficiency

Presenter: Jeff Gorrie, Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities

A brief explainer on what goes into a compressed air audit, some tips and tricks to identify compressed air energy efficiency measures, and pictures and examples of compressed air energy efficiency measures.

Domestic Hot Water Skid Systems for "Net-Zero" Facility Potable Water Production

Presenters: Andrew Macaluso & David Garner, Lync by Watts Water Technologies

Condensing water heaters and CO2 heat pump skid systems to address water quality, energy efficiency, pathogen reduction, temperate water management and the logging and reporting of domestic water systems in a net-zero facility.  Skid systems to deliver a turn-key, code complaint and reporting domestic water system that can be monitored through a smart phone.