WHPA Newsletter – 2014 Goals, Economizers, and More

January 2014

Six Goals Selected for WHPA Action in 2014
Broad Input and In-Person Workgroups Select Diverse Activities

A bottom-up process that began with interviews with more than 20 WHPA leaders has resulted in six identified goals for WHPA focus in 2014. The Executive Committee, at its Dec. 11 meeting, approved the final wording of the goals based on work sessions held at the Nov. 14 in-person Council of Advisors/Committee Chair meeting.

They are known as SMART Goals. SMART is a methodology to develop goals that are Specific, Measurable, Action-Oriented, Realistic, and Time-Based.

The Goals cover a wide territory:

Review and revise the CA Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan and HVAC Action Plan;
Engage in the DEER update process;
Quantify Energy Savings from standards-based installation and maintenance (QI and QM);
Quantify Rates of Permit Compliance and Energy Savings Impacts;
Structure Notification and Feedback on Regulatory and Utility Processes;
Develop Sales Training and Estimation Tools Warehouses and Sales Trainer Teleconference.

Work is under way with the Committee Chairs and Goal team members to create the action plans, including inclusion of current Committee and Working Group activities where applicable.

CLICK HERE to read the SMART Goals. Information on each of the Goal teams, and the progress and meeting notes, will be added to the WHPA website as the programs advance.

First In-Person Meeting of Committee Chairs Identifies Commonalities and Expertise to Share
The power of meeting in person

Almost every WHPA Committee Chair attended the meeting—Kristin Heinemeier of Fault Detection and Diagnostics, Jeff Henning of Residential Quality Installation, Erik Emblem of Workforce Education & Training, Stu Tartaglia of Climate Optimized Building Codes & Equipment, Tom Garcia of Compliance, and Mark Lowry and Mark Meyers of the Council of Advisors.

Committee Chairs will be sharing specifics with their team members.

Committee Chairs

Question - When is a 45-slide PowerPoint presentation engaging and inspiring?

Answer - When seven WHPA Committee Chairs shared the podium on Nov. 14.

The occasion was the Nov. 14 presentation of committees' reports to more than 60 members of the Council of Advisors, Executive Committee, and distinguished guests.

The audience listened with great attention to the 2013 accomplishments and future plans of each committee.

Bob Baker (ASHRAE), Co-Chair of the Executive Committee, said "I can't begin to express how gratifying and exciting it is to see these committee chairs and hear their reports. This sets the stage for next year."

Jeremy Reefe (SDG&E), the other Co-Chair of the EC, added, "From the IOU perspective, this is a preview what's to come. We are putting a lot of SMART Goals into implementation for 2014. These committees will be on-going in the future. Volunteers give so much time to make the Strategic Plan and IOU programs a success."

CLICK HERE for the presentation.

Photos from COA meeting in Pasadena
Click any of the images to view the mini album

Breakout sessions were held for each of the six goals during the Nov. 14 COA/Committee Chair meeting. Bob Sundberg of WHPA staff facilitated the group outlining actions required to better quantify the energy savings that result from "standards-based" installation (QI) and maintenance (QM).

2013 New WHPA members

Thirty-eight organizations were voted into membership of the WHPA in 2013, bringing the total number of organizations to 186.

The new members brought a richness of experience to the WHPA, and more industry insight and volunteer resources for 2014 projects.

Click Here for a complete list of 2013 members.

Economizers Gain Momentum in 2013

Economizers were a big topic within the WHPA committees in 2013; type the word 'economizers' into the WHPA website search bar and 162 citations will appear.

Economizers were a 2012/13 WHPA Key Initiative, with the purpose of facilitating industry discussions on the need for a dedicated effort to better understand the energy savings impacts from economizers.

On Oct. 23, 2013 Southern California Edison sponsored an informational meeting about incentives in its Commercial Quality Maintenance program for Advanced Digital Economizer Controls (ADEC). WHPA Chief of Staff Dale Gustavson spoke at the event.

Three manufacturers are participating in the incentives: Honeywell, BELIMO, and Transformative Wave; three training vendors—HVACRedu.net, National Comfort Institute and IHACI—are approved for the SCE program.

A tech has to successfully complete program approved training and pass a hands-on performance competency assessment to participate in this aspect of the CQM program.

About the WHPA
The Western HVAC Performance Alliance was established in 2009. More than 185 organizations in 25 stakeholder categories are working together to help transform the residential and small commercial HVAC market to ensure that technology, equipment, installation and maintenance are of the highest quality to promote energy efficiency and peak load reduction. In this role the WHPA provides input to California investor-owned utilities.