Experts from across the country participate in technical advisory groups (TAGs) to evaluate commercially available electricity-saving technologies and recommend technologies that could best enhance the region’s portfolio of energy-saving measures. The list below describes current and past TAGs.
The objective of the Residential Lighting Technical Advisory Group is to identify and prioritize emerging technologies and practices that will yield additional energy efficiency potential in the residential lighting sector in the near and long-term future. Lamps and fixtures, controls, connected systems, as well as strategies, are all considered.
The goal of the Multifamily Technical Advisory Group is to identify and prioritize emerging technologies that will yield additional energy efficiency potential in the multifamily sector. The focus is on both commercial and residential technologies for multifamily units, as well as new construction and retrofit.
The Commercial HVAC Technical Advisory Group focuses predominantly on HVAC technologies that reduce electric resistance heat in commercial retrofit applications.
This E3T Technical Advisory Group is focused on high performance energy efficient residential building technologies and strategies.
The purpose of the Commercial Buildings Technical Advisory Group (ComTAG) is to help scan, screen, and score the most promising energy efficient technologies and strategies for further assessment by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). The TAG process provides significant value to BPA and guides the organization in finding the most promising technologies that may eventually become an incentivized measure for Pacific Northwest utilities and their end-users.
This E3T Technical Advisory Group is focused on technologies applied to in-building data centers.
This E3T Technical Advisory Group is focused on a single technology, Advanced Lighting Control Systems.
This E3T Technical Advisory Group is focused on a single technology, Smart Residential Thermostats (SRT). It is designed to provide guidance on the feasibility of Smart Residential Thermostats as an emerging technology suited to adoption in the region, implemented through BPA and utility conservation programs. If so, the TAG will go on to develop research questions for inclusion in potential field demonstrations/assessments of SRT’s.
The second lighting TAG focused on applications using LED technologies, building on the previous TAG. Outdoor wall-mounted area luminaries and street lighting topped the list, with area and parking lot lighting and linear commercial office lighting also receiving recommendations.
This TAG benefited from good presentations on the leading technologies examined, including advanced rooftop unit controls and low-cost energy management. Building energy performance analytics software, innovative behavior change techniques, and non-intrusive load monitoring received recommendations as well.
Along with 22 ET’s from the 2009 TAG, 15 additional technologies were identified and ranked. Variable capacity compressors and air-side economizers for data centers earned top scores and were joined by web-enabled thermostats and advanced designed RTUs among four recommended technologies.
DCV in commercial kitchens and other applications, along with VRF heat pumps stood out for this TAG as promising ETs. Participants included private engineering and consulting firms, regional and national utilities, and energy organizations in this first TAG conducted largely by webinar.
The first E3T TAG met in person in Portland and Olympia, and resulted in recommendations regarding bi-level lighting in parking, office, and garage applications.