Brand new technologies now live in UtilityGenius

Today, we're celebrating the second anniversary of UtilityGenius by giving a gift to all of our users! We launched UtilityGenius two years ago today with a small but mighty initial batch of technologies, including LED, HVAC, and more. Throughout our first two years, we’ve heard from our users which other technologies they want to see in the platform. Today, we’re excited to announce that we’ve broadened UtilityGenius's scope immensely by adding 21 additional technologies to UtilityGenius - all available for free!

After selecting a utility, all technologies incentivized by each utility program will show on the following page. The newest additions are located in the bottom section; selecting one of these new measures will display information about the technology and example categories that are incentivized.

As we continue to grow our platform, we want to hear from you! When visiting new technology pages, be sure to tell us which ones you're most interested in using the 'We want to hear from you' pop-up. We’ll be using this data to guide our roadmap in the future and choose which technologies to expand first.

Adding these additional technologies is a huge step in our mission to make energy efficiency information accessible and easy to understand. With a more complete snapshot of a utility program's incentivized measures in UtilityGenius, we hope to simplify the number of steps you have to take to find all of the utility program information you need.

Below, you can find an index defining all 21 new technologies that are now live in UtilityGenius. Be sure to check your preferred utility programs and see which of these new technologies are incentivized!

Agriculture

Agricultural programs cover businesses that grow crops, raise livestock, or are involved in agricultural production. Incentives may cover farm-specific equipment or more general equipment used by the business. Eligible equipment varies by program.

Appliance

Appliance rebates are not limited to residential programs! Non-residential appliance incentives cover equipment found in commercial kitchens, laundry rooms, and more. Whether your restaurant is replacing a refrigerator or your hair salon needs a new water heater, incentives may be available for energy-efficient appliances.

Building Envelope

The building envelope is the physical barrier that separates the interior of a building from the exterior. Improving the building envelope increases the building's efficiency. Your HVAC system does not need to work as hard to maintain a comfortable environment indoors. Building envelope incentives might cover insulation, weatherization, window treatments, and more.

Compressed Air

Compressed air has a variety of uses for machinery and other industrial applications. However, much of the energy generated through these processes is lost as heat, making compressed air inefficient. Technologies that make air delivery more efficient and recapture heat can improve the overall efficiency of compressed air systems. Other actions plants can take to improve their efficiency include proactively monitoring for leaks and developing best practices for when to use compressed air versus other approaches to a task.

Computer

With how commonplace computing equipment is in commercial settings, this technology is highly important to a business’s overall energy efficiency. Equipment in this category includes the computer itself, accessories like printers and monitors, and associated power equipment. In addition to purchasing more efficient equipment, users can make choices to improve their computing efficiency, like allowing their computer to go to sleep after a period of inactivity or unplugging equipment when not in use.

Electric Vehicle

Electric vehicles have been a hot topic of conversation in the energy industry for the past few years. Transportation currently accounts for 30% of the United States’ energy needs, which makes transitioning to more efficient modes of transportation an impactful endeavor. The upfront cost of an electric vehicle and access to the appropriate charger, can be daunting, but incentives and lifetime savings on fuel make this low-emissions swap accessible for more people.

Financing

While rebates and incentives can help alleviate the upfront costs associated with energy efficiency upgrades, what can you do if that isn’t enough? Some programs offer a variety of other financing options to make projects achievable. Some utility programs may all offer some sort of financing that can help with your plans.

Food Service

Commercial kitchens use a lot of power between cooking apparatuses, temperature-controlled food storage, cleaning equipment, and more. Restaurants can use up to 10 times more energy than other commercial buildings! With most of that energy consumption coming from food service equipment, upgrading to more energy-efficient alternatives will save on both energy and costs.

Landscaping

Energy-efficient landscaping covers both equipment used for landscaping and design choices that make a building’s landscaping more efficient. Many landscaping tools, including lawn mowers and snow blowers, have more efficient electric alternatives. Other equipment, like soil moisture sensors, manage the energy consumed by processes like irrigation. Landscaping choices can also improve efficiency by strategically using things like shade and natural light. Some programs may offset the cost of these choices.

Miscellaneous

It’s easy to think of the largest culprits of energy consumption first, but there are plenty of appliances that don’t fall into a broader category that still represent an important part of an energy-efficient future. Some programs have incentives available for these miscellaneous energy uses to ensure that commercial customers can still seek more efficient options. The list below covers common miscellaneous fixtures, but check with your program to get more information on what exactly is eligible for incentives.

Motor

Motors account for more than 50% of the United States’ electrical energy consumption. To decrease that load, consider using more efficient motors for new installations and systems or replacing failed equipment. Energy savings are realized quickly on these swaps, offsetting the additional cost of an energy-efficient motor.

New Construction

Many conversations about energy efficiency programs focus on retrofits, but there are incentives for new construction to encourage adoption of more energy-efficient plans, as well. Building owners often assume that new construction will be more energy efficient by default; there is some truth to this, but standard building codes aren’t always the most efficient standard. Using metrics set by an organization like ENERGYSTAR® lowers the carbon footprint of new construction further. Programs with incentives for new builds will help to offset the initial costs of energy-efficient materials or even design assistance, allowing energy savings to be realized quickly.

Plug Load

Plug loads are standby energy used by equipment and appliances left plugged into outlets, sometimes also called vampire loads or parasitic loads because of the sneaky way they can increase overall energy usage. In an average office building, plug load can account for 25-50% of total energy consumption. To alleviate plug load, solutions range from equipment automatically powering down based on occupancy or time to connecting equipment to a power strip so only one thing needs to be turned off at the end of the day. Programs may incentivize technologies that can help minimize or eliminate plug load, as listed below.

Process

Process incentives cover a range of tools and equipment that can be used to improve the efficiency of manufacturing processes. Technologies in this space have evolved rapidly in recent years, making modern equipment far more energy efficient. More efficient processes save money on energy bills, but they also can drive down overall production costs thanks to optimized productivity.

Pump

High-power industrial processes like pump systems use a lot of energy, accounting for upwards 20% of industry energy consumption worldwide. Alternatives to traditional pumps, such as one with a VFD, can better demand. There are also a variety of new, high-efficiency pumps being produced today that can improve energy efficiency over older alternatives.

Retro-commissioning (RCx)

Retro-commissioning (RCx) is the process of optimizing building systems to achieve energy savings based on current operational needs. Building use and aging equipment are drivers for the retro-commissioning process, which begins with a complete systems audit. This audit assesses the original specifications and accounts for any new occupancy requirements.

Refrigeration

Commercial refrigeration consumes a significant amount of energy consumption, especially compared to other appliances. According to ENERGYSTAR, refrigeration can account for up to 43% of energy use in supermarkets. Along with upgrading base equipment to more energy-efficient models, additional measures can be added or retrofitted to improve the efficiency of the equipment. These measures include door-closing mechanisms, strip curtains for improved insulation, and glass doors to reduce temperature fluctuation from opening the door.

Renewable

On-site energy generation via solar photovoltaic systems or wind turbines provides many benefits including energy savings and resilience, lower energy costs, and reduced carbon emissions. Along with these benefits, an on-site generation system will also help reduce stress on the grid, a major concern of a mass-scale renewable energy transition. Programs may incentivize on-site renewable energy generation through a credit-based system, a one-time rebate, or by paying for excess energy generated by your system.

Service

Soft costs are often overlooked when thinking about energy-efficiency projects but they can quickly add up. These costs often include inspections, audits, permitting, and even end-of-life recycling or decommissioning. To reduce upfront costs which could impact project timelines utilities will often offer incentives for audits, assessments, and equipment recycling.

Storage

One issue with renewable energy systems (solar PV or wind turbines) is that these energy sources do not consistently generate energy, causing dependence on traditional energy sources when a renewable system is disrupted, like when there is a lack of wind or the sun sets. Storage can be utilized in tandem with a renewable energy system to address generation consistency and create a more energy-efficient system that captures excess energy during times of generation and relies on storage for backup during times when no source energy is available. These measures include backup power systems, electric thermal storage, and extra batteries.

Water

As drought concerns continue to grow, water-saving measures are essential. Beyond the obvious tactic of limiting water consumption, there are many ways to use rainwater and climate-appropriate landscaping. Many programs include indoor applications such as low-flow toilets and faucet aerators, and outdoor applications like rain barrels, irrigation systems, and turf replacement.