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April 17
Noon PDT

The Emerging Technologies Showcase  series continues with the free webinar, Advanced Lighting Control Systems.

With scheduling, dimming, occupancy sensing, demand response capabilities and more, these systems can capture big energy savings for commercial customers, especially large key accounts. This webinar explores a few of these systems – how they work, their benefits and drawbacks and recent case studies.

Register today  to reserve your place.

The next Showcase, on Tuesday, April 30, will cover the National Energy Efficiency Technology Roadmap Portfolio. This collaborative tool identifies new energy-efficient products and services still in the research phase that need to be tested and verified before they can be introduced into the marketplace.

Sponsored by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) with support from Western, the Emerging Technologies Showcase webinars present the latest information about some promising energy-efficiency technologies and practices that BPA is considering for future research opportunities or focus areas.

All webinars are recorded, and available online .

Start the New Year by broadening your knowledge about an energy-efficient heating and cooling strategy that can help you meet load management goals and increase customer satisfaction. The Colorado Geo-energy and Heat Pump Association  (CoGEHPA) is offering three webinars on geothermal heat pump (GHP) technology.

Here’s the lineup:

• January 17  – How to Apply for an Xcel Energy Geothermal Heat Pump Rebate: Learn how how customers can save money using Xcel Energy’s GHP rebates. Residential and commercial rebates will be covered.
• February 5 – Bottom Line Profiles of Geothermal Heat Pump Projects: Gain the knowledge you need to communicate the economic advantages of GHP systems more effectively to customers, based on real world examples.  
• February 19 -  How GHPs Can Help Electric Co-ops Manage Peak Loads: Explore the role that GHPs can play in peak load management for electric co-ops.

The first webinar focuses on working with Colorado’s primary power provider, but utility and HVAC professionals all over the country will benefit from the two February events.

The registration fee is $25 per webinar, or free to CoGEHPA members.

The coming week offers many educational opportunities for Energy Services professionals. Here are some of the highlights:

• Sustainable Energy Use in the Hotel Industry
  August 21, 11:00 a.m.-12:00 pm MDT
  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership (GPP) hosts a webinar featuring information about sustainability in the hotel industry, including success stories from two EPA Green Power Partners that have incorporated green power into their sustainability initiatives, as well as support available to hotels that want to go green. Utilities that serve resort areas might recommend this webinar to large key accounts. Register now!  

• LED Parking and Area Lighting
  August 22, 1-2:00 p.m. MDT
  This webinar, the first in a series on emerging energy-efficiency technologies, explores the benefits, issues and current state of high-efficiency lighting technology. The presentations will include case studies and related energy-saving advances in lighting. Register here.  

• Maximizing Building Envelops for Cooler Environments
  August 23, 11:00 a.m. MST
  The Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP) and the Western Cooling Efficiency Center (WCEC) are hosting this energy-efficient cooling information webinar. Efficient air conditioning can only do so much to improve the comfort and reduce energy consumption. This webinar will cover cooling efficiency measures that focus on the building shell. Reserve your webinar seat.  

• Craft-Brewing Energy Efficiency
  August 23, 1:00 p.m. MDT
  The popularity of microbrew beer is growing across the country and especially in the West. Discover practical ways your brewer customers can incorporate energy efficiency into their brewing process and reconnect ancient arts with today’s aspirations for Sustainable Brew. Register today.  

APPA is launching the APPA Academy, public power’s complete resource for professional education and certification. Through a variety of delivery methods—live, in-depth education courses, in-house training programs, conferences, webinars, list servers, online courses and work force development partnerships—the APPA Academy will help electric utility employees stay abreast of rapidly moving industry technologies and regulatory requirements while providing an opportunity for them to meet their yearly training goals and certification requirements in formats and price ranges that suit their needs.

In addition to providing utility employees with the knowledge they need to perform their jobs at the highest level, various education courses, in-house training, conferences, certificate programs and webinars in the APPA Academy meet the criteria for providing:

• CEcD Hours – needed by Certified Economic Developers to maintain certification;
• Continuing Education Units (CEUs) – required by many professions to maintain certification;
• Continuing Legal Education credits (CLEs) – needed by lawyers to practice law within a particular jurisdiction;
• Continuing Professional Education credits (CPEs) – required by CPAs to maintain licensure;
• HCRI Hours – required by Human Resources professionals to maintain certification; and
• Professional Development Hours (PDHs) – needed by engineers to maintain licensure.

Additionally, when employees participate in APPA Academy offerings, utilities earn points toward their Reliable Public Power Provider (RP₃) designation.