FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Matthew Scallet, 202-525-2883, x330, matthew.scallet@imt.org
WASHINGTON, DC (January 29, 2016)— The expansion of energy benchmarking initiatives around the country has developed a pathway to bring building performance information into the era of Big Data. However, this major expansion of data needs to be organized, managed, and accessible to make the kind of discoveries that this new information allows. The Department of Energy has long recognized this need through their development of the Standardized Energy Efficiency Data (SEED) Platform to help cities and states manage their building stock’s energy information.
The early success and adoption of the SEED Platform led to the launch of the SEED Platform Collaborative to create a formal user group. At the launch it was announced that Atlanta, Berkeley, Cambridge, California Energy Commission, Houston, Kansas City, Montgomery County, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, and Washington, D.C. have all been selected for a three-year partnership to receive technical assistance and access to a peer community to share best practices in managing building energy data.
“These jurisdictions have demonstrated their leadership in cultivating the expansion of building energy performance data to facilitate the reduction in energy use of buildings over the past few years, and it is no surprise that they have continued that leadership by joining the SEED Platform Collaborative” said Cliff Majersik, executive director for IMT.
“The SEED Platform has proven to be a valuable resource for jurisdictions to store, share, and analyze the influx of new data that has been made available by benchmarking policies and programs. SEED not only saves staff time and aids in ensuring that data is high quality, it stimulates innovation by software developers. The Collaborative adds another layer of support among users to expand the Platform’s capabilities and encourage even more jurisdictions to adopt the software.”
IMT joined the SEED Collaborative as a key Ally to recognize these jurisdictions for their leadership in this critical effort. We also would like to acknowledge the representation of the many cities featured here that are participating in the City Energy Project, a joint initiative of IMT and the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC), as well as New York City and Washington, D.C. where IMT has fostered longstanding relationships that have continued with our partnerships in our DOE-Supported Putting Data to Work project.
"We are looking forward to working with IMT through the SEED Collaborative to advance data-driven policymaking and business decisions around energy performance in buildings," said DOE Technology Manager and lead of the SEED Platform Elena Alschuler.
"IMT recognizes that the work of collecting, managing and analyzing data is challenging yet crucial to achieving building sustainability goals. They are playing an important role in stimulating the conversation around this topic, and helping practitioners develop and share practical solutions."
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ABOUT IMT: The Institute for Market Transformation (IMT) is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization promoting energy efficiency, green building, and environmental protection in the United States and abroad. IMT's work addresses market failures that inhibit investment in energy efficiency and sustainability in the building sector. For more information, visit imt.org and follow us on Twitter at @IMT_speaks.