Waltham, Mass., May 19, 2015—The Cadmus Group, Inc. (Cadmus) announced today that its client, Vectren Energy Delivery (Vectren), has been recognized by the Association of Energy Services Professionals (AESP) for its implementation of an independent thermostat pilot program that tested whether next-generation Nest smart thermostats would help eliminate the need for complicated thermostat programming and yield greater energy savings. AESP presented the award to Vectren during AESP’s 25th Annual National Conference and Expo, held in February in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Vectren Corporation is an energy holding company headquartered in Evansville, Indiana. Vectren’s wholly owned subsidiary, Vectren Utility Holdings, Inc., serves as the intermediate holding company for three operating utilities: Vectren Energy Delivery of Indiana – North (Vectren North), Vectren Energy Delivery of Indiana – South (Vectren South) and Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio (VEDO).
Cadmus served as the evaluators of the pilot program. The evaluation revealed that customers whose homes were equipped with smart thermostats realized, on average, reduced gas consumption (for heating purposes) of 12.5 percent from the baseline, and reduced electricity use (for cooling) of 13.9 percent from the baseline. The team analyzed two years of gas and electric billing data for 600 participating customers and over 3,500 customers in a control group, making the study one of the largest smart thermostat evaluations completed to date.
Thanks to the results of this study, research entities and program administrators will now have a better understanding of next-generation thermostat savings potential and more concrete evidence to recommend smart thermostats in demand-side management (DSM) program offerings.
AESP awards the Outstanding Achievement in Market Research & Evaluation to individuals, teams or organizations that have achieved one or more of the following:
•Contributions to advancement of the energy services field
•Raised awareness of an energy services program or need
•“Best in class” performance in the design, implementation, or evaluation of an energy services program
•Outstanding commitment to the advancement of the energy services field
“We are pleased with the program results and hope that other stakeholders see the energy savings benefit of large scale deployment of Wi-Fi enabled thermostats,” said Robbie Sears, Vectren’s vice president of customer energy solutions. “This prestigious AESP award reflects the importance of the findings of our program and the quality of Cadmus’ evaluation service to validate them. We greatly appreciate their support and look forward to working together in the future.”
About The Cadmus Group, Inc.
Cadmus is an employee-owned consultancy committed to helping our clients address complex challenges by applying diverse skills and experiences in a highly collaborative environment. By assisting our clients in achieving their goals, we create social and economic value today and for future generations. Founded in 1983, we leverage our staff’s exceptional expertise in the physical and life sciences, engineering, social sciences, strategic communication, architecture and design, law, policy analysis, and the liberal arts to provide an array of research and analytical services in the United States and abroad.