The Austin Chapter of PES, a joint chapter with PELS, IAS, and IES (locally called PI²) held a tour of the Pike Powers lab at Pecan Street here in Austin, Texas on Saturday, April 20th. The tour was conducted by Scott Hinson, Lab Director, who pointed out that Pecan Street is gaining worldwide notoriety for its building energy usage data.  Pecan Street’s research is revealing a wealth of information about the technological and sociological drivers behind energy usage.   Previously, only simple, conservative assumptions were in place, some of which the research has proven to be incorrect.

The diverse collection of topics that Pecan Street displayed to the tour included solar energy, home energy control, homeowner energy usage patterns, electric vehicles, and how to collect enormous amounts of data daily. 19 people attended the tour including two teenagers.  The Austin PELS (PI²) believes that tours are a great way to drive up membership, increase member interest, and educate our future workforce.