Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has signed into law SB14-001, a $2 million appropriation to help fund the Colorado Energy Research Collaboratory that involves four state institutions and a number of industry partners.

Commercial buildings could cut their HVAC electricity use by an average of 57 percent with advanced energy efficiency controls, according to a year-long trial of the controls at malls, grocery stores, and other buildings across the country.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) announced that CEA-2047, CE-Energy Usage Information, has been approved as a new CEA standard. This standard enables devices such as air conditioning systems to communicate how much energy they use to consumers’ computers, mobile devices, and energy management services.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that its Better Buildings Neighborhood Program has helped more than 40 state and local governments upgrade more than 100,000 buildings and save families and businesses over $730 million on utility bills.

Direct Energy, one of North America’s largest energy and energy-related services providers, announced that it has teamed with Nest to offer its electricity customers a solution for managing home and small business energy usage through an offer that includes the Nest Learning Thermostat.

SmartWatt Energy, a national energy efficiency firm, has expanded its Integrated Solutions Group, with the addition of a vice president to lead the group. Adam Raftery is responsible for overseeing the development, engineering, and implementation of turnkey, integrated, design-build energy-efficiency projects.

Earth Networks announced that it showcased WeatherBug® Home, its residential energy efficiency program, at the 2014 Energy Datapalooza, an event hosted by the White House, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the General Services Administration (GSA).

The Energy Efficient Buildings Hub (EEB Hub) announced it has renamed itself the Consortium for Building Energy Innovation (CBEI). Located at The Navy Yard in Philadelphia, CBEI is comprised of 14 organizations including major research universities, global industrial firms, and national laboratories.

Southland Energy, the energy services division of Southland Industries, has been selected as Nolin Rural Electric Cooperative Corp.’s preferred contractor for all energy services projects executed at the U.S. Army Post at Fort Knox, Kentucky.