HMG conducts research to better understand how various building systems perform and how they could be improved to provide better performance and increased energy savings. HMG has been a pioneer in estimating the results of new building science developments on the broader market, through such studies as our research on demand response technologies, our domestic hot water field studies, and our emerging technologies assessments.

HMG has explored the relationship between the built environment and non-energy benefits. In particular, we have completed studies researching correlations between daylight availability and human productivity in multiple building types.  Our schools study found significant improvements in test scores to be strongly correlated with daylight in classrooms. Our retail study found that retail sales were as much as 40% higher in stores with skylighting. 

HMG's MA&E reports inform policymakers and program developers who are involved in market transformation. The studies are  designed to provide baseline and market characterization data, program impacts, and/or consumer and staff feedback.  Topics include relative energy efficiency of program participant and non-participant buildings, market penetration of utility program activities, characteristics of energy efficiency measures, structure of design teams and their decision making practices, and overall trends in the building market.

We have worked with numerous states, federal agencies, and utility programs to improve the building energy efficiency standards, including requiring cost effective measures to be included in a building's design, recognition and encouragement of advanced technologies and investigation of new ways to look at energy savings potential in buildings.  

We design and manage incentive programs to promote energy efficiency. We worked on several California programs, including the California New Homes Program, Savings By Design, and Designed for Comfort.  We also assisted Seattle City Light and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District in developing a program portfolio responsive to their ratepayer needs. 

We've developed customized applications  for efficient building design, sustainability practices, and demand response modeling. Applications include SkyCalc, a tool to help building designers determine the optimum skylighting strategy that will achieve maximum lighting and HVAC energy savings for a building, and the EDR Green Calculator, a tool to analyze shading and water impacts of building projects..