Activity
For the purpose of this report, an establishment’s activity refers to the primary value chain industry with which it most associates its work. Activities include research, development, and engineering; manufacturing, sales, and distribution; installation and maintenance; legal, finance, and other professional services; and others.
Advanced and Recycled Building Materials
Includes doors, windows, air sealing, floor, wall, or piping insulation, and any additional building envelope materials that represent advances in efficiency over traditional materials.
Alternative Transportation
Alternative Transportation includes non-fossil fuel-related vehicles. This includes electric passenger or freight cars, trucks, or buses that use electric drive systems and electric motors for propulsion.
Battery Storage
A cell or connected group of cells used to convert chemical energy into electrical energy by reversible chemical reactions and may be recharged by passing a current through it in the direction opposite to that of its discharge.
Clean Energy
Clean Energy is defined as any technology that either reduces or eliminates greenhouse gas emissions from the generation, distribution, and consumption of electricity and fuels. The major sectors of the clean energy industry include Renewable Energy Generation; Energy Efficiency, Demand Management, and Clean Heating and Cooling; and Alternative Transportation.
Clean Energy Business or Establishment
For the purpose of this report, a clean energy business or establishment is a business location in Massachusetts with at least one employee involved with an activity related to the clean energy industry.
Clean Energy Industry
The aggregate of establishments that are directly involved with researching, developing, producing, manufacturing, distributing, or implementing components, goods, or services related to Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency or Conservation, Smart Grid, Energy Storage, and/or Electric or Hybrid Vehicles.
Clean Energy Worker
Full-time and part-time permanent employees who support the clean energy portion of the business, including administrative staff and excluding interns and other temporary workers.
Clean Heating and Cooling
Refers to businesses that are involved with heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) from renewable energy sources or perform work that increases the energy efficiency of HVAC systems.
Combined Heat and Power (CHP)
Generates electricity and useful thermal energy in a single, integrated system. Heat that is normally wasted in conventional power generation is recovered as useful energy.
Demand Response Services
Operations that balance energy supply and demand. Include offering time-based rates such as time-of-use pricing, critical peak pricing, variable peak pricing, real-time pricing, and critical peak rebates. It also includes direct load control programs, which provide power companies with the ability to cycle air conditioners and water heaters on and off during periods of peak demand in exchange for a financial incentive and lower electric bills.
Efficiency and Demand Management
Goods and services that reduce electricity demand, including energy efficiency upgrades to existing buildings (retrofitting and retrocomissioning) and installation of ENERGY STAR Appliances
Electric Vehicles
A vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion with no onboard generator or non-electric motor.
ENERGY STAR Appliances
Appliances that meet the international ENERGY STAR standard for energy-efficient consumer products originated in the United States.
ENERGY STAR/High AFUE HVAC
HVAC that meets the international ENERGY STAR standard for energy-efficient consumer products originated in the United States or has a high Average Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) rating of 90 or greater or 15 SEER or greater.
Energy Storage
Devices or physical media that store energy. (See expanded Energy Storage definition.)
Engineering & Research
Engineering & Research includes all engineering and scientific research firms engaged in clean energy projects and technology development.
Firm
A business organization, such as a corporation, company, or partnership. A firm can have multiple establishment locations.
Gross State Product (GSP)
Gross State Product is a measurement of a state’s output. It is the sum of value added from all industries in the state. In this report, clean energy is captured as a portion of the total Gross State Product.
Ground-Source Heat Pumps
Central heating and/or cooling that moves heat from or to the ground from a structure.
High-Efficiency Air-Source Heat Pumps
Transfers heat between a structure and the outside air efficiently.
HVAC and Building Controls
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, including building retro-commissioning and retrofits connected to heating and cooling.
Installation
Installation is comprised of firms engaged in residential, commercial, and industrial building construction, contracting , electrical, insulation and weatherization, or plumbing and heating, air conditioning, and ventilation work.
LED, CFL, and Other Efficient Lighting
Energy-efficient lighting sources.
Manufacturing
Refers to heating and air conditioning equipment manufacturing, engine and compressor manufacturing, semiconductor manufacturing, and energy-efficient products, appliance or lighting manufacturing, as well as motor vehicle and parts manufacturing and, solar panel and wind assembly.
Mechanical Storage
Includes technologies like flywheels and compressed air, which use kinetic or gravitational forces to store energy.
Micro Grid
A group of interconnected loads and distributed energy resources within clearly defined electrical boundaries that acts as a single controllable entity with respect to the grid.
Other Alternative Transportation
Includes jobs in transportation technologies, such as biodiesel for on‑road vehicles.
Other Biofuels
Other fuel derived directly from living matter.
Other Energy Efficiency
Includes variable speed pumps; other design services not specific to a detailed technology; software not specific to a detailed technology, energy auditing, rating, monitoring, metering, and leak detection; policy and nonprofit work not specific to a detailed technology; consulting not specific to a detailed technology, LEED certification, or phase-change material; and all other activities not specific to a detailed technology.
Other Grid
This sub-technology includes all other clean grid activity where employers were unable to assign work to a single sub-technology. This includes firms that conduct clean grid activity across multiple sub-technologies.
Other Grid Modernization
Other modernization of the nation’s electricity transmission and distribution system to maintain a reliable and secure electricity infrastructure that can meet future demand growth.
Other Renewable Energy
Includes geothermal, bioenergy or biomass, low-impact hydro, and other electric power generation detailed technologies that are not defined by the categories presented or cannot be assigned to a single category.
Other Sector
Consists of all jobs that could not be classified into one specific clean energy technology sector because the work overlaps with multiple categories. An example of this could be greenhouse gas management or accounting.
Other Services
Includes categories like business organizations, utilities, nonprofits, and select government organizations that are directly involved in clean energy.
Professional Services
Any sort of financial, legal, architectural, mathematical, or scientific services that support clean energy technology development and deployment.
Pumped Hydro Storage
Hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing. The method stores energy in the form of gravitational potential energy of water pumped from a lower-elevation reservoir to a higher elevation.
Reduced Water Consumption Products and Appliances
Includes technologies such as high-efficiency washing machines, faucet aerators, and low-flow shower heads.
Renewable Energy
Any businesses that are involved in the manufacturing, sale, installation, or research and development of renewable electricity generation technologies.
Renewable Heating and Cooling
Refers to establishments that are involved with heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) and water heating from renewable energy sources or work that increases the energy efficiency of HVAC systems.
Sales & Distribution
Sales & Distribution includes mostly wholesale trade as well as some warehousing and distribution activity. For clean energy, this value chain category includes motor vehicles and parts wholesalers, electrical equipment, and household appliance wholesalers, plumbing and heating equipment and supplies wholesalers, and other wholesale related to clean energy products, component parts, and technologies.
Smart Grid
Automated, computer-based electricity supply network, including smart computing and software, which detects and reacts to local changes in electricity usage.
Solar
Technologies that generate electric power by converting solar radiation into direct current electricity using semiconductors that exhibit the photovoltaic effect.
Solar Thermal
Uses the sun’s energy to generate thermal energy
Sub-Technology
For the purpose of this report, sub-technology refers to the specific technologies with which an establishment works within each technology area. The sub-technologies for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy are listed under the respective definitions.
Technology
For the purpose of this report, technology refers to the primary application or end use of an establishment’s produced goods or services.
Thermal Storage
Temporary storage of energy for later use when heating or cooling is needed.
Utilities, Nonprofits, and Other
This segment is largely comprised of automotive repair and maintenance but also includes organizational and non-profit work, such as environmental and conservation organizations, business associations, and advocacy organizations, as well as electric power generation and distribution utilities.
Water and Wastewater Technologies related to Conserving Energy
Products related to reducing energy for water purification, distribution, or treatment.
Wind
Technologies that convert the wind’s kinetic energy into electrical power.