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Energy-Saving Appliances and Equipment |
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Appliances and equipment used in buildings have a significant role in the overall energy usage, economics, and environmental impact of the structure. However, appliances and equipment usually need to be replaced during the useful life of commercial or residential buildings. For this reason it is vital to understand the importance of using energy-saving appliances and equipment for new construction, remodeling, or simply when it comes time to upgrade appliances and equipment in the building sector. The first step in the process is to look for efficiency standards of various products. Efficiency standards in the United States require some new appliances and equipment such as refrigerators, air conditioners, and electric motors to meet specific energy requirements. Over time older, less efficient products are removed from the market and replaced with more efficient models based on minimum-efficiency standards or better.
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Contents
1.Definition
2. Use/Application
a. Established Techniques
b. Emerging Trends
3. Use an Integrated Approach
4. Resources
5. Associated Strategies
6. Case Studies |
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Definition |
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Appliances and equipment used in buildings have a significant role in the overall energy usage, economics, and environmental impact of the structure. However, appliances and equipment usually need to be replaced during the useful life of commercial or residential buildings. For this reason it is vital to understand the importance of using energy-saving appliances and equipment for new construction, remodeling, or simply when it comes time to upgrade appliances and equipment in the building sector. The first step in the process is to look for efficiency standards of various products. Efficiency standards in the United States require some new appliances and equipment such as refrigerators, air conditioners, and electric motors to meet specific energy requirements. Over time older, less efficient products are removed from the market and replaced with more efficient models based on minimum-efficiency standards or better.
Minimum-efficiency standards for appliances and other equipment were adopted by the federal government in order to address market failures, replace various state standards, save consumers money, and reduce energy use and peak electrical demand. In the mid 80s, the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act (NAECA) established uniform national standards on an array of products. The Energy Policy Act (EPACT) of 1992 expanded the coverage to include certain commercial building equipment. The implementation of the energy efficiency standards in the United States through EPACT saved more than 88 billion kWh in the year 2000 alone. This equates to a savings of approximately 28 million tons of carbon dioxide and the further removal of additional sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide, and carbon monoxide from the environment. Updates to these energy efficiency standards have been projected to a save more than 250 billion by the end the decade.
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Use / Application |
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Residential buildings account for around 20 percent and commercial buildings account for approximately 17 percent of the total energy consumed in the United States. Although energy-saving appliances and equipment may be more expensive to buy than comparable models with lower or average efficiencies, the payback period begins immediately with reduced energy bills that continue to pay you back long before the product wears out. Additionally, what is often overlooked when an individual is ready to buy an appliance or equipment is the operating cost of the product over its lifetime. Many consumers do not consider energy or water efficiency when making their purchases. The cost could be several times greater than the initial purchase price. The cost of using appliances and heating and cooling equipment in residential buildings, on average, cost more than $1,200 per year.
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Established Techniques
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Product Labels
A way to apply the use of energy-saving appliances and equipment is to look for the Energy Guide label or the Energy Star label on various products and equipment. The well-recognized Energy Guide label, developed by the U.S. Department of Energy, is required for most home- appliances. The label shows consumers a product’s energy usage and operating cost as a way to compare different models in the marketplace. The Energy Guide label can also include the Energy Star label if a particular model qualifies. Created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy, the Energy Star label helps individuals identify superior energy-efficient products such as appliances, computers, lighting, and home entertainment equipment that exceed the required federal energy standards.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, space heating and cooling uses 46 percent of all energy consumed in U.S. residential buildings. Water heating accounts for an additional 14 percent. Total energy consumption for space conditioning in commercial buildings
 Energy Guide Label
| is 4.5 quadrillion Btu (quads) and commercial refrigeration accounts for 0.6 quads. In some commercial buildings, such as supermarkets, the percentage of energy consumed for refrigeration commonly approaches 50 percent. Thus looking out for the Energy Guide and Energy Star labeled products when you are ready to purchase or upgrade will go a long way in the reduction of energy usage and carbon emissions.
Advancing Technologies
More than half of the total energy used for heating, cooling, ventilation, refrigeration, and water heating is electrical; and air conditioning is the single leading cause of peak demand for electricity. Advancing technology is the most obvious solution to reducing these loads. Reducing these loads can lower demand for annual power generation and peak capacity. Advanced technologies already have demonstrated success in increasing the energy efficiency of these vital building functions, without compromising occupant comfort or equipment performance.
Here are just a couple of areas where advancing technology has taken hold:
- Energy consumption for all lighting in the United States is estimated to be 8.2 quads, or about 22 percent of the total electricity generated in the United States and represents one-fifth of the national electrical consumption. Compact fluorescent light bulbs use one quarter to one third as much electricity as incandescent lamps and last 10 times longer.
- Refrigerators account for 12 percent of U.S. residential energy use and water heaters for another 17 percent. But many of today’s appliances are vastly more energy and resource efficient, such as Energy Star qualified refrigerator models that use at least 15 percent less energy than required by current federal standards and 40 percent less energy than the conventional models sold in 2001.
- The average home has roughly two TVs, a VCR, a DVD player and three telephones. Replacing these items with more energy-efficient models that are currently in the marketplace today not only save money of the life of the equipment but could save more than 25 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent to taking more than 3 million cars off the road.
- The U.S. Department of Energy reports that an estimated 3.3 quads of energy can be saved through continued improvements in component technologies. This savings is equivalent to 1.6 million barrels of oil per day. Additional improvements can be realized through improved systems approaches leading to more optimal integration of heating, cooling, and ventilation functions within the whole building design.
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Emerging Trends |
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With the ever-increasing global demand for energy, energy-saving appliances and equipment will continue to be an important factor for whole-building system design, construction and/or upgrade. Groups like the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) continue to strongly urge the advancement of policy and technology for energy-saving appliances and equipment.
Some of ACEEE’s current recommendations are as follows:
- Adopt standards for products that do not currently have efficiency standards:
Including residential torchiere lighting fixtures, building transformers, commercial unit heaters, traffic lights, illuminated exit signs, commercial refrigeration equipment, residential furnace fans, residential ceiling fans, vending machines, and consumer electronic products that “leak” electricity when not in use (phantom loads).
- Save approximately 73 terawatts per hour (TWh) of electricity in 2010 and 164 TWh in 2020 (1 TWh = 1 trillion watts) from the standards above.
The savings in 2020 amount to about 5 percent of the projected residential and commercial electricity use for that year and would reduce peak electrical demand by the equivalent of approximately 200 power plants (300 MW each). These standards would also result in substantial economic savings to consumers and businesses with discounted net benefits (benefits minus costs) of more than $80 billion and a benefit-cost ratio of more than 5:1.
- Continue current rulemakings to set appropriate new standards for commercial cooling and heating.
The increased interest and demand for high performance buildings has led to national green rating systems, such as the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) programs that recognize and reward participants that choose high performance features like energy-saving appliances and equipment for their project. |
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Use an Integrated Approach |
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A new way of thinking must be adopted in order to meet the goal of reducing carbon emissions associated with buildings. Your solutions can begin by integrating four possible methods. None works alone, and they are not all relevant in considering every strategy. However, considering the following tactics is necessary:
- Reduce the overall energy use in your building.
- Specify energy-efficient equipment and technologies.
- Make certain to include energy saving appliances and equipment throughout the building specifications.
- Use renewable strategies and purchase green power.
- Educate building owners, operators, and occupants.
- Provide regular training on the correct use and maintenance of appliances and equipment
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Last modified at 2/27/2009 11:34 PM by jamie nace
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