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    1. Energy Efficiency

    Building for the Long Term: Impacts of Energy Efficiency gather momentum since 1980s

    Jan. 4, 2023
    Since 1980, despite population growth of nearly 100 million new residents and increased use of electronics in society, efficiency investments have helped reduce annual energy expenditures in the U.S. by nearly $800 billion
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    Like a stock or bond given at Christmas by stodgy, but smart old grandpa 40 years ago and now deeply appreciated, energy efficiency is an unflashy, steady gift that keeps on giving to the younger generations that vow complete devotion to the net-zero energy transition.

    A new report shows that energy efficiency policies and programs have likely saved the U.S. nearly 30 quadrillion British thermal units (BTU) of energy consumption in one year alone. This equates to about 6,000 million metric tons (6 billion MT) of carbon emissions reduced due to energy efficiency and structural changes in the way we consume energy, according to the 2023 Energy Efficiency Impact Report.

    This report was put together released in late December by three advocacy groups—the Alliance to Save Energy, Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy. It looks back four decades into the so-called golden era of new efficiency standards and programs. 

    Energy efficiency is the unsung “first fuel” of decarbonization, some say. Simply upgrading insulation, putting in LED lighting, new HVAC, windows and automating building energy systems can provide long-term savings in both fuel and environmental costs, according to reports.

    Since 1980, despite population growth of nearly 100 million new residents and increased use of electronics in society by 2021, efficiency investments have helped reduce annual energy expenditures in the U.S. by nearly $800 billion, the report says. Energy consumption per household has dropped 16 percent even with a greater number of electronic devices and demands.

    More savings through energy efficiency is likely to come in all of the residential, commercial and industrial sectors, according to forecasts. The Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, passed in 2022, sets aside tens of billions of dollars for efficiency and building energy programs, while manufacturers such as Saint-Gobain, Anheuser-Busch and groups such as the Systems Building Research Alliance are moving forward with next-gen efficiency and electrification projects to bring facilities ever closer to net zero goals.

    “We’ve reduced energy waste dramatically for years, but in the face of the climate crisis and rising energy costs, we have so much more to do Steven Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, said in a summary of the 2023 report. “We can build on our progress with energy efficiency to make an even bigger impact ahead.”

    The work since 1980 has been tremendously successful, by this account. The report shows that improved building energy codes alone accounted for 12 quadrillion BTUs saved in 2021, while utility-sector energy efficiency work and appliance and equipment standards helped avoid another 5.6 quads.

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    The so-called "first fuel" of the energy transition also makes a deep imprint on daily human life, according to the report. Some 2.2 million jobs are active in the energy efficiency sector, while emissions reductions has aided in avoiding more than $40 million in health care costs.

    “Home weatherization can help with asthma, thermal-stress colds, the prevalence of house fires and more,” an executive summary reads.

    The building sector combined energy use accounts for close on one-third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Information technology and innovation Foundation earlier in 2022. Those causes include secondary emissions from electricity use, as well as water heating and hydrofluorocarbons from air conditioning and refrigeration, among others.

    The U.S. Department of Energy under President Biden has been pushing for building electrification, such as all-electric cold-climate heat pumps. The ACEEE and Co. report also touches on the inroads and future possibilities of a transportation sector shifting to electric vehicles. 

    The statistics can show the future generations and current planners that energy efficiency works and is often at least as effective as any renewable energy PPA. Where they will take it from here surely plays a role in the Road to Net Zero.

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    (Rod Walton, senior editor for EnergyTech, is a 15-year veteran of covering the energy industry both as a newspaper and trade journalist. He can be reached at [email protected]).

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    About the Author

    Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor | Senior Editor

    For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

    Rod Walton has spent 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

    He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

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