Energy Services

These are the things that energy delivers or enables. Examples include:

  • Transportation
  • Cooling
  • Lighting

The challenge is to provide these services with the least carbon pollution and environmental damage possible.

Energy Efficiency

Approaches to energy savings.

  • Individual optimization
  • Integrative design
  • Alternate approaches to get energy service

Energy and Efficiency Metrics

  • BTU per square foot
  • Cost of Conserved Energy
  • Cost of Avoided Carbon
  • Simple Payback
  • Watts per CFM
  • UA value
  • Energy per unit of service (mile, lumen, etc.)
  • Carbon per unit of service (mile, lumen, etc.)

Indirect Benefits

Energy improvements often create benefits in other areas.

For example improved LED lighting can

  • Reduce waste heat, lowering cooling energy
  • Improve color rendering in a space
  • Improve worker performance

Indirect Benefits Metrics

  • Productivity
  • Absenteeism
  • Health Care

Efficiency Levers

These four “levers” are adapted from RMI Reinventing Fire, Industry.

  • Reduce energy for fundamental processes
    • Is there a way to reduce the energy needs?
    • Is there an alternate way to get the energy service?
      • Solar heat, solar electricity, etc.
  • Reduce distribution losses
  • Improve device efficiency
    • Motors, boilers, and others
  • Utilize waste energy
    • Can you use waste heat from

Other Practices

  • Dematerialization
    • energy and other costs are often proportional to materials so reducing is an important practice
    • example: additive and subtractive manufacturing
    • example: silvering mirrors before or after cutting
  • Biomimicry
    • use of natural biological processes in industry
  • Digital process controls
    • making full use of automation and digital technology for process contral

References