By Andrew deCoriolis, Director of Public Programs
New energy efficiency opportunities in buildings
In the United States electricity consumed in buildings represents 2/3 of all electricity consumed, equating to roughly 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Americans spend 90% of their lives in these buildings. How we build buildings, and how people act in those buildings has a tremendous impact on the world economy and ecology.
In the world of commercial building energy efficiency, there are two general categories of energy efficiency measures used to reduce energy and operating costs of buildings. The first involves upgrades or substitutions of equipment (lighting, HVAC systems, etc). The second involves operational changes such as modifying HVAC set points, or checking scheduling and economizer cycles. The first category is retrofits, and the second category is low- or no-cost operational improvements; both are in the purview of the facility manager. A third category is emerging, however, which is often overlooked and which does not revolve around the facility manager: behavior change on the part of building occupants.
