This month we’ve launched a campaign to raise awareness about “plug loads” — the innumerable devices in commercial buildings that use energy, such as computers, copiers, fax machines, kitchen appliances and electric space heaters.
According to new research by Lucid, plug loads constitute as much as 50% of an office’s electricity consumption. If you’re familiar with recent protests organized by the Occupy Wall Street movement and their motto, “We Are The 99%”, you’ll quickly notice where we got our name for the plug loads campaign.
What’s surprising about Lucid’s findings is that they run contrary to most estimations of plug loads, which typically range from 10% to 30% of a building’s electricity use. Most estimates are based upon simulation modeling and not empirical measurement, so our data provide an important reality check for energy managers, sustainability officers and the design community.
Increasingly, Lucid’s customer base is tracking energy consumed by end use, giving us an important look into the role that building occupants (as opposed to facility managers and engineers) can play in conserving energy. The research, based on electrical metering from commercial offices in California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, New Jersey and Virginia, represents nearly 1 million square feet with lighting, plug loads and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) separately metered.
Lucid’s research underscores the important role of building occupants in affecting energy usage in many commercial buildings. We hope that the Occupy Your Building campaign will encourage everyone to begin asking questions about the nature of their electrical end uses and identifying ways to curb unnecessary plug load use during the day and overnight.
Visit www.occupyyourbuilding.org to submit a photo of your plug loads to share with the world, or download campaign posters for your building.
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