The energy-efficiency community is finding it harder to obtain high rates of return on energy-efficient upgrades.


To combat this sense of stagnation, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) released a report in September with 18 ways to continue to promote energy efficiency in the future.


“The well of energy savings from energy efficiency is not running dry,” the ACEEE states in its report, “New Horizons for Energy Efficiency: Major Opportunities to Reach Higher Electricity Savings by 2030.” Revolutionary changes in energy efficiency are providing opportunities for greater levels of efficiency in businesses, factories, homes and institutions.


The report presents several cost-effective measures that aren’t in widespread use but could reduce total annual electricity sales by 1 percent or more by 2030. Using only one measure won’t produce great energy savings for utility program portfolios, like compact fluorescent lamp programs did in the past. The report states utilities and program administrators need to use a combined set of measures to produce the necessary diversification for energy savings.


The following are the 18 measures:


• High-efficiency residential appliances (refrigerators, clothes washers and clothes dryers)


• Residential light-emitting diodes (LEDs) targeted at current incandescent applications


• Real-time feedback on energy use to promote customers’ conservation behaviors


• Residential smart (learning) thermostats


• Advanced residential air conditioners and heat pumps


• Heat pump water heaters


• Comprehensive residential retrofits


• New construction programs targeting future model and state building codes


• Large reductions in key targeted plug loads (miscellaneous energy loads)


• Smart commercial buildings


• Advanced commercial lighting design and controls


• Advanced commercial rooftop air-conditioning units


• Comprehensive commercial retrofits


• Strategic energy management for large commercial and industrial customers


• Energy performance labels for commercial and industrial equipment


• Smart manufacturing


• Conservation voltage reduction


• Combined heat and power systems


Improving energy efficiency in the U.S. commercial building sector is cost- effective and can provide substantial returns. Energy consumption could be reduced by 28 percent by 2020 and 32 percent by 2030, according to the report. Many commercial retrofit projects achieve an internal rate of return greater than 15 percent.


Energy efficiency in the United States is entering a new era. These measures are part of what the ACEEE calls “Energy Efficiency 2.0,” which can reach even more customers and provide higher energy savings than before.