by Brianna Crandall — September 29, 2014—The U.S. Department of Energy announced on September 18 a series of executive actions to expand the deployment of renewable energy and cut greenhouse gas emissions, including new efficiency standards that would slash commercial rooftop air conditioner energy use by about 30%. The proposed standards would reportedly achieve the largest national energy savings of any standard ever issued by the Energy Department.
Efficiency standard for commercial air conditioners proposed
The Department issued a proposed energy efficiency conservation standard for commercial unitary air conditioners, often used in commercial and industrial buildings. If finalized as proposed, the standard would save 11.7 quads of energy over the lifetime of units shipped over 30 years, the largest energy savings estimated for any efficiency standard issued by the Department to date, while also potentially helping to cut more than 60 million metric tons of carbon pollution by 2030. An important step since air conditioners account for about 10% of a typical commercial building’s electricity cost, the standard is expected to save consumers nearly $10 billion on their energy bills through 2030.
Rooftop air conditioners are commonly used in low-rise buildings such as schools, restaurants, big-box stores, and small office buildings. They cool about half of the total commercial floor space in the United States, notes a release about the DOE initiative by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). (Most of the other half is cooled by chilled water systems, residential-type central air conditioners, or individual air conditioners mounted in windows or external walls.)
DOE estimates that over the lifetime of units sold over thirty years, the proposed standards would save businesses between $16 and $50 billion and reduce electricity consumption by about 1.3 trillion kilowatt-hours, or enough energy to cool all the commercial buildings in the United States for seven years. The new standards would net a typical building owner between $3,500 and $16,500 over the life of a single commercial rooftop air conditioner. Overall savings will often be higher since most buildings have multiple units. For example, a big-box store can have more than 20 rooftop air conditioners, points out ACEEE.
The current efficiency standards for rooftop air conditioners measure efficiency at full capacity despite the fact that air conditioners rarely operate at that level except on the hottest days, explains ACEEE. The new proposed standards are instead based on a metric called IEER (integrated energy efficiency ratio), which captures efficiency at 25, 50, 75, and 100% of full capacity and better reflects real-world performance. Typical new rooftop air conditioners that just meet the commercial building energy code have efficiency levels of about 9.5 to 11.5.
However, DOE’s High Performance Rooftop Unit Challenge has helped spur several manufacturers to develop and bring to market high-efficiency rooftop air conditioners. Equipment on the market today achieves IEER levels as high as 21. The newly proposed standards would set minimum efficiency levels of 12.3 to 14.8 depending on equipment type and capacity.
Solar energy initiatives
To connect skilled veterans to the fast-growing clean energy industry, the Energy Department’s Solar Instructor Training Network is launching a pilot job training program for veterans at up to three military bases this fall. The network aims to connect talented veterans with the Department’s extensive network of more than 400 community college-based solar training institutions.
Three studies conducted by the Energy Department’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) highlight the decline of solar energy costs across utility, residential and commercial scale systems. Additionally, LBNL’s newest Tracking the Sun study finds that in 2013, the installed price of residential and commercial photovoltaic systems continued to decline rapidly in recent years, falling by 12%-15% from the prior year, depending on the size of the system.
The Energy Department’s SunShot Initiative also announced a new online tool to chip away at solar soft costs— like interconnection, permitting, and financing. A new Web site, Solar Powering America, provides easy access to a variety of resources to encourage solar deployment, including funding programs, best practices, and interactive tools and datasets from multiple federal agencies.
Better Buildings Challenge, High Performance Outdoor Lighting Accelerator
President Obama launched the Better Buildings Challenge in February 2011 to accelerate private sector investment in energy efficiency and make commercial and industrial buildings 20% more energy efficient over the next decade. Now 28 new states, cities, multifamily housing organizations, retailers, commercial real estate organizations and manufacturing organizations just announced that they are joining the Better Buildings Challenge. These new Partners have committed to improve the energy efficiency of more than 400 million square feet of building space. In total, more than 200 Better Buildings Challenge Partners, representing more than 3 billion square feet, 600 manufacturing plants and more than $2 billion in financing, are on track to meet the 2020 goal.
Additionally, five new state, local and regional organizations are joining the Better Buildings High Performance Outdoor Lighting Accelerator, bringing the Department closer to exceeding the goal to replace more than 500,000 outdoor lighting poles with more efficient ones by 2016.
