Posted by Thomas Humphrey
on 05/24/2010
An interesting phenomenon has begun to happen when we discuss energy efficiency in meetings and seminars. The topic has become so commonplace that our clients start to get that glazed over look implying, “I’ve heard it all before.” This is an unfortunate byproduct of the hype and marketing that many companies currently employ to sell their new, more “efficient” products. The true message of energy efficient design is getting lost in the noise.
Practicing energy efficiency is, on the surface, replacing light bulbs and buying Energy Star appliances, motors, etc… but there are also many who utilize vigorous demand reduction practices, utilizing both passive and active measures to reduce their energy consumption. Passive measures are considered to be the above mentioned product replacements with their more efficient versions while active solutions employ systems that help control the environment, such as daylight harvesting, occupancy sensors, VFD drive and control packages. These combined efforts are significantly more effective than passive alone, and can provide a considerable reduction in a facility’s energy consumption. But we are still avoiding the root of the problem: people. Strategies that focus on energy optimization are designed to leverage the technologies available with passive and active energy management tools, combined with system-wide education, monitoring and feedback. We must employ the people that interact with and design the systems to work in an efficient manner.
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