Apart from an interesting article there was a great quote in the piece that could be used powerfully to industry and commerce.

Rob Murray-Leach, the Chief Executive of the Energy Efficiency Council said:

”Economic purists have been telling us that if there were $100 notes lying around, industry would have already picked them up. This report shows that companies have blind spots – sometimes you have to help them find the $100 notes.”

What a great line, but how true as well.

The article further highlighted that investment is needed by business into energy efficiency but what do you expect if you want a great return – as Murray-Leach, a former adviser to the climate economist Ross Garnaut, said energy efficiency should be viewed in the same way as other business investments – you need to spend to generate a return.

”Some people say that tackling climate change is too expensive, we should wait to see what the world does first. This report shows that there is a huge amount we could do right now to cut our emissions and grow our economy.”

The Australian government report shows that industry their could “pick-up”, as it were, $736 million – not may not seem too much in industrial terms but we are talking about a country with just under 22 million population so in context it is a sizable amount, for the US it would be well over $10 billion from just one sector!

It just show what money is “lying around” and yet being ignored – it is about time industry opened it’s eyes, they may not be concerned about climate change but why walk by billions of dollars just sitting there when they could be picking it up, particularly in these tougher times?

She highlights how energy efficiency is the way ahead as far as change energy use for environmental, energy security and energy supply reasons.

As she reports – it is what people want to happening compared to new or old forms of power generation. New power stations are needed but the impact of funding into energy efficiency is paramount.

Here is the bulk of the article:

Lately, it seems as if when the conversation turns to developing a modern national energy policy, the smart grid and renewable energy get all the attention—and with good reason, since both topics promise a future full of intelligent energy management and freedom from fossil fuels.

The smart grid and renewables capture our imagination, but it’s energy efficiency that’s affecting real change, right now—and the public (and investors) have taken notice. As far as I’m concerned, this new emphasis on—and interest in—efficiency is a longtime coming.

There are a couple of concrete indications that energy efficiency is gaining credibility and becoming the popular go-to solution for energy resource management. First off, investors are pushing money into a slew of energy efficiency opportunities—from hybrid cars to energy management systems, and everything in-between.

According to Peachtree Green, a New York-based investment bank that provides expert advice on “valuing technology assets,” 2009 was the year energy efficiency came into its own, ranking second after wind, in terms of 2009 transaction value,

In fact, Peachtree Green reports that, even while the overall green tech sector saw a 4.1% drop in value, energy efficiency saw an increase in value from $164 million to $1.3 billion. The report states that, “The clear break-out category was Energy Efficiency, with a more-than-sevenfold increase in reported transaction value for 2009.”

Energy efficiency is also winning hearts and minds in the court of public option. According to a recent poll conducted by the Environmental Defense Fund and NRG energy, respondents indicate that they are most interested in energy efficiency: 47% in particular stating that the number one environmental issue that companies should focus on is energy efficiency. With the future of government funding on shaky ground, public support of energy efficiency projects and protocols could make all the difference.

Historically, the states have often promoted energy efficiency—with great success. In fact, as of 2009, 19 states have adopted a myriad of energy efficiency strategies. In California, for example, a program that began 30 years ago has morphed from simply requiring energy-efficient appliances into an extensive energy-conscious mandate that now includes renewable energy and other smart energy technologies. Meanwhile, on the East Coast, the National Grid—an energy delivery company for Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Rhode Island—has, over the last 20 years, helped 5 million of its customers reduce energy use and save up to $3.8 billion.

As I’ve stated before, distributed energy is the ultimate form of energy efficiency and reliability.

But in the end, it’s a “boots on the ground” efficiency effort that will make the difference. As Peachtree explains,

“The reason many utilities and energy companies are undertaking certain projects, carbon capture being the best example, is because the government is financing these initiatives. Once the money dries up, many of these projects will be shelved.”

But if the public (i.e., voters) demands funding for energy efficiency, it can make all the difference. Public outreach is one of the best ways to engage and encourage communities to become energy efficiency stakeholders.

This should be great headline grabbing news but it is strange how often “spend, spend, spend” is regarded as sexy while being frugal and saving is regarded as nerdy or introverted.

Fortunately the U.S. is taking a lead in changing what is sexy as far as saving money through energy efficiency is concerned. They have just announced that President Obama’s administration has set up the SEE Action Network (State Energy Efficiency Action Network) to help states achieve maximum cost effective energy efficiency improvements.

This sounds like an interesting development and will hopefully keep the energy efficiency drive, at least in the U.S. of A, moving forward – it is also good to see the States setting a good example in this area compared to past times.

Credit to Mr Obama to keep pushing forward with the energy efficient message and schemes such as this one, particularly when he trying to increase his popularity because as we have established doesn’t produce the biggest headlines.

To help raise the importance and hopefully the desirability of energy efficiency there were some interesting quotes in the Initiative’s press-release from Lisa P. Jackson, the EPA Administrator, and U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

Jackson said in a press-release regarding the new initiative:

“In the clean energy future, energy efficiency is action number one. We can cut greenhouse gases and protect our environment at the same time we save money for homeowners, schools and businesses.”

While Chu added:

“Expanding energy efficiency is one of the quickest, most cost-effective ways we can address climate change and grow America’s economy.”

These quotes are worth highlighting as the truths they state need to be kept to the fore as they crank up awareness of energy efficiency – focussing on it rather than leaving it lurking in the shadows.

A lot of talk and focus goes into renewable, clean energy sources and new energy generation – important in the long term but as Jackson states: “Energy efficiency is action number one,” because as she suggests it ticks all the boxes, particularly with regard to saving money.

Chu underlines the importance of putting energy efficiency at the top of the list by stating that it is the quickest way to address climate change and save money, thus affecting the economy.

Wind turbines, solar panels, wave power and clean power stations are all sexy as they often involve major capital investment, jobs creation and are clearly visible on the skyline or in the oceans. Meanwhile energy efficiency is so often hidden, turning off lights; either by hand or automatically doesn’t demand much attention.

For politicians, locally and nationally, energy saving actions do not grab the headlines when compared to announcing some new wind farm or similar – but the message does seem to be getting though, possibly thanks to the economic downturn over the last year or so.

As politicians, business leaders and others begin to see the figures for the savings made through energy efficiency then they begin to salivate – they can see the headlines and hear the sound-bites in their heads. Suddenly turning out that light becomes sexy and the figures can be seen in black and white (and hopefully in 172 point on the front page alongside a politicians/community leaders name and photo!).

I am not suggesting at all that President Obama, Lisa P. Jackson (mustn’t forget the P) and Steven Chu are taking action for the headlines – I think they want to make the right decisions and are a major driving force behind these energy efficiency initiatives, but what they say is helping to convince the movers and shakers in business, politics and communities to act. When the estimates and even the actual figures are produced then we see a further boost from decision makers.

What happens on a national or international level can be illustrated within your own home. You know, as Ken Cheyne has stated on this blog, that if you hang your washing on a washing line outdoors instead of using an electric dryer you will save money, let alone the environment. Yet so many people do not do it, they carry on using the drier because of habit or convenience.

If someone added a running money meter above the drier running up the costs while in use (like a running taxi meter) would people think again. Imagine that on every appliance, light or electrical system in your home – would you make changes? Only you can answer that but I think we can make a good guess.

If your local City Hall or other public buildings had giant energy cost meters displayed prominently on the sides of the structures showing what was being used and the costs do you think people would change habits and become energy efficient?

So the more encouragement followed up by estimates and actual figures, for energy efficiency the better as saving money instead of throwing it away is always sexy!

(Please note that Enigin PLC do supply a system where your energy saving can be seen publicly – Check It Out)

The US government is certainly driving energy efficiency with US Energy Secretary Steven Chu usually describes himself as an “energy-efficiency nut.”

Venture capital investment in energy efficiency hit a record in 2009: at least 115 deals worth nearly $1 billion, according to a preliminary tally by the Cleantech Group and Deloitte. That’s an increase of 39 percent from 2008. In comparison, solar was down 64 percent from 2008, and there’s increasing talk about solar being “overfunded.”

Scott Smith, U.S. cleantech leader for Deloitte stated: ”In 2009, there was a pullback and realization by investors that because of the capital intensity of solar, there may be safer places to put their money.”

Energy efficiency generally covers a wide range of technologies that are designed to cut energy use such as improved lighting, greener building materials and sophisticated software that monitors power consumption, such as Eniscope and it’s related software.

Energy efficiency is also increasingly proving an effective way to create desperately needed jobs, save struggling consumers and businesses money and reduce carbon emissions — all at the same time.

Kevin Surace has seen the shift firsthand. For years, the CEO of Serious Materials, which makes energy-saving windows and drywall, was the only energy-efficiency executive at industry conferences.

“I remember standing with a piece of drywall at the Cleantech Forum in 2006,” he said. “Every other company was solar, wind and biofuel. People were like: What are you doing at our conference?”

Now Surace is the keynote speaker at many of the conferences he attends.

“All the cleantech conferences are efficiency, efficiency, efficiency,” said Surace.

“When you really break it down, every dollar spent on energy efficiency pays back the investment four or five times. It saves people money and creates jobs. And it has bipartisan support.”

“Energy efficiency is very capital-efficient,” said Rob Coneybeer of Shasta Ventures. “We like the idea of people using IT to measure, monitor and improve their energy usage.”

John Osborne at BSI (British Standards Institute) Training encourages organisations to think of energy management as business critical for cost reasons, but equally important as a means to embed sustainability and change across a workforce…

Improving energy efficiency within a business can provide a number of real benefits. Not only will it help to reduce impact on the environment, but it will also save money. Why then, do so many companies fail to put sufficient energy management policies in place to improve their effectiveness? A BSI study revealed that 80 per cent of respondents rated energy management as “very important”, with the key driver being to reduce or control cost, yet 60 per cent didn’t have an energy management policy in place.

Organisations are clearly talking the talk when it comes to energy consumption, but simply making the right noises isn’t enough. If businesses are to truly cut costs and offset this against less attractive cost cutting exercises then they need to put a clear system in place to manage this. Without a transparent policy to guide businesses forward, how can they even begin to answer those all important questions?

• How much energy does the business use currently?

• Who is responsible for managing energy efficiency within the company?

• What are the current issues with your energy consumption?

• What activities lead to consumption of energy?

• How can you improve your energy efficiency?

• Have you identified what areas need to be improved or completely changed?

• How much energy could you save in the long term?

• What impact would saving energy have on your business from a financial perspective?

Those businesses that are unable to answer all of these questions have really only scratched the surface of effective energy management (if at all). The likelihood for those that have a clear policy in place is they will have already addressed these questions, and will have made the first foot hold into producing a robust framework for making significant and continued improvements in energy consumption. A policy and tight framework will also allow identification of an organisations’ past, present and future energy consumption as well as the development of an energy monitoring process.

The BSI report showed that two thirds of respondents did not conduct regular energy usage audits, nor did they maintain a current energy management policy, both of which compromise the delivery of continual improvement in energy management.

In an effort to make the right noises, some businesses may make minor adjustments to save money, such as ensuring PC monitors are switched off at night, and perhaps replacing light bulbs with energy saving varieties; but is this really enough?

Energy management has evolved into a rather complex arena, covering a multitude of business activities all of which need to be taken into consideration when bringing about change and improvement. Companies may find that additional training and a standardised management system (such as BS EN 16001, the new European standard for Energy Management Systems) is needed to help them build a framework that will enable them to implement change. But there are a few simple steps you can take in the first instance to get the ball rolling:

• Take regular meter readings: this will help you to understand how much energy your organisation is currently consuming

• Organise thorough inspections of the work premises: this will help you to identify the areas where further savings can be made.

• Assess energy consumption levels on current activities

• Talk to employees and get their input on energy waste

• Take into account all energy related activities under the control of your organisation, for example the energy used to operate machinery and heat buildings. In taking these initial steps, most organisations will begin to realise the level of energy emissions being needlessly emitted every day.

Wasting unnecessary energy is largely due to poor organisation and education; in most cases employees simply don’t understand how to make the change themselves. But ultimately, wasted energy will affect the efficiency and productivity of a business, certainly in the long term.

Making change happen:

• Build a policy that incorporates the processes and practices you need to improve energy efficiency across the business. This will create a mechanism to turn energy efficiency into a key performance indicator

• Get buy in from senior management – do they really understand the benefits of making this change?

• Communicate with staff – involve them from the outset, get their feedback and suggestions for improving energy efficiency. The most successful change happens when everyone in the company is onboard.

• Establish clear minimum reduction targets so you have something the measure against

• Establish reliable ways of measuring consumption / assess on regular bases – energy consumption can fluctuate seasonally depending on weather and productivity.

• Establish objectives, implement, monitor and measure and continually improve

Once a policy has been created, organisations must implement the behavioural change needed to embed energy efficiency considerations into everyday decision-making and this is by no means an easy feat. This won’t happen overnight, it requires clear planning, perseverance and ongoing support.

Actions speak louder than words in today’s challenging climate, it’s clear that businesses can no longer continue to bury their heads in the sand when it comes to energy efficiency. The benefits are now clear to all, but if businesses are to truly reap those benefits changes need to be made, policies must be put in place and improvements must carried out and maintained. Those 80% of companies that cited energy management as a key driver for reducing costs, should really make their actions speak louder than their words if they are really serious about controlling spend and increasing the overall efficiency of their business – it could also significantly reduce the need to make cuts elsewhere in the business, which in most cases would only damage an organisation’s performance.

BSI Group

Plus a few tips for the workplace to help you start to save energy right away by dismissing the myths while taking some positive actions to save energy, save money and reduce carbon emissions.

First of all some myths regarding energy saving:

It’s better to leave a PC running because continually turning them on and off wears out the equipment.
This is Untrue.
Turning a PC off regularly not only saves energy but also extends the machines life due to a reduction in mechanical wear. Most PC manufactures recommend that users turn off their machines when not being used. This extends the machines life due to a reduction in mechanical wear and save energy.

It’s cheaper to leave a fluorescent light on rather than switch it off.
This is Untrue
It’s a lot cheaper to turn any lights off when not in use, even for a very short amount of time.

The radiator is cold so the heating MUST be off.
This is Untrue
The heating isn’t necessarily off. Where a building heating system or radiator is thermostatically controlled the radiator may go off because the office has reached an optimal temperature (19^oC). The heating will automatically come back on if the temperature drops below the set temperature.

Screen savers save energy
This is Untrue
Screen savers don’t save energy, they may save screens!

It’s better to leave a monitor on because continually turning them on and off uses more energy.
This is Untrue.
A computer monitor only consumes one seconds energy worth of running time when being started up or closed down. As monitors account for 70% of the PCs energy use, it’s always better to turn them off when away from your desk, even for relatively short times, like over lunch or attending a meeting.

On the positive side here are some useful tips:

WORK RELATED ENERGY FACTS & FIGURES

In an Energy Efficiency Assesment report issued on Tuesday (click here to see report) New York State provided very interesting recommendations that could move the Empire State to the lead position in the US as far as a clean energy economy is concerned and it makes financial sense as well.

The plan recommends energy efficiency as a major focus for commerce and industry and a new state building code that would also require stricter energy efficiency. Not only will this bring environmental benefits but the costing is a no-brainer, as the return on investment in energy efficiency is substantial – to quote the report:

“The 2008 Optimal Report concluded that opportunities for electricity end-use efficiency in New York are extensive and inexpensive compared with available supply options. Results of the study estimate the State’s achievable potential through 2015 to be about 26,000 GWh, representing a reduction of approximately 14 percent from the forecast of electricity demand in 2015…….Programs that would capture this achievable potential would cost $7.2 billion in 2008 dollars over seven years, or an approximate average annual program portfolio budget of $1.0 billion. Net benefits to the New York economy would total $12.8 billion, including $20.8 billion in total statewide benefits and $8.0 billion in societal costs. The benefit-cost ratio of the electric efficiency measures is estimated to be 2.60, which means that the New York economy would capture approximately $2.60 in benefits for every dollar invested in efficiency.”

The report also highlights how the commercial sector has the greatest potential for energy saving and emphasised the main areas that can be affected, again to quote the report:

“Similarly, the end-users with the greatest efficiency potential for the commercial sector are indoor lighting, cooling, ventilation, and refrigeration. Within the commercial sector, the study concludes that the building type with the greatest energy savings potential is office space, which accounts for 33 percent of the efficiency savings opportunities. Finally, for the industrial sector, the greatest efficiency savings opportunities are in industrial process end-uses and indoor lighting.”

From my point of view it is interesting to see where they stress the efficiencies can be made, all areas where I know the company I am associated with, Enigin PLC, have products to intelligently control energy use.

The report also focuses on the importance of advance meters, such as the Eniscope, to supply end-users with real-time energy consumption feed-back, the report states:

“By enabling customers to receive information regarding system costs in real time and to take actions to respond to higher electricity peak prices, AMI (Advance Metering Infrastructure) has the potential to reduce peak demands. In addition, the ability to monitor customer usage would improve a utility’s ability to measure the actual effects of energy efficiency measures.”

This is an important efficiency and money saver for many organisations. In Daytona, Florida, Bethune-Cookman University made savings of 43% after monitoring just one cooling station using an Eniscope advance meter, which identified areas where they were spiking their energy use and hence being penalised financially. The Eniscope enabled them to intelligently change usage patterns and make financial and energy savings, plus seeing reductions in maintenance costs.

I hope New York State will be able to put their recommendations into practice and provide not just a national lead but an international one as well.

Consider this; adding photovoltaic panels (solar energy panels) to your facility might be able to contribute up to 10% of your overall consumption.  Given the number of variables, we will have to just assume some facts.  This 10% “contributor” to your usage will come at a very high price with your initial cost being about $5 – $8 USD per Watt.  Yes, per Watt.  This initial expense would cost thousands of dollars.  This type of device can take decades before they pay for themselves.

Now lets consider some basic steps to reduce our consumption through behavior changes, conservation and load-side (power reducing) technologies.  Simple behavior changes can produce immediate results.  Studies have shown that when there is an effective energy management strategy in place, a user can save between 8 – 12% of their consumption.  This can be achieved without the outlay of  thousands of dollars.

Now you get to decide:

Would simple behavior changes toward energy efficiency be a better path?

Is it better to generate more or consume less?

If consuming less is your choice, here is the path to start upon:

An energy audit is a good “first step” to assess how much energy your home or business consumes and to evaluate what measures you can take to to become more energy efficient.

An audit will show you problems that may, when corrected, save you significant amounts of money over time. During the audit, you can pinpoint where you are losing energy and where saving can be attained.

Audits can determine the efficiency of the heating and cooling systems, lighting and processing equipment.  With proper equipment, you may be able to perform a simple energy audit yourself, or have a professional energy auditor carry out a more thorough audit.

Enigin’s Eniscope monitoring package will allow you monitor your entire premise giving you access to data that would not have been easily available, if at all, before.  Once you can see a developed trend, it is quite simple to begin your energy conservation initiative and to start seeing immediate results.

Generate your power is the other option and you get the drift of the challenges and the costs above. A very long return on investment would be involved, compared to a very short ROI on energy efficiency. In fact your first steps to behavior change would require no monetary investment at all, just your thoughts and action.

The choice is yours but seems to be no-brainer to me!

They interviewed Sir John Parker, who is Chairman of the National Grid in the UK, but has been involved in many other varied major industrial and commercial corporations. In most of these he has championed sustainability and has implemented many environmental and energy policies.

Andrew Cave, the writer of the piece, described Sir John as evangelical about the need for companies to invest in energy efficiency. What Sir John stated in the interview was the highlight for me and I would like to share his words with you.

Sir John told the Telegraph regarding energy efficiency:

“It’s the area that doesn’t always seem to me to get the highest attention and it’s the lowest-cost way of reducing one’s carbon footprint,

“With energy efficiency improvements you get a triple win: you reduce energy consumption; you make your business more cost efficient, which protects and creates jobs; and you reduce emissions. So, it seems to me that we ought to put much more effort into reducing our energy consumption.” Sir John said.

He was also asked this question by the paper:

If you had one message to fellow business leaders on building a low carbon business, what would it be?

“Start with energy efficiency; I think it’s that simple.

“There’s a danger that you can get too esoteric about this. If you take the mine-head power stations that we have at Anglo American, they capture methane which would otherwise escape – but we’re also capturing a free fuel to create the power.

“So, it’s sustainability and energy, it’s energy efficiency, and it’s reduction of carbon capture. It’s a lovely three-way hit, but it’s driven by energy sustainability in its wider sense.”

Just further evidence, this time from someone who has been there and done it, that energy efficiency and using innovative energy saving technology is the way forward for commerce and industry.

It is good to see someone in the higher echelons of the business world realising the importance environmentally of energy saving but also the fiscal advantages that it brings to businesses.

He has a great interest in sustainability and it is worth reading the whole piece – Curbing The Carbon Culture – The Daily Telegraph.

Sir John Parker’s CV as published by the Telegraph:

Over 27 years, Sir John, 67, has been on 13 quoted company boards, nine of which he has chaired.

He is still much in demand, adding the chairmanship of mining and minerals giant Anglo American to his non-executive portfolio this summer – just in time to see off a hostile takeover bid from rival Xstrata. His past chairmanships have included three dual-listed companies in cruise ship operator Carnival, pallets giant Brambles and paper group Mondi.

In addition to chairing Anglo American and National Grid, he is vice-chairman at DP World and a non-executive director at Airbus maker EADS and US cruise ship operator Carnival. He has only recently relinquished the joint non-executive chairmanship at paper group Mondi.

The article, most of which appears below, states how often finding the money for the energy monitoring solutions and the load-side products can be a stumbling block, but the article explains that the money saved from reduced energy bills over a fairly short period provides a great return on investment.

What is also of interest is the article does highlight how Indonesia is now realising how important it is to become energy efficient. I know from speaking to people from Indonesia that climate change, energy efficiency and security has not been a concern – hence it is good to see they are sitting up and taking notice.

The article mentions how they need to become efficient to make the best of a strained power generation system – a situation faced by most of the world.

Part of the article:

Living in a tropical country, air conditioned high rises often serve as our oasis. Little do we realize that the comfort they provide comes at a cost.

Since the 1980s economic boom in Asia, high-rise offices, malls and residential compounds have been sprouting here and there. Most of them are more than a decade old now and seem in dire need of a makeover.

Not so much for the sake of appearance, but to curtail their use of high-priced energy, as the building sector currently the second largest consumer of energy.

Retrofitting – in this context, the changing and adding various energy-efficient features in an existing building – has thus become the new buzzword in the field of green construction.

Sucking up between 31 and 40 percent of the total energy produced globally, buildings, especially existing ones, are places where energy can be saved, experts at a recent International Green Building Conference in Singapore say.

“We can potentially save two thirds of the energy consumed in existing buildings by retrofitting them,” World Business Council Energy Efficiency in Buildings co-chairman Constant Van Aerschot said.

“The amount of carbon dioxide emissions originating from buildings, through their use of energy, has been underestimated. While most of us thought the rate stood at around 19 percent, it has actually reached 38 percent of total carbon dioxide emissions,” Aerschot added.

Buildings set to be retrofitted are first audited to identify key inefficient areas, then upgraded with newer and more energy-efficient equipment and monitored to ensure they are run in an energy–efficient manner, Singapore minister for national development Mah Bow Tan added at the launch of the Singapore Green Building Week.

Sounds like three simple steps, but how does one retrofit existing buildings then?

Well, companies in recent years have been busy developing an array of technologies to assist with this process, ranging from energy measurement devices for the auditing process, adjustable glaze on glaze walls to reduce heat absorption, to automated building operation systems.

Even a simple coating of acrylic on the roof of a house can potentially help reduce the energy consumption required for air conditioning.

But, then comes the one thing that often hampers the process. Money, money, and yes, money.
But, guess what, despite the extra investment required, retrofitting a building with energy-efficient features only costs around 5 to 11 percent more than business as usual operational costs.

“We initially had to invest an extra 8 percent into [retrofitting] our headquarters, but quickly recovered our expenses in just a couple of years,” India-based hotel developer ITC Limited technical general manager H. C. Vinayaka said.

Through annual savings in energy consumption, the costs incurred retrofitting buildings are recovered in two to four years time, green building practitioners say.

But, still, additional investment is required. And it’s not always available.

“This is where monetization through carbon trading for buildings can come into play,” said Maria Atkinson, global head of sustainability for Australia’s Lend Lease Corporation.

Buildings can make use of the existing clean development mechanism scheme to finance retrofitting initiatives.