Robert Wilkins, President, Danfoss North America, Moderator, EE Global Executive Dialogue Session 3A: Buildings
Expectations for a comprehensive climate and energy bill are diminishing as we head into an election year, and with the Democrats no longer holding a 60% Senate majority. However, the importance of energy efficiency remains at the forefront in many sectors due to unstable and rising energy prices and energy security. We will tackle emerging energy – and efficiency – issues at the Energy Efficiency Global Forum & Exposition.
Policy development is one critical lever in our path toward efficiency. For example, with proper incentives or policy, in the HVAC industry, millions of old, inefficient air-conditioning and heating systems installed in our homes could be replaced with today’s higher efficient systems that reduce energy consumption by as much as 30%.
While policy development, dialogue and other actions are important to moving the energy dial, it’s also important to recognize that many technologies exist today that can help solve our global energy challenges. These technologies are consistently producing the desired result – reducing carbon emissions and improving energy efficiency in homes, schools, offices and other commercial buildings.
One specific technology that offers tremendous energy savings is variable frequency drives, which control electric motors so they run at optimum speed, thereby saving up to half the energy used in compressors, pumps, fans and blowers. But today, only 8% of all electric motors are controlled with variable frequency drives.
This opens the door to untapped energy efficiency. New incentives and policies are needed to deploy existing technologies available today, while relying on industry to develop new ones to benefit future generations.
Tags: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, emissions reductions, energy efficiency, energy-efficient technologies