Energy Efficiency

Energy Efficiency: A Proven Way for America to Make Energy Go Further and Save Money

Energy efficiency is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to achieve energy and cost savings in the residential, commercial and industrial sectors, but energy efficiency rarely gets its due. Encouraging the use of energy efficient technologies in the industrial, commercial and residential sectors will lead to significant energy savings and should be a part of America’s comprehensive energy strategy. 

The products of chemistry empower our nation’s efforts to improve energy efficiency – from insulation to coolants to packaging. Chemistry also is the source of many innovative technologies that drive cleaner energy options, create green jobs and propel U.S. economic growth. 

We need strong policies and creative, economically sound approaches that will support further efficiency gains including enactment of the latest residential and commercial building efficiency standards and combined heat and power systems at industrial facilities.

Chemistry: Driving the Creation of Energy Efficient Technologies

Chemistry is creating technologies that empower Americans to increase energy efficiency, making energy supplies go further than ever while lowering energy costs.

Nearly every energy efficiency technology is dependent on innovations in chemistry – from lithium-ion batteries that power our laptops and mobile phones and will drive the next generation of electric cars, to building insulation that saves up to 40 times the energy used to create it, to strong yet lightweight plastic packaging that allows more products to be shipped with less weight, lightening the load and saving energy from factory to home.

Chemistry makes possible energy efficiency technologies used in our homes, offices, factories and vehicles. No home, no building, no vehicle can be more energy efficient without the innovations and discoveries driven by the chemical industry. 

The chemistry industry also walks the talk and has cut its own energy consumption in half in the last 40 years.  A  McKinsey & Company study found that for every unit of CO2 emitted in the manufacturing of the products of chemistry, two units of CO2 are saved, largely through energy savings enabled by them.

Our Policy Position 

In order to make the most of America’s energy resources and compete with the rest of the world, policymakers must maximize energy efficiency’s contribution to the nation’s energy portfolio. Given federal and state budget realities, however, public policies must look beyond traditional government subsidies and identify new ways to encourage energy efficiency, such as adopting updated energy efficiency building codes and supporting more combined heat and power (CHP) at industrial facilities.

Residential, Commercial and Industrial Energy Efficiency

• Forty percent of energy in the United States is used in buildings and 31 percent is used in industry. Updated building codes would boost energy savings, help create jobs and reduce greenhouse gases, while increasing the use of the products of chemistry.

• In the United States, individual states have primary responsibility for adopting codes that encourage more energy efficient buildings. By adopting, implementing and enforcing the 2012 model energy conservation code and passing laws that automatically adopt updated codes, states can dramatically reduce energy use and realize the economic and environmental benefits.

• Federal legislation such as the “Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act” (S. 1000) would improve energy efficiency in the residential, commercial and industrial sectors.  Another federal proposal would recognize the value of energy efficiency in home mortgages.

Combined Heat and Power

• Chemical makers and many other manufacturers use natural gas to create two forms of energy – steam and electricity – for industrial facilities. Known as “combined heat and power” (CHP), this energy is generated close to where it is needed, so little is lost in transmission. CHP can produce energy twice as efficiently as older coal-burning electric utilities.

• Expansion of CHP is supported broadly by business, labor and environmental groups.  An Oak Ridge National Laboratory study estimated that the U.S. can meet 20 percent of its electricity needs from high-efficiency CHP units by 2030.  The U.S. should establish a national goal to double electricity output from combined heat and power and waste heat recovery systems. 

• Current policies allow utilities to effectively block third-party CHP operators from selling surplus power to the electricity grid.  Regulators must remove artificial barriers to distributed electricity generation, including industrial CHP.

Recent Press

• ACEEE Report Says Energy Efficiency and CHP Can Lessen Impact, Costs of Transition in Electricity Generation 
• How Can Washington Green America's Economy?