With heating and cooling accounting for nearly half the energy use in a typical U.S. home, it’s not a surprise that the market for energy-efficient products continues to remain strong. According to a recent study by Zillow, energy efficiency ranked among the top priorities during a home search.
The EERS required Indiana’s electric utilities to cut energy delivery by an average of 2 percent annually, as well as providing home energy assessments, low-income weatherization, and efficiency rebates for businesses, homeowners, and schools. In 2014, Indiana legislature passed SEA 340 to cancel the EERS. Then Gov. Mike Pence did not veto or sign the bill, so it became law, and Indiana became the first state to repeal its energy efficiency standard.
With trends in home-performance contracting shifting to performance as opposed to simply higher-efficiency equipment, contractors are left with the challenge of breaking the hodgepodge cycle of heating and cooling.
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy study found that most commercial air conditioners in the US are oversized by 25-50 percent. In fact, subsequent studies have only counted units as oversized if it is more than 25 percent oversized because that is widely considered a “safe and acceptable practice.”
In supermarkets, where HVAC and refrigeration equipment use 50 to 60 percent of all electricity consumed, new technologies and advanced control strategies have been developed to help boost energy efficiency as well as reduce emissions.
Last year, more than 22 percent of all new homes received a HERS rating through RESNET's standards. Pearl has established its certification on the East Coast and in California, and recently expanded into Wisconsin, Michigan, and Arizona markets. By increasing the quantity and accessibility of information about efficient homes, the partnership will increase consumer interest in home certification, creating new opportunities for both organizations.
On average, homeowners are coming to their HVAC decisions as better-informed consumers. That seems to be the consensus on the manufacturer side. That said, they are seeing not only more widespread interest in giving environmental concerns more priority in purchasing decisions, but also that this interest is more impervious to other circumstances than it might have been in past decades.
Energy represents the single fastest-growing operating cost in the lodging industry, according to the Department of Energy (DOE). Decisions on guest room equipment amplify by dozens or hundreds in a single property. The mechanical systems work on such a scale that any amount of waste can add up to a significant financial loss or missed opportunity while, on the other hand, minor savings in one area can accumulate to an appreciable gain.
Four entranceway air curtains, which now protect the Mount Pleasant, South Carolina-based amusement park’s 16,000-square-foot indoor area from outdoor temperatures, have lowered annual utility costs and energy use by approximately $20,000 and 6.6-MMBtu,
A primary reason for installing an ERV is to recover energy when there is a fresh air requirement for a building. As fresh air is brought into a building, the conditioned air is exhausted back outside to equalize the building’s air pressure.