Over the last two decades, advances in HVACR technologies have produced significant improvements in energy efficiency. During that time, residential HVAC systems in the U.S. have gone from 10 to 15 SEER, a 25 percent efficiency improvement. For commercial buildings, the source and site-energy-use efficiency improvements in ASHRAE 90.1 standards have increased more than 40 percent, with corresponding reductions in CO2 emissions.
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.