Energy Savings Potential and RDD Opportunities for Commercial Building Appliances

摘要

We investigated numerous energy-saving technologies for commercial appliances andrnassessed in detail the top 30 by technical potential. In our analysis, we define "commercialrnappliances" as energy-consuming appliances and equipment used in commercial buildings,rnexcluding heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, lighting, commercial refrigeration, andrndistributed-generation systems. The most important appliance categories evaluated include:rnwater-heaters, pool-heaters, laundry equipment, cooking equipment, information technology (IT)rnand office equipment, and dishwashers. While many of the technologies are already mature,rnthey may not be currently used in targeted appliances, and some design and demonstration workrnmay be needed to incorporate them. Water heating and IT/office equipment offer the greatestrntechnical potentials for energy savings.rnThe appliances we analyzed account for 2.92 quadrillion Btu (Quad) of primary energyrnconsumption. However, there is a large discrepancy between our results and the U.S.rnDepartment of Energy’s (DOE’s) 2008 Building Energy Data Book (totaling 6.92 Quad), andrnwe recommend further analysis to investigate possible sources of this inconsistency.rnBased on estimates of technical potential and consideration of market and technicalrnbarriers, we offer suggestions for possible actions to promote energy savings in commercialrnappliances. Our recommendations fall into three categories: research, development andrndemonstration (RD&D); voluntary programs; and regulatory programs. Recommended RD&Drntopics include absorption heat-pump water-heaters, supercritical CO2 dishwashing, and reliablernelectronic-ignition systems for cooking equipment. Recommended demonstration programsrninclude solar-thermal water heating and drain-water heat recovery.rnThis paper is based on a study commissioned by the DOE Office of Energy Efficiencyrnand Renewable Energy (EERE), Building Technologies Program (BT) (Zogg et al. 2009).