Energy Efficiency

The Problem: Millions of dollars and enormous amounts of energy are wasted each year simply because our homes and businesses aren’t as energy-efficient as they could be. Meanwhile, our demand for electricity is expected to grow by over 25% in the next two decades.¹

The Solution: To make the most out of the energy we currently produce, America needs a national efficiency upgrade. Make new buildings more efficient, upgrade old buildings to save energy, and update our appliances and equipment to use less energy and perform the same or more functions than they do now.

The Benefits: Energy efficiency is where the greatest and most immediate gains can be made. Household and commercial building efficiency can increase by 30% with existing technologies – an upgrade that will save the typical homeowner $450 dollars a year on utility bills.² Improving devices that use power in “stand-by” mode alone would save consumers $3 billion per year.³ These improvements will drive economic growth. Many efficiency upgrades will pay for themselves in just a year or two. The result will be more comfortable and valuable homes and buildings, lower utility bills, and tens of thousands of new jobs as we retrofit existing buildings to be more efficient and manufacture more American products that use less energy.

How We Get There

Implement government policies and programs that quickly improve efficiency in all sectors of our economy. There are clear examples of the enormous financial and technical benefits of investing in efficiency. What’s needed now is a systematic approach to achieve such savings across the board, so that ALL businesses and homeowners can start realizing savings. This should be a massive mobilization that will involve utilities and their regulators; equipment and appliance manufacturers and installers; and homeowners, business operators and landlords across the nation. Lights, air conditioning, heaters, appliances, computers, electronics, water heaters, motors, fans – each of these technology categories can perform its function and consume 20%-70% less energy (and much more, in some cases). Plus, with every successive generation of new products, more savings can be achieved. It's about an ongoing economy-wide effort to make every home and every building – along with every item inside those homes and buildings – more efficient.