Energy Efficiency Success Stories

Energy provides many benefits. It runs our factories. It heats, lights, and cools our buildings. It cools and cooks our food. It powers all our TVs, VCRs, computers, and other electronics. Energy fuels our transportation system of cars, buses, trucks, trains, ships, and planes. Unfortunately, a lot of energy gets wasted. This wasted energy usually ends up as unused heat. The heat given off by your television, computer, or light bulb are good examples of wasted electricity being converted to heat. Heat going up a chimney is another example. Cars give off so much waste heat that they need radiators and fans to keep from overheating.

Energy efficiency means getting the same things done while consuming less energy. At one time, people thought that using more energy was necessary for a growing economy. Time has shown that we can produce more goods and services while consuming less energy by using energy wisely. The U.S. uses more than twice as much energy per person as other prosperous countries like Germany and Japan.⁶ Energy efficiency techniques have already helped our economy become healthier. In the U.S., we use about the same amount of energy per person today as we did in 1973, but our economy has grown 74%.⁷ The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) projects that the U.S. could use energy efficiency technologies to economically cut energy use 18% by 2010, and 33% by 2020.⁸ That would be a major accomplishment! It would save money, natural resources, and help reduce pollution at the same time.

The Ren Cen

There are numerous examples of energy efficiency breakthroughs right here in Michigan. For example, in downtown Detroit, General Motors overhauled the Renaissance Center office complex of 5.5 million square feet. They installed more efficient heating and cooling equipment, lights, and office equipment. They installed window-shading devices to reduce the amount of air conditioning the building needs each year. They redesigned the offices located near the outside of the building to let the light from the outside further into the building, reducing the need for electric lights. They also started using waste heat from a Detroit Edison power plant to heat the building in the winter. As a result, they save $500,000 per year in energy bills.

The money they save on electric and gas bills will pay for the energy efficiency improvements in less than 5 years. It will also prevent the release of 12,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), 157 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2), and 53 tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx) each year.⁹

Michigan Energy Options (formerly Urban Options / Northern Options)

On a smaller scale, Michigan Energy Options (formerly Urban Options / Northern Options), in Lansing, MI, renovated a house built in the 1920’s with modern energy conservation and renewable energy equipment. Foam insulation was added to the walls and attic, better windows were put in to capture the sun’s heat, and high efficiency heating and lighting were installed. They also used special photovoltaic shingles on the roof that convert sunlight directly into electricity. Compared to a typical home in the area, the Michigan Energy Options house keeps warm with only one quarter the natural gas used in a typical home. In other words, over three quarters of their heating bill has disappeared! In addition, the solar shingles supply more than half the home’s electricity.¹⁰ You can visit Michigan Energy Options and see its educational displays in person or via the Internet (meo_dev.orbro.com).

6 World Bank. World Development Report 1992, Table 5, p.226-227.

7 Steven Nadel and Howard Geller, Smart Energy Policies: Saving Money And Reducing Pollutant Emissions Through Greater Energy Efficiency, September 2001, Report Number E012, page 5.

8 Steven Nadel and Howard Geller, Smart Energy Policies: Saving Money And Reducing Pollutant Emissions Through Greater Energy Efficiency, September 2001, Report Number E012, page 5.

9 Christopher Sherry, Safe Energy Communication Council, Michigan’s Energy Efficiency Success Stories, Fall 2000, pg. 2.

10 Christopher Sherry, Safe Energy Communication Council, Michigan’s Energy Efficiency Success Stories, Fall 2000, pg. 9.