Efficiency is the first step in the “Green Recovery”
Monday, December 21st, 2009
by Tom Pincince
In this first entry in Digital Lumens’ blog, I could tell you how innovative our idea is, how great and experienced our team is, and how important the problem we are addressing is. I will definitely do that at a later date, but I want to focus on a key economic issue that is getting short shrift. For all the strategies and initiatives meant to boost economic recovery and spur job creation, there is one that is still not getting nearly enough attention: energy efficiency.
Green to Gold co-author Andrew Winston has written a compelling new book, Green Recovery, in which he outlines how companies that curb their energy use and increase sustainable practices will better weather the current economic conditions and emerge on the other side prepared to compete and win. Winston addresses head on some of the misconceptions around sustainability, taking on my personal favorite – the idea that going green is expensive. “Of all the mental hurdles keeping your company from profiting from green thinking, none compares to the misconception that environmental practices always cost a lot of money. But green doesn’t raise costs; it lowers them (quite often in the short run, and definitely in the long run).”
Every day, I meet with executives in companies that are struggling to control costs as they protect their market position and valued employees. Energy has been identified by all of them as a key area for containment and reduction. My translation of that sentiment is that these leaders “would rather fire a kilowatt than fire an employee.”
I recently participated in a forum with Representative Peter Welch of Vermont, a member of Congress and member of the Committee on Energy and Conservation, who concurs. He has decided to put his efforts into advocating for energy efficiency, the poorer cousin to sexier areas like energy generation – biofuel, wind, solar, etc. — which are seen as direct job creators. However, as Representative Welch correctly put it, “A dollar saved by energy efficiency is a dollar put back into the local economy.” And those dollars can be managed on the local level, rather than directed at the federal or agency level.
More on this issue and others in later posts. Of course, I will get to how innovative our idea is, how great and experienced our team is, and more. That is my job, after all. And, I sincerely hope you will join in the conversation and share your thoughts and comments.
Danielle Burke Finelli
December 22, 2009, 2:41 pm
Looks like a great start! Short-term sacrifices need to be taken to yield valuable long-term results. Companies and Government, need to start recognizing this, no matter how unfavorable changes may initially seem.
This is a hot topic and industry prime for growth! Keep at it! Danielle
Jay Boucher
December 22, 2009, 2:42 pm
Tom,
I couldn’t agree with you more! Energy conservation has an easily calculated ROI that can be easily achieved in a period of 36 months or less. A 36 month ROI calculates into a 33% ROI and you are not going to get a 33% ROI
Jay Boucher
December 22, 2009, 2:44 pm
Tom,
I couldn’t agree with you more! Energy conservation has an easily calculated ROI that can be easily achieved in a period of 36 months or less. A 36 month ROI calculates into a 33% ROI and you are not going to get a 33% ROI in the market these days.
Green is Green!
Jay
Thomas Humphrey
December 24, 2009, 8:52 am
Tom,
It’s great to see people pushing concepts like the economic effects of reducing consumption to spur growth. To most people this is counterintuituve, but there is definitely a “green economy” waiting in the wings, just not the one most people think of.
It’s already been studied extensively that current alternative energy technologies do not possess the capability to meet the world’s power demands. The answer lies in doing more with less. What many people miss out on are the multiplicative effects of power demand reduction. Every watt saved in a space, is one less watt the HVAC system needs to remove as heat, which reduces it’s demand as well. If we then apply free-cooling and variable speed drives to the HVAC system we can significantly reduce the overall building energy demand. One savings begets another. These types of analyses can drive the future green economy, by forcing smarter deployment of capital expenditure that focuses on lifecycle costs and energy reductions.
I look forward to seeing your LED technology married with system wide efficient design practices to show significant ROI in retrofit as well as greefield installations.
Mark Adkins
December 24, 2009, 9:26 am
Congratulations on your new blog, I guess I am your first response.
I agree with having a focus on energy efficiency that will complement the move to renewable energy sources. What I am investigating is the existence of “Smart Building Integrators” that have the ability to quote, engineer, install and service both energy efficient products like LED lighting as well as renewable energy sources such as solar.
My experience from industrial automation is there is a need for these local/regional integrators who can handle customer specific applications that OEM’s will not.