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Hillary Clinton and the Democrats that spoke this week in Philadelphia at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) missed a powerful opportunity to address the nation and the world about actionable intelligence on energy-efficiency and climate change. They may be reading from the Obama Administration script.
In his March 19, 2015, President Obama issued his Executive Order "Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade" (https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/03/19/executive-order-planning-federal-sustainability-next-decade)
Cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent (from 2008 levels),
Increase the use of renewable electricity by 30 percent,
Expand the federal fleet with alternative fuel vehicles and cut greenhouse gas emissions per mile by 30 percent,
Cut energy use at federal facilities by 2.5 percent, and
Reduce water demands by 2 percent.
This is an example of the overall lack of knowledge in the US across the public and private sector about the potential for savings with LED lights and the high ROI relative to other tactics. The ROI for commercial LED lighting is often over 33% while it is rarely over 13% for renewable power and alternative fuel vehicles. Changing the lights is the most cost-effective way to save energy, money, reduce CO2 emissions, and create American jobs through US manufacturing, energy auditing, and installations. Back in 2011, the Obama Administration demonstrated leadership on building energy efficiency through its Better Building Initiative (https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/02/03/president-obama-s-plan-win-future-making-american-businesses-more-energy) but they did not “Walk the Talk.” The majority of the government real estate, that totals over 3 billion sq ft of the 87 billion sq ft of total non-residential US real estate, does NOT have LED lighting.
This week, many impassioned supporters of the green movement marched in Philadelphia holding signs reading “We are the Clean Energy Revolution”, but on the organization’s website (http://www.cleanenergymarch.org/about/) there is not one mention of LED lighting. Even groups dedicated to reducing CO2 emissions are uneducated about one of the easiest ways to do it. Many clean energy groups, suggest a variety of other less efficient solutions including solar, and electric cars. When compared to changing the lights, however, they are not as cost -effective as clean-tech LED lights. The Obama Executive Order and the policies overall are literally upside down. The reason may be due to lobbying from the solar and auto industries that is compounded by lobbying from traditional lighting mega-players like GE, Philips, and Sylvania. LED lights last for 20 years in commercial offices, and this literally takes away profits from lighting manufacturers that have been happy to sell more lights each year as the old ones burn out. This is a penalty for US tax payers, that should hope the government tries to save money wherever possible, to cut out waste, fraud, and abuse.
If the US government were to use taxpayer dollars to pay for a sample initiative of $100,000 for each of the these three energy initiatives, this is what they would save each year:
LED lighting = $33,333 (3 year payback on Investment)
Solar Power = $13,123 (7.6 year payback on Investment)
Hybrid Cars = $4,995 (20 year payback on investment)
The calculations for each of these is included at the end of this article.
In the Obama Executive Order, the 2.5% reduction in energy use for federal facilities is way below an achievable target. According to the US Energy Information Administration, at 15% of building energy is typically used for the lighting. (http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=99&t=3). LEDs can cut it in half! This generates a 7.5% energy reduction for buildings TODAY!...not a 2.5% reduction by 2020, four years away. Cutting the lighting waste out of buildings should be energy priority #1, given that is has the highest ROI. Simply, reducing energy waste is more cost-effective than producing renewable power via solar or other technologies. Commercial LED technology is available now and proven to generate results. Philadelphia based companies like Independence LED Lighting (http://independenceled.com/) are not only saving energy for public and private sector accounts, but they are also creating jobs in America after bringing their manufacturing from China to Pennsylvania in 2010.
The Clinton and Trump campaigns should look harder at their energy policies and research the most cost-effective tactics, because neither party at their respective conventions mentioned LED lighting as a powerful tool to save money, CO2, and create jobs.
CALCULATIONS
ROI for Alternative Fuel Vehicles
If a federal worker were given a hybrid fleet vehicle or somebody buys a base level 2016 Toyota Prius hybrid, the MSRP is $24,000 and the MPG average is 52. They would only spend $554 on gasoline each year based on national averages for miles driven (13,476) and price of gasoline ($2.139). If that person were to use or buy a more traditional vehicle, like the popular 2016 Toyota Corolla, with an MSRP of $17,300 and average MPG of 32.5, they would send $887 each year on gasoline. The difference between the prices of the cars is $6,700 and the annual fuel savings is $333. If the government invested $100,000 in alternative fuel vehicles, they could upgrade to 15 hybrids instead of the traditional combustion engine cars. 15 hybrids on the street would save $4,995 in gasoline each year. The ROI is 5% with a payback in 20 years on the investment. This is far from the best use of taxpayer dollars!
Data Sources:
$2.139 average price of gasoline http://gasprices.aaa.com/?state=US
13,476 miles per year. https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/onh00/bar8.htm
Toyota statistics http://www.toyota.com/corolla/ and http://www.toyota.com/prius/
ROI for Solar Power
If a facility manager for a government building or a private sector building wants to make an impact on energy costs and CO2 reduction, they should compare solar power to other initiatives before making the investment.
The cost of solar energy systems has dropped significantly over the past decade from $9/watt to approximately $4/watt when professionally installed or $2/watt when self-installed with staff, such as government employees already on the payroll.
A 6kW grid-tied system serves as a building block for this article, because it costs at wholesale about $10,000. Using typical sunshine conditions of 5 peak sun-hours per day, this type of system will generate 10,932 kWh/year. At the US average energy cost of energy $.12 per kWh (also used for the LED lighting calculations) the solar system will produce $1,311 per year. If the government invested $100,000 in solar, they would have ten of these size systems and generate $13,118 of electricity each year. The ROI is 13% with a payback in 7.6 years on the investment. This is neither the worst of best use of taxpayer dollars!
Note #1: A typical US household uses 10,932 kWh of electricity a year, so this 6kW system is a solid reference point on the order of magnitude of energy production.
Note #2: A fully burdened cost of installation for a 6kW system is about $18,540, based on the average installed price of $3.09/watt. See National Renewable Energy Laboratory -NREL source below. So, if the government is not smart about bidding the project a $100,000 budget would only provide enough funds for 5.4 6kW systems that would produce $7,079 in added electricity. The ROI is then only 7% with a payback in 14 years.
Data Sources:
US Department of Energy (NREL): http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy15osti/64898.pdf
US Energy Information Administration: https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.cfm?t=epmt_5_6_a
Private Sector ROI: http://www.wholesalesolar.com/solar-information/return-on-solar-investment
ROI for LED Lighting
If a facility manager for a government building or a private sector building wants to make the largest impact on energy costs and CO2 reduction, they should look up at the ceiling first. Fluorescent tube lighting is the most common form of traditional illumination for commercial buildings like government offices. The 4 foot fluorescent tubes (32 watts) can now be replaced with energy efficient LED tubes (12 watts). This is a dramatic 20 watts saved, which is over 62%, and many of the LEDs last up to 100,000 hours, which is more than three times the life of the fluorescent tubes.
Average annual Illumination for an office: 3,000 hours (12 hours per day with cleaning crews, 5 days per week, 50 weeks per year)
Savings Formula: 20 watts saved / 1000 x 3,000 annual hours = 60 kWh saved annually.
US average energy cost of $.12 per kWh yields $7.20 in savings per tube per year. Note that there are over 2 billion fluorescent tubes in American ceilings, making this a major savings initiative. The installed cost of the LED tubes typically ranges from $10 to $22. If the government invested $100,000 in LED lights, they would save $33,333 in electricity each year. The ROI is 33% with a payback in 3 years on the investment. This is the best use of taxpayer dollars!
Data Sources:
Multiple sources cited in the War on Energy Waste: http://independenceled.com/war-on-energy-waste/
