Reaching zero emissions goals can be complex, yet energy efficiency remains an invaluable tool in that quest.
NRDC is committed to helping consumers make the most of their energy efficiency by advocating for more energy-efficient appliances and buildings, and mandating efficiency standards and policies.
It Saves Money
Energy efficiency can be used as an effective strategy for households, businesses and the wider economy to reduce energy costs. Energy-saving appliances or retrofitted building insulation and heating systems may reduce bills significantly.
Replace an outdated refrigerator with an Energy Star labeled model and you could save more than $450 annually by cutting electricity use by 35% and water consumption by 25% while using 30% less electricity; similarly, an efficient washing machine reduces household water use while simultaneously using 33% less electricity, saving on utility costs as a whole.
Energy efficiency also boosts economic productivity by decoupling economic output from energy consumption – an essential aspect of resource-constrained environments where economic output must track energy usage. Furthermore, improving energy efficiency reduces household energy cost burdens that disproportionately burden low-income households – an effective strategy for combatting poverty and inequity.
It’s Good for the Environment
Energy efficiency measures range from upgrading old appliances with more energy-efficient models, to weatherizing your home or building, all designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support climate action.
Improving energy efficiency reduces electricity demand, helping to stabilize prices and prevent fluctuations in resource supplies. Energy efficiency also serves as an economical decarbonization strategy that allows utilities to invest in renewable energies while saving costs on current consumption costs.
Energy efficiency is central to making the clean energy transition faster, cheaper, more equitable and broadly beneficial for people worldwide. Yet policymakers and investors often underestimate its many benefits when prioritizing wind and solar. This oversight could prove disastrous: efficiency improvements could deliver over one-third of emissions reductions needed to reach our climate goals; they can also have major economic, health, and environmental advantages in low-income communities that often bear the brunt of industrial pollution.
It’s Good for Health
Energy efficiency refers to the ability of devices, buildings and processes to use less energy without compromising quality or comfort. This term encompasses both conservation efforts as well as technical improvements (like using air instead of water to cool) or behavioral modifications such as turning off lights when not needed.
Implementing effective energy efficiency measures not only has immediate health advantages, but can also address other social determinants of health such as energy burdens (the proportion of income spent on utility bills), housing quality and stability, stress relief from lower utility bills or costly repairs/replacements and increased comfort within living spaces.
According to a new report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and Physicians for Social Responsibility, adopting commonsense energy efficiency policies could reduce electricity consumption nationwide by 15 percent within one year – offering significant health benefits and savings that more than offset health insurance premium costs for an estimated 3.6 million families.
It Reduces Health Inequities
Energy efficiency is often the fastest, least-expensive, and easiest way for individual consumers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the consumer level, alongside electrification, behavioral change and digitalisation. Together these measures shape global energy intensity while decreasing fossil fuel demand – the single greatest source of carbon pollution.
Improved home conditions through reduced indoor air quality hazards such as poor insulation and ventilation that lead to respiratory illnesses and temperature-related stress, lower energy costs and free up resources for other health-promoting needs like healthcare and healthy food, create jobs with family-sustaining wages while giving communities an opportunity to break free from poverty.
Energy efficiency implemented in collaboration with health organizations can become an invaluable tool in combatting climate change’s adverse health impacts on vulnerable communities. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that we approach this issue with an unwavering commitment to environmental justice and based on the principle that accessing affordable, healthy housing should not be seen as a luxury; but rather as a fundamental right.