The European Commission is on a drive to make European Union member states consume 20% less energy by 2020, and as part of its target, the European Commission presented its proposal for an Energy Efficiency Directive this week. The Commission has said that it wants to urge EU nations to execute energy-saving plans. However, it said that it would not be implementing binding goals for the time being.

“The commission will propose binding national targets if in 2014 we come to the conclusion that the EU is not likely to achieve the 20% target,” the Commission said.
EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said that he believed such a “two-phased strategy” was a “fair offer.” With existing energy dealings, the bloc is likely to achieve only 9% savings. The Commission now anticipates to further promote conservation by, among other things, requiring the public sector to acquire energy-efficient buildings or carry out related renovations. It also wants member states to compel gas, heating oil and electricity companies to fund energy efficient measures such as double-glazed windows and better heating systems for their customers. “Energy service companies would pay for the initial investments and get their money back from the savings on the energy bills,” the commission said.

Member states could also come up with choices to company requirements, as long as the end result is the same. The commission, for instance, pointed to tradable energy-savings systems that have been implemented by some member states. “Only if everyone participates do we have a chance of success,” Oettinger said.

If member states do not comply with the new energy directive, they could face violation processes, including court-ordered fines. The measures would need to be supported by EU governments and the European Parliament to become law, and may be amended significantly during the process.

Later in the day, environmentalists criticized the Commission for failing to demonstrate leadership on energy efficiency. “Unfortunately the Commission suggested no binding targets but only very few additional measures to the existing framework, which – if adopted in current form – will make it unlikely for Member States to reach a beneficial level of energy savings, said Arianna Vitali Roscini, Policy Officer for Energy Conservation at WWF’s European Policy Office.

“For months the European Commission has been saying that the Energy Efficiency Directive would be the crucial piece of legislation to achieve energy security and cost savings and help the fight against climate change – but now they are setting up measures that are no better than place holders. Today the Commission can tick a box in its to-do list, but has failed to demonstrate the leadership and commitment on energy efficiency that President Barroso and his Commissioners have repeatedly been promising,” she said.

Brook Riley, Climate Justice and Energy Campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe, commented: “Frankly, the European Commission is fooling itself if it believes the energy efficiency directive will deliver the 20% savings target. Its own internal analyses show that only a binding target will suffice. Instead of showing leadership the European Commission is giving in to industry scaremongering and pandering to the lack of understanding among national governments. This directive is set up to fail.”

According to a recent survey, people who are responsible for energy usage in their facilities around the world are increasingly instituting energy-efficiency measures, prompted by incentives to do so as well a desire to improve their organizations’ public image.

Some 4,000 building owners and operators around the world were recently surveyed by Johnson Controls’ Institute for Building Efficiency, the International Facility Management Association, and the Urban Land Institute about their energy-efficiency measures. According to the fifth annual “Energy Efficiency Indicator: Global Results,” companies are showing increased interest in energy efficiency as a result of increased incentives for undertaking energy efficiency measures as well as a desire to improve their public image.

Interestingly, almost half of the respondents are from the United States and Canada. However, the percentage of respondents considering energy management as “extremely or very important” was up on a year-over-year basis in all geographic regions. Also, more than half of the respondents work in the commercial building sector, and a quarter of the respondents consider themselves facility managers.

Energy cost savings is the number-one driver of the respondent firm’s energy efficiency measures across the global. Government incentives are the second most important motivating factor, particularly in the U.S/Canada as well as Europe. Incentives do not appear to factor into the energy efficiency decision in China. And an improved public image was the third most crucial motivator, particularly in the U.S./Canada.

In fact, four in 10 respondents said that they had a certified a green building in 2011. Increased energy security was ranked fourth overall in importance (tied with greenhouse gas reduction), but it was thought to be second most crucial by respondents in India and China.

The respondents also overwhelming thought that important government policy mandating energy efficiency and/or carbon reduction is likely within the next two years: 80 percent say this will occur at the national level, and 72 percent believe it will also occur at the state/provincial level.

Despite their recognition of the importance of energy efficiency measures, many respondents say there are substantial barriers to making these investments, including lack of awareness and/or technical expertise, lack of available capital (cited by 30–38 percent of the European and U.S./Canada respondents), and uncertain outcomes, i.e., will the projected savings be achieved?

Nonetheless, when asked which energy efficiency measures they are employing, the majority say lighting improvements (72 percent) and HVAC improvements (63 percent). Respondents with larger facilities report having undertaken more energy efficiency projects than those with smaller facilities. In spite of facility size, survey results reveal that companies are more likely to engage in energy-efficiency measures if they have established energy or carbon reduction goals, frequently measure and analyze energy usage data, add staff resources or outside service providers to engage in such tasks, and use external financing sources for energy efficiency projects. In fact, those organizations having any of the above features, on average, implemented four times as many energy-efficiency measures as those without clearly stated goals and policies.

GreenWave Reality, a leader in home energy management and automation systems, has announced a partnership it has partnered with Australia’s Swinburne University of Technology to start an Energy Management Research Centre (EMRC) in Melbourne, Australia. The centre will be serving as an international centre of thought leadership, and technical excellence, showcasing intelligent home energy conservation solutions, the heart of which is the GreenWave Reality Home Energy Management solution.

The GreenWave Reality technology allows customers to monitor, control and lower their energy consumption, making a positive impact on the environment while at the same time advancing their lifestyle. The solution is secure, offer ease of use and is based on industry standards. It also allows utilities to strengthen their relationships with customers and better balance energy on the grid with the use of advanced demand response tools.

Based on an open IP-based platform, the GreenWave Reality solution allows for partners to easily integrate hardware solutions and advanced services leading to the creation of the energy-efficient, smart home.

The GreenWave Reality solution consists of PowerNodes™ (intelligent power strips) that make connected devices smart and controllable, an in-home energy display, and a pulse reader that transmits the total energy consumption from the smart meter, all connected to the advanced Gateway. The solution is also capable of managing electric vehicle (EV) charging, heat pumps, water and gas meters. To manage their energy usage, consumers have access to an intuitive, easy-to-use application from their computers and smart phones which gives them the freedom to control their devices with advanced Smart Controls.

The showpiece of the centre will be the 3D, tele-immersive energy efficiency Demo Room that will feature a 50″ 3D immersive virtual reality display system to be utilized to demonstrate the real-time impact of energy conservation measures and technologies. The centre will also have a Training Room which will include the Smart Green Home Virtual Learning platform, consisting of the GreenWave Reality Home Energy Management solution running on a full range of Internet-enabled devices such as smart phones, tablets and PCs. The Training Room will also feature educational software to foster energy conservation behavior through teaching visitors of all ages.

“This visionary facility will be pioneering in intelligent management of home energy use, and will be an international showpiece of technology, education, and collaboration,” said Professor Leon Sterling, Dean of the Faculty of Information and Communication Technologies at Swinburne University of Technology. “GreenWave Reality has proven to be the ideal partner in this leading-edge initiative by way of their technology and innovation which is an ideal match for our research and teaching expertise in energy management.”

The Energy Management Research Centre, the first and only one of its kind in Australia, will be located on Swinburne’s main campus in Melbourne, Victoria. It will serve multiple purposes including a research and development centre, a demonstration and training facility, and seminar and conference hall. The EMRC will feature energy conservation demonstrations showcasing industry-leading technologies that can reduce energy consumption, benefitting the Australian environment as well as the rest of the world.
The centre will also serve as an international collaboration centre allowing leading scientists and technologists from around the world to convene to explore additional energy saving measures that can be developed to benefit the planet and its people. Both GreenWave Reality and Swinburne personnel will be attached to the EMRC for long term assignments.

“GreenWave Reality is honored to have been selected as Swinburne University’s partner in this state-of-the-art, international, energy management centre,” said Greg Memo, CEO of GreenWave Reality. “We envision the centre as becoming a global icon for collaboration and innovation on energy conservation, enabling a new class of advanced applications for the next wave of energy-efficient, smart homes.”