The IEA Technology Collaboration Programme on Energy Efficient End-Use Equipment (4E TCP) has published the report, System-level Energy Efficiency Policy Modelling and Monitoring. This report explores opportunities to improve the energy efficiency of systems using modelling and monitoring in regulations.
The research methodology involved literature searches of potential example system regulations in areas such as building codes, safety monitoring, vehicle emissions, and voluntary certification schemes. When modelling or monitoring aspects were identified, the technical requirements and implementation methods were documented. The learnings found were applied to a case study system: compressed air systems.
Realising the large yet largely untapped potential for energy savings in systems will require innovative policy approaches. The current work finds that while modelling and monitoring are not yet independently robust enough to regulate efficiency in compressed air systems, a smart combination of prescriptive requirements, certified models, acceptance testing, and continuous monitoring has strong potential. Foundational elements like test methods, accurate models, databases of parts performance, reporting standards, and a policy framework to enable the approach will need to be developed through further research, stakeholder engagement and policy design. By strategically advancing these building blocks, policymakers and energy efficiency proponents can expand the horizons of product policy and drive major reductions in energy use and emissions from these critical end-use systems.
Anson Wu (Hansheng Ltd) and Fiona Brocklehurst (Ballarat Consulting) were the authors for this publication.
The report is available here.
About 4E: 4E. launched I 2008, focuses on appliances and equipment since this is one of the largest and most rapidly expanding areas of energy consumption. With the growth in global trade in these products, 4E members find that pooling expertise is not only an efficient use of available funds, but results in outcomes that are far more comprehensive and authoritative. Fourteen countries from the Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America, and the European Commission, have joined together under the forum of 4E to share information and transfer experience in order to support good policy development in the field of energy efficient appliances and equipment.
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Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 