Alliance and DOE Use Government Procurement to Advance Energy Efficiency

With contributions by Jenny Corry

Feb. 25, 2011 — In many countries the government is the largest energy consumer and goods purchaser. Given this role, government procurement decisions can greatly affect countrywide demand for energy efficient products and innovation. The Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment Initiative (SEAD), launched at the July 2010 Clean Energy Ministerial, capitalizes on the opportunity for governments to drive up demand for energy efficiency.  

SEAD aims to advance energy efficiency worldwide, but focuses primarily on India, Mexico and South Africa.

Boosting Clean Energy with Public Procurement

As part of SEAD, the Alliance is developing product selection guides and interactive web-based tools – including energy and cost-savings calculators – to facilitate public procurement of selected appliances and equipment. Targeted technologies will include energy-using products that local, state and provincial governments commonly purchase.

With the help of product selection guides and cost-savings tools, governments will be positioned to:

• lead by example,
• stimulate nascent markets for more energy efficient products, and
• reduce costs and energy use in public buildings, water utilities, public lighting and other areas. 

“The better the procurement tools officials have at their disposal for energy efficiency, the better the procurement decisions they’ll make – and the more widespread the adoption of efficient appliances and equipment will be,” said Rick Duke, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) deputy assistant secretary for climate policy. “Done right, good procurement policies and practices can help drive market transformation and accelerate the clean energy revolution.”  

Creating an Energy and Cost-Savings Calculator

The Alliance is identifying a handful of products that would save the most energy with information and energy savings tools.  The products of focus will be selected based on criteria that include:

• products of most interest to procurement officials in the target countries,
• incremental differences between standard and efficient products,
• volume of purchase of the product type in the target countries, and
• market transformation potential. 

After identifying products with the best energy-saving potential, the Alliance will research:

• typical values in the target country (such as baseline efficiency, operating hours and labor costs),
• supply chain for the products already in place,
• existing initiatives or incentive programs to promote the purchase of efficient products, and
• types of  tools that would be useful to aid current procurement processes.

Using this research, the Alliance will create the energy savings calculators – including baseline inputs, energy savings, and financial information. To complement the energy savings calculators, the Alliance will develop product selection guides that will include both qualitative and quantitative information on energy-efficient products.

This work is being done to support the procurement task of SEAD in cooperation with DOE and the Collaborative Labelling and Appliance Standards Program (CLASP).

For more information on the project, please contact Arlene Fetizanan at AFetizanan@ase.org or Neal Humphrey at NHumphrey@ase.org.