Dr. Rosenfeld, the 'Art' of Energy Efficiency

January 7, 2010 – The world owes Dr. Art Rosenfeld more than just a "Job well done!" as he concludes his ten-year tenure as a member of the California Energy Commission. Known as the "father of energy efficiency," Rosenfeld has been at the forefront of the energy efficiency movement since 1973, a movement which is currently saving Americans more than $700 billion each year on their energy bills.

Said Al Gore in the October 2009 issue of the Atlantic Monthly, Rosenfeld is "a national resource" who was "becoming more innovative as he gets older."

Rosenfeld was first appointed commissioner at the California Energy Commission in April 2000 by Gov. Gray Davis, and then reappointed in January 2005 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. His accomplishments in the energy efficiency field, however, predate those appointments by decades.

Start Small, Think Big

"When Art Rosenfeld recognized the inefficiencies underlying the 1973 oil embargo and energy crisis, he transformed both this country's and the world's views of energy efficiency," says Alliance Executive Vice President Brian Castelli. "Art is a visionary, a leader, and a teacher and I am proud to be able to work in the field he so aptly designed."

At the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Center for Building Science, established by Rosenfeld in 1975, he fought for efficiency standards for household appliances and electronic ballasts for fluorescent lighting, and oversaw the development of the DOE-2 computer program for building energy analysis and design.

The Center for Building Science developed California's efficiency standards for refrigerators which, in the 1970s, were incredibly energy inefficient, consuming an average of more than 1800 kilowatt hours per year. The efficiency standards for refrigerators became a model for other states and in 1990 were adopted as an early federal appliance standard. Today's efficient refrigerators consume less than 500 kilowatt hours per year on average - an annual savings of $150 per refrigerator. And the average refrigerators today are larger than the average refrigerators from the 1970s – a truly remarkable result.

He Also Does Light Bulbs

Stanford physicist Sam Berman joined the Center for Building Science where he and his colleagues developed the "electronic ballast" for fluorescent tube lamps, leading to the development of compact fluorescent lamps. Today, fluorescent lighting technologies with electronic ballasts save the U.S. economy more than $5 billion annually.

On June 21, 2006, U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman awarded Rosenfeld the Enrico Fermi Award, one of the most prestigious science and technology awards presented by the U.S. government. "I was particularly moved to receive the award," Dr. Rosenfeld says, being Enrico Fermi's last graduate student.

"I can vouch from personal experience," adds Alliance Vice President for Programs Jeff Harris, "that for more than three decades Art has been a superb mentor to hundreds of people in government, industry, research centers and nonprofit organizations working to make the United States and the world more energy-efficient – and an inspiration to thousands more."

Keeping it Cool

Rosenfeld's current passion is "cool roofs." Reducing the amount of solar energy absorbed by a roof saves energy (and CO2 emissions) by helping to keep the building cooler and reducing the local "urban heat island" effect on surrounding buildings. On a large scale, cool roofs (and paved surfaces) can potentially increase the overall solar reflectance of the earth's surface, according to recent studies by Rosenfeld and others, thus directly reducing global warming.

In California, since 2005, non-residential buildings with flat roofs (i.e., not visible from the street) – either when newly constructed or when being re-roofed – have been required to sport heat-reflecting white or light-colored roofs. Starting in 2010, all newly built or re-roofed residential and non-residential buildings in the six hottest climate zones in the state, including those with roofs visible from the street, will be required to have "cool" roofs.

These roof products are indistinguishable from conventional roofing materials, but stay cooler because they are highly reflective in the "near infrared" half of the spectrum. On a global scale, the benefits of cool roofs are enormous: Rosenfeld estimates that replacing all roofs in latitudes from Chicago to Sydney, Australia with white or cool-colored roof products would be equivalent to taking one-half of the world's passenger cars off the road for 20 years – and also equivalent to a 20-year reprieve from global warming.

A New Chapter

When asked what he plans to do after retirement, Art says, "I'm going to accept the kind offer of an office at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and continue to push white roofs in warm climates." Even with his impending retirement from the California Energy Commission on January 13, 2010, Rosenfeld's passion for energy efficiency will endure.

Many are thankful that Art will remain active in the energy efficiency arena. "Art's decision to continue to apply his incredible talent and energy to the field of energy efficiency is welcome news for energy efficiency advocates everywhere," says Alliance President Kateri Callahan in congratulating Rosenfeld on his career at the Commission. "Like energy efficiency, Art is the 'gift that keeps' giving and I for one can't wait to see the good things that come from this next phase of his career!"