Energy-Efficient Equipment

Most of the energy consumed by commercial and institutional organizations is used to:

• Operate auxilliary equipment – devices that supply energy services to the major process technologies during their operation and that are common to most industries. Auxiliary equipment falls into five categories:
  • steam generation
  • permanent lighting
  • heating
  • ventilation and air conditioning
  • electric motors, including pumps, fans, compressors and conveyors
• Supply plug load – the electricity demand from all equipment that is plugged into electrical outlets in buildings (principally office equipment, consumer electronics and portable lighting)

When looking to improve the efficiency of your operations, don't overlook the significant amounts of energy consumed by equipment.

Commercial/Institutional Secondary Energy Use End-Use, 2002
Source: Energy Use Data Handbook, Natural Resources Canada's Office of Energy Efficiency

Off-the-Shelf Equipment for Commercial/Institutional Use

• Air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment
• Distribution transformers
• Lighting and signage equipment
• Exit signs and traffic signals
• Motors and drives

Specialized Plug Load Equipment

• Office equipment
• Consumer electronics

Residential Equipment for Small Commercial/Institutional Use

• Major appliances
• Heating equipment and controls
• Cooling and ventilating equipment and controls
• Windows, doors and skylights
• Lighting

Purchasing Information and Equipment Labelling

EnerGuide for Industry provides information and tools to help you purchase, operate and maintain energy-efficient off-the-shelf equipment.

Energy-efficient purchasing practices make sense for any business. The ENERGY STAR^® symbol makes it easy to identify the most energy-efficient products in their class for a wide range of equipment categories. The ENERGY STAR^® Purchasing Tool Kit provides ways to address common purchasing barriers such as lack of information, first-cost bias and life-cycle cost-analysis requirements, as well as:

• ENERGY STAR specifications for each product
• sample procurement language for tenders and contracts
• formation resources on products

The EnerGuide label allows you to compare the energy consumption of a wide range of equipment.