Energy-Efficient Equipment

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

Off-the-Shelf Equipment for Commercial/Institutional Use

• Arc Welding
• Air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment
• Battery Chargers
• Boilers and Steam Distribution Systems
• Electric Motors
• Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC)
• Lighting Products
  • High Bay Lighting
  • High-Density Discyarge (HD) Lighting Systems
  • Exit signs and traffic signals
  • Pulse-Start Metal Halide Lighting
• Pumps
• Transformers
• Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS)
• Variable Frequency Drives (VFD)
  • VFD Video
• Vending Machines
• Walk-in Commercial Refrigeration
• Other Energy Efficient Equipment

Specialized Plug Load Equipment

• Consumer electronics
• Office equipment

Residential Equipment for Small Commercial/Institutional Use

• Appliances – major
• Cooling and ventilating equipment and controls
• Heating equipment and controls
• Lighting
• Windows, doors and skylights

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.

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)

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