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The State of Energy Efficiency in Canada, Office of Energy Efficiency Report 2005

Equipment

Market Trends

Energy-using equipment plays a critical role in energy consumption in the residential, commercial/institutional and industrial sectors. Although individually such items consume relatively modest amounts of energy, the total energy requirement for an average building's energy-using equipment or to produce an industrial output can be significant.

In 2002, 13 percent of energy use in the residential sector was attributable to appliances. Major appliances (refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, ranges, clothes washers and clothes dryers) accounted for 63 percent of this amount, or 8 percent of the total. Lighting fixtures (including lamps and ballasts) accounted for a significant amount of energy use in the commercial/institutional sector – 13 percent in 2002. Space heating and cooling equipment accounted for almost 60 percent of energy use in the residential and commercial/institutional sectors.

Although the stock of the major appliances increased by 31 percent between 1990 and 2002, the energy used by these appliances actually decreased by 14 percent (see Figure 7). The increasing popularity of minor appliances (e.g. televisions, digital videodiscs, satellite dishes, digital cable receivers, computers and audio equipment), for which energy use during the same period increased by 51 percent, resulted in an overall increase in energy use of 2 percent in the residential sector.

Promoting Energy Efficiency

Energy-using equipment offers the potential for significant energy efficiency improvements in the residential sector. Residential energy-using equipment is an important area for program support because equipment has a shorter life span than residential buildings. Because lighting fixtures comprise a significant proportion of equipment energy use in the commercial /institutional sector, they are periodically evaluated for opportunities in efficiency gains. In the industrial sector, energy efficiency improvements are most readily achieved in equipment and processes that are common to many industries, such as motors and auxiliary systems.

The Office of Energy Efficiency's (OEE's) approach to improving the energy performance of equipment in the marketplace is to

• use regulations that set minimum performance standards to gradually exclude the least efficient equipment from the market; and
  
  
• influence consumers to select – and manufacturers to produce – energy-efficient products that outperform the minimum standards, through mandatory and voluntary labelling, information and promotion activities.
  
  

Selected Progress Indicators for Equipment

• The first Energy Efficiency Regulations under the Energy Efficiency Act came into force in 1995. Regulations have been established for more than 30 products. It is estimated that the Regulations implemented to date will, by 2020, result in a reduction of over 29 megatonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions per year.
  
  
• The Regulations also require that eight specified types of new household appliances for sale display an EnerGuide label.This label shows the yearly energy consumption rating of an appliance and positions it on a scale between the most and least efficient comparable models. The label is used voluntarily by heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) manufacturers and suppliers.
  
  
• Amendments to the Energy Efficiency Regulations have raised the efficiency standard in the residential and commercial/institutional sectors. Most recently, the eighth amendment has been pre-published to increase the minimum energy-performance standards in the residential sector for clothes washers and gas-fired and electric-storage water heaters and in the commercial/institutional sector for water chillers and exit signs. Cumulatively, the eighth amendment is expected to reduce CO₂ emissions by almost four megatonnes by 2020 (see Figure 8).
  
  

The 1992 Energy Efficiency Act provides the authority for the Government of Canada to make and enforce regulations concerning performance and labelling requirements for energy-using products (and doors and windows) that are imported or shipped between provinces or territories. The Act also gives the Government of Canada the authority to collect statistics on energy use and alternative energy.

The OEE's Equipment Program

The objective of the OEE's standards setting and conformity assessment under its Equipment Program is to eliminate the less energy-efficient models of energy-using equipment from the market through minimum performance regulations under the Energy Efficiency Act.

The Regulations incorporate national consensus performance standards that include testing procedures to determine the energy performance of equipment. They prohibit imports of, or interprovincial trade in, prescribed products that fail to meet minimum energy performance levels and labelling requirements.

For more information, visit the Web site at oee.nrcan.gc.ca/regulations.

The OEE's equipment labelling activities aim to promote the production, purchase and use of more energy-efficient major electrical household appliances in addition to HVAC and industrial equipment.

Labelling activities consist of rating, labelling and promotion to encourage manufacturers to produce and consumers to purchase and use energy-using equipment that is more energy efficient. EnerGuide provides comparative information on the energy performance of major household appliances. The voluntary EnerGuide HVAC Energy Efficiency Rating System provides information on home HVAC products. Introduced in 2001, the ENERGY STAR^® Initiative in Canada allows the consumer to identify the most energy-efficient products available in their class, based on a standard set of criteria. The impact of EnerGuide labelling is illustrated in Figure 9.

EnerGuide for Industry promotes and encourages the manufacture, purchase and use of industrial equipment that is more energy efficient. Implemented in 2001, this new labelling/rating program follows principles similar to those for EnerGuide. The initiative targets commonly used "off the shelf" industrial equipment, such as motors, pumps, transformers, compressors, boilers and lights. The initiative aims ultimately to reduce GHGs related to energy use by improving the efficiency of the stock of energy-using equipment available for industrial applications.

For more information, visit the following Web sites:

• oee.nrcan.gc.ca/Publications/infosource/Pub/appliances
  
  
• oee.nrcan.gc.ca/equipment
  
  
• energystar.gc.ca
  
  
• oee.nrcan.gc.ca/egi