Verde Laguna: Creating lean-energy buildings

Either measure would contribute to reduction in peak demand from daytime hours to off-peak hours. Either would contribute to reduce demand for utility power, avoiding typically high emissions during those periods. Shifting peak electrical demand to off-peak hours can result in a reduction of annual carbon emissions from electricity generation, because in most regions of the country the installed capacity to handle peak demand during summer time are older "peaking plants," which are not utilized on a regular basis. There is a strong correlation between CO2 emissions, and the thermal inefficiencies of these dirty plants serving peak demand.

The vision for DR as an electric power source is an opportunity to help meet the nation's power supply needs, an opportunity that California utilities have been exploring with the use of demand response programs and Critical Peak Prices, which is a form of price-responsive demand response to help reduce peaks in customer loads.

As part of the effort to protect the environment and improve system reliability, utilities and regulatory agencies have been implementing means to lower power costs to consumers. Because customer efficiency investments are driven primarily by individual transactions, the utility companies lay out incentives for specific technologies, offering utility incentive dollars for lighting improvements, for HVAC improvements, etc.

Improving the energy efficiency of buildings, which account for about 40% of total U.S. energy use and are responsible for about 50% of CO2 emissions, is probably the most cost-effective way to address the challenges of high energy prices, grid reliability, air pollution and global climate change.

GUSTAVO GRAD is a Laguna Beach resident and certified sustainable building advisor. He can be reached at ggrad@cox.net.