Predict the Future: Efficiency’s Progress

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A major part of saving energy today includes looking to the future. Energy efficient upgrades, such as installing cellulose insulation or air sealing your home, begin working from the day they are installed. These measures then continue to work efficiently into the future. Homeowners consider the future to calculate their payback period, and then continue to save. When you install any home energy upgrades, your home’s future is typically at the forefront of the effort. Likewise, in the broader field of energy efficiency, we constantly look to the future. Overall energy savings advance as we put more time into research and discovery.

Energy efficiency not only affects your life today, but it also aims to improve the future. It is a field that is in constant motion. The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) took a look “Potential Studies,” which report potential energy savings. The reports look at a state, region, or utility and examine how much energy the subject can conserve over time, through various programs.

These reports of the anticipated future inform and design energy programs by looking at costs and benefits. At the same time, these reports do not predict the future; they only examine the possibilities. Many studies come up with a range of potential savings, rather than a single result. It’s important to remember that while no one can predict the future, we can still consider the possibilities.

One trend that Potential Studies revealed is that our energy efficiency has continued to progress in the past ten years. The percent increase for savings remains fairly consistent each year, and if we follow this trend we will continue to increase our savings. After ten years of paying close attention to energy efficiency, we are still finding new ways to effectively conserve. The Potential Studies assess the cost-effective potential for the future, while also providing a look at the existing conditions.

Looking to these studies as a resource is often valuable for the near future, but as we know, our technologies rapidly change. Therefore, Potential Studies decrease in accuracy over larger periods of time. These models are still helpful in creating fluid planning that adjusts to upgrade as quickly as we discover improvements. By looking to the future, we can establish a path toward sustainability and conservation.

In the ever-improving field of energy efficiency, we know that the future will bring change. We can predict savings that specific upgrades will have, such as insulation or energy-efficient light bulbs. These existing technologies are a reliable source of savings. In the bigger field of conservation, new efficient technologies are added to the list each year. Start upgrading today and keep up with the constantly growing list of energy efficient measures. By looking to past trends, we see that energy conservation has increased. Do your part to make sure that this growth continues into the future.