Product Selection—A Forgotten Vital Component of Program Design

Energy efficiency programs promote technologies that have reported energy and demand savings, which is a primary qualifying consideration. Other technology characteristics such as the appropriateness of application, maintenance and repair considerations, customer comfort, functionality and ease of use under different operating conditions, durability, and appearance do not get as much scrutiny as energy savings. As a result, expected energy savings can fail to materialize or customers lose confidence, jeopardizing technology acceptance. Two separate products, operating on the same principle, were selected to control air conditioner usage when the controlled area was unoccupied. One product was targeted for small hotels/motels and another for multifamily homes. The results of on-site verification found a failure rate of up to 90 percent in multifamily housing. In the case of a third product, an emerging lighting technology was chosen for retrofit application in niche markets. Despite initial challenges, the lamps appeared to fit well in outdoor applications. However, the technology did not have the range of brightness or color temperature expected for indoor applications, where the lamps “made everything look green.” These findings were unexpected, and discussions with facility personnel showed that the design of selected products was inappropriate for the application without further development and the selected products did not offer the claimed benefits under all operating conditions. This paper identifies some pitfalls of ignoring non-energy-saving characteristics of products; discusses the reasons for lack of performance; and reasserts the need to return to the basics of technology assessments to ensure savings persistence.