Energy Efficient Buildings, Demand Response, and Overcoming the Barrier

The best way to make a kilowatt-hour available isn't green power generation. It's to have not used a kilowatt-hour somewhere else in the first place. Energy efficiency is the greenest power source. And it can be among the most lucrative as well... Energy efficient building technologies (mostly lighting, HVAC and controls) have been getting a lot more attention lately, particularly when it comes to automation and general "smart building" approaches (which would include the on-site implementation of demand response-enabling equipment). On this site we've discussed the sector often and described why the economics of many of these technologies can often be quite strong (such as 1 to 2 year payback periods). And yet, while the market for these technologies is growing quickly, it's not growing quite as quickly as one might expect. Why is that?