Dec 15 – The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

As climate negotiators in Copenhagen wrestle with what to do about global warming, Milwaukee businesses that help companies cut their energy use are positioning themselves for growth opportunities. 

Energy efficiency is considered the least costly way of reducing emissions of carbon dioxide from energy use, given the nation’s and state’s reliance on fossil fuels.

In a study released Monday, Environmental Systems Inc. found heightened awareness from customers about energy costs and sustainability.

The research identifies trends, from upcoming regulations to voluntary efforts such as an initiative that could help businesses gain certification that their buildings are energy-efficient.

“The difficulty for many businesses is a lack of understanding in how to get started on a path to reduce costs and improve sustainability,” said Paul Oswald, president of Brookfield-based ESI.

During the Copenhagen climate meetings that continue this week, Johnson Controls Inc., Wisconsin’s largest company, will co-host a briefing highlighting the importance of energy efficiency toward reducing greenhouse gases. The event, scheduled for Tuesday and co-sponsored by the U.S. Energy Association, will include the release of a report highlighting the views of corporate real estate and workplace executives, their responses to energy and climate issues and the impact on their facilities.

Based on the state’s participation in national energy efficiency programs, Wisconsin businesses are savvy about the importance of energy efficiency in reducing their operating costs. Nine of 32 factories nationwide participating in an industrial energy efficiency effort are from Wisconsin. And nine companies last week won $14.5 million in funding through the federal stimulus package to install new technology to help reduce energy use, in some cases by 30% to 45%.

Company executives are taking a harder look at energy efficiency because they know electricity prices are on the rise — and costs would climb further if the U.S. adopts a cap-and-trade system that would raise the price of electricity generated from fossil fuels.

“Whether it’s new nuclear plants or cap and trade costs relative to your fossil fuel emissions, no matter how you slice it the consumer of energy is going to be paying for all of this stuff,” Oswald said.

Oswald said his firm’s goal is to help educate customers on the ways that building-automation systems that deploy energy efficiency can help their bottom line.

Johnson Controls, which sent several representatives to Copenhagen for this month’s conference, is one of two Milwaukee-area firms that are among more than 900 across the globe that have signed the “Copenhagen Communique,” which calls on world leaders to agree to “an ambitious, robust and equitable global deal on climate change.” The other company signing the document is S.C. Johnson & Son Inc. of Racine.

Several national studies this year have discussed the power of energy efficiency in both reducing energy costs and cutting carbon emissions.

Last week, the National Academy of Sciences released a report analyzing energy efficiency technologies. Technologies that are already available or are likely to be developed soon could reduce projected U.S. energy use by at least 25% by 2030, the report found.

Because nearly 70% of electricity consumption comes from buildings, widespread deployment of energy efficiency could eliminate the need to build power plants across the country through 2030, the National Academies study suggests.

But the report found many barriers — including high up-front costs and volatile energy costs — keep businesses from pursuing energy efficiency more aggressively.

Energy efficiency is often just plain overlooked, Oswald said.

“It’s very common for the wind farms and the geothermal fields and the big solar installations to get a lot of airplay, because they’re sexy technologies, and that’s all good stuff,” he said. “But studies have shown there’s over four times the amount of potential in energy savings just by taking buildings like this and going into the mechanical room and looking at the lighting and doing what you can to wring out energy savings.

“It’s about taking the existing infrastructure and looking at all kinds of ways to make that more efficient.”

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