Appliances: Designs and Standards for Sustainability

Buildings consume 40% of US energy and produce 39% of US carbon dioxide. These numbers can be dramatically reduced with improved appliance efficiency. For example, energy use by the average new refrigerator dropped about 70% from 1974–2002, thanks to improved materials, technologies and designs. In this chapter, I review progress in gas furnaces, air conditioning and lighting, as well as the trends in refrigerators and freezers. The goal of zero net‐energy buildings appears possible. In the future, buildings might consume perhaps 70% less energy than today due to efficient building components, appliances, equipment and lighting; systems integration; better controls; and behavioral changes. The remaining 30% energy needs could be supplied by low‐or no‐carbon energy sources.