In presentations and conversations, I make a point of distinguishing between energy efficiency and energy conservation.
In many ways, energy is similar to money in that it can be considered a store of value or a medium of exchange. The value to the end user is not in the thing itself, but it what can be done with it. Some refer to this as the concept of energy services.
At the end of the day, the end user doesn’t want kilowatts, gallons or cubic feet, but wants to get from point A to point B, heat, cool or light an office or home and use electric devices.
If that’s the goal, the user has two options to reduce use and increase sustainability:
- Energy efficiency – use less energy to accomplish the same results
- Energy conservation accept a different result
If I install a high-efficiency gas boiler in my home, I can keep my home as warm as it was before using less energy. That’s an increase in energy efficiency. If I turn the thermostat down and wear warmer clothing, that’s energy conservation.
Both energy efficiency and energy conservation approaches are valid ways to reduce energy, save money, increase energy security, combat climate change and increase sustainability.
Making the distinction between the two is particularly important to encouraging behavioral changes, especially for some audiences. Americans have accomplished much by embracing a vision of the United States as a land of boundless opportunity, optimism an initiative. For too many, increasing sustainability has a negative connotation – one of deprivation and reduced opportunity. Think of the reaction to Jimmy Carter’s sweater – a shorthand for the call to turn thermostats down to save energy. It didn’t work – in fact, it backfired.
Pointing out the distinction between energy efficiency and energy conservation makes the point that much can be accomplished by increasing efficiency and that a more sustainable society does not have to be a deprived society with fewer opportunities for growth. Just the opposite may be true.
Encouraging energy efficiency and appealing to people’s sense of the possible is a positive way to encourage behavioral change. That doesn’t nullify the value of conservation as an option or a part of the solution. But it gets people moving in the right direction.