A Strategic Roadmap for American 

Energy Innovation, Economic 

Growth, and Competitiveness

ACCELERATE 

ENERGY Productivity 

2030
Accelerate Energy Productivity 2030: A Strategic Roadmap for American Energy Innovation, Economic Growth, and 

Competitiveness was developed by the U.S. Department of Energy in partnership with the Council on Competitiveness 

and the Alliance to Save Energy. 

This document was final as of September 16, 2015. 

If this document is referenced, it should be cited as: 

U.S. Department of Energy. (2015). Accelerate Energy Productivity 2030: A Strategic Roadmap for American Energy 

Innovation, Economic Growth, and Competitiveness. Prepared by Keyser, D.; Mayernik, J., M.; McMillan, C. of National 

Renewable Energy Laboratory; Agan, J.; Kempkey, N.; Zweig, J. of U.S. Department of Energy.

FOR MORE INFORMATION 

Regarding Accelerate Energy Productivity 2030: A Strategic Roadmap for American Energy Innovation, Economic 

Growth, and Competitiveness, please contact: 

John Agan 

U.S. Department of Energy 

John.Agan@hq.doe.gov

Natalie Kempkey 

U.S. Department of Energy 

Natalie.Kempkey@hq.doe.gov

Chad Evans

Council on Competitiveness

cevans@compete.org

Kelly Speakes-Backman

Alliance to Save Energy

ksbackman@ase.org

i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The U.S. Department of Energy funded this document to support the Accelerate Energy Productivity 2030 initiative. 

This report was prepared with highly valuable input, direction, and comments by technical experts including David 

Caughran, Jeff Harris, Karen Hughes, David Posner, and Kelly Speakes-Backman on behalf of the Alliance to Save Energy; 

Harvey Cutler of Colorado State University; David Bielen of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory; and offices 

throughout the U.S. Department of Energy. 

The work described in this report was supported by DOE’s Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis under Lawrence 

Berkeley National Laboratory Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 and National Renewable Energy Laboratory Contract No. 

DE-AC36-08GO28308. 

ii
1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii

Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1. Introduction to the Roadmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

1.1 Energy Productivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

1.2 Overview of the 2030 Productivity Goal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

1.2.1 Synopsis of Current Energy Use and Economic Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

1.2.2 Identified Energy Productivity Potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

1.3 A Sample of Existing Efforts within DOE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

1.3.1 Research and Development of New Technologies for Increasing Energy Productivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

1.3.2 Programs to Deploy Innovative Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

1.3.3 Securing Energy Productivity Strategies for Widespead Benefit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

2. Strategies for Accelerating Energy Productivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

2.1 Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

2.1.1 Federal Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

2.1.2 State Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

2.1.3 Local Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

2.2 Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

2.2.1 Commercial Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

2.2.2 Industrial Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

2.3 Electric Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

2.3.1 Grid Infrastructure Energy Productivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

2.3.2 Promoting Energy Productivity in Rate Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

2.4 Water Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2.4.1 Rate Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

2.5 Higher Education Institutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

2.5.1 Workforce Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

2.5.2 Accelerating Energy Productivity from the Lab to the Real World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

2.6 Households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

2.6.1 Energy Productivity at Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

3. Analysis and Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

3.1 Synthesis of Strategies into Energy Productivity Wedges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

3.2 Overview of Energy Productivity Analysis Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

3.3 Energy Productivity Potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

4. Next Steps and Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Appendix 1: International Energy Productivity Efforts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Overview and Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Articulating the Case for Energy Productivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Scaling Up Energy Productivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Appendix 2: Accelerate Energy Productivity 2030 Launch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Appendix 3: Raleigh, North Carolina Accelerate Energy Productivity 2030 Regional Dialogue . . . . . . . . . 110

Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Day 1 - Executive Rountable Dialogue Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Day 2 - A State and Local Dialogue Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Energy Efficiency in the Southeast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Appendix 4: Seattle, Washington Accelerate Energy Productivity 2030 Regional Dialogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Day 1 - Executive Rountable Dialogue Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Day 2 - A State and Local Dialogue Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Energy Efficiency in the Northwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Appendix 5: St. Paul, Minnesota Accelerate Energy Productivity 2030 Regional Dialogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Day 1 - Executive Rountable Dialogue Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Day 2 - A State and Local Dialogue Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Energy Efficiency in the Midwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Appendix 6: Organizations Committed to Accelerate Energy Productivity 2030 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

SUCCESS STORIES

Financing Success Story: Massachusetts Leading by Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Transportation Success Story: Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Public Building Success Story: Washington State Drives Energy Efficiency through Benchmarking Public Buildings . . . . . . . . . 42

City Success Story: Atlanta’s Leveraging Public-Private Partnerships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Business Success Story: Lime Energy Tackles Barriers to Energy Efficiency in the Small and

Mid-Sized Business (SMB) Segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Small Business Success Stories: Eck Industries, South Shore Millwork, and Mid-South Metallurgical . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Manufacturing Success Story: Legrand Employees Achieve 15.4 Percent Reduction over 26.2-Day “Energy Marathon” . . . . 60

Utility Success Story: Gulf Power’s “Energy Select” Program Places Energy Efficiency in Consumers’ Hands . . . . . . . . 68

Water Utility Pump Efficiency Energy Savings Success Story: American Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Higher Education Institutions Success Story: North Carolina State University Creates Electricity at

Renovated Utility Plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Households Success Story: Opower Partners with the Nation’s Utilities to Drive Energy Savings

through High Quality Customer Engagement and Applied Behavioral Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 - Estimated Energy Productivity Benefits to 2030 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Figure 2 - Estimated Changes to GDP by Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Figure 3 - U.S. Total Primary Energy and Real GDP (1971 - 2014) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Figure 4 - U.S. GDP and Total Primary Energy Use (1970 - 2014) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Figure 5 - Historical and Projected Energy Productivity (1970 - 2030) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Figure 6 - Philadelphia’s Building Energy Data Mapping Platform (2013 data) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Figure 7 - Projected Energy Productivity Benefits to 2030 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Figure 8 - Projected Changes to GDP by Sector (Billions 2005$) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Figure 9 - Increase in Energy Productivity by Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 - Analysis Sources and Inputs: Summary Description of Energy Productivity Wedges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Table 2 - Summary of Model Analysis Sources and Inputs by Energy Productivity Wedges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Table 3 - Energy Productivity Strategies Organized by Productivity Wedge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
ENERGY 

Productivity

INCREASING THE 

ECONOMIC VALUE 

CREATED PER UNIT 

OF ENERGY USED
5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In September 2014, responding to the presidential call to action to double energy 

productivity by 2030, U.S. Secretary of Energy Dr. Ernest Moniz announced the Accelerate 

Energy Productivity 2030 initiative. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) partnered 

with the Council on Competitiveness and the Alliance to Save Energy (collectively, the 

Partners) in a series of public dialogues and executive roundtables to raise awareness, 

galvanize support and develop the strategies necessary to double the United States’ 

energy productivity, defined as the ratio of economic output (gross domestic product 

(GDP)) to primary energy use. 

This publication—Accelerate Energy Productivity 2030: A Strategic Roadmap for American Energy Innovation, 

Economic Growth, and Competitiveness (Roadmap)—outlines a set of pathways to achieve this goal, and makes 

clear the direct, tangible, and long-lasting benefits in doing so: lower energy bills; job creation; economic growth; a 

more globally-competitive manufacturing and industrial base; and greater prosperity for Americans in the decades to 

come. This Roadmap identifies actions a broad range of stakeholders—including businesses; federal, state, and local 

governments; universities and community colleges; and individual consumers—can take to achieve the national goal of 

doubling energy productivity by 2030. 

The Roadmap is organized around two main findings informed by the work of the Partners over the last 12 months:

1. There are demonstrated, proven opportunities in every part of our economy to improve energy productivity.

The federal government can support increasing energy productivity in many ways, but cannot achieve the goal on 

its own. To be successful and achieve this national goal, we need decision-makers across the country also to take 

action. Attendees of Accelerate Energy Productivity 2030 events discussed a wide range of opportunities for diverse 

stakeholders to improve their energy productivity and contribute to meeting the national goal. The Roadmap highlights 

these success stories along with other effective approaches to driving increased productivity over the next 15 years.

2. New analysis shows how energy productivity can contribute to economic growth. Drawing on discussions 

from the regional roundtables and dialogues as well as existing studies, DOE analyzed illustrative scenarios 

under which the United States can meet the president’s goal by investing in energy productivity improvements. 
6

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Underpinning the Roadmap is a newly developed modeling framework that uses historical data to project how 

changes in investment, energy use, and personal expenditures impact economic activity nationwide. The framework 

also provides insight into the macroeconomic effects of energy productivity. The model is built on established metrics 

for the economic and energy outcomes of six significant policy and investment strategies, each of which is based on 

broad areas of opportunity that stakeholders identified. The model then dynamically analyzes how changes in energy 

use from these strategies would impact GDP.

SUMMARY: HIGHLIGHTS OF STAKEHOLDER STRATEGIES

The Partners launched a series of dialogues with business, academic, and laboratory leaders; state and local government 

officials; and researchers to identify the most promising pathways to meet the national goal of doubling energy 

productivity by 2030. These three regional dialogues and roundtable discussions have informed the sample strategies 

explored in the Roadmap. Example strategies described in the Roadmap are presented by entity: federal, state, and 

local governments; commercial and industrial businesses; electric, gas, and water utilities; higher education institutions; 

and households. The strategies presented here are not meant to be comprehensive. Rather, the Roadmap focuses on 

scalable actions that have the potential to reduce energy consumption and support economic growth. These energy 

productivity strategies often involve multiple economic sectors and levels of government. To present a cohesive analysis 

of the potential impacts of the strategies, this analysis developed six productivity “wedges” as representations of 

aggregated individual strategies. These wedges are summarized in Section 3.

Taken together, these strategies offer a feasible path to the doubling of national energy productivity by 2030. The 

strategies also indicate that participating entities—including both individuals and organizations—can enjoy a potential 

share of the benefits of achieving this goal. 

Government

• Federal Government: Invest in long-term energy productivity through research, development, and demonstration in 

transportation, buildings, and manufacturing technologies; secure energy productivity through setting and updating 

vehicle and product codes and standards, and providing energy performance information to consumers; support policy 

action by state and local governments and the private sector through the provision of tools and other resources to 

reap the benefits of energy efficiency; set the financial foundation for energy productivity through tax policies; help 

train a workforce geared for energy productivity; and lead by example in adopting new technologies and strategies in 

its own operations.

• State Government: Pursue policies to encourage greater energy efficiency; promote new and innovative financing for 

investments that support energy productivity; support and incentivize increased deployment of combined heat and power 
7

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

(CHP); implement smart regional transportation solutions; and adopt and enforce increasingly efficient building codes. 

• State Regulators: Adopt rates and implement related policies affecting utility sector efficiency programs that more 

effectively align efficiency efforts with utility business models; and support energy productivity investments in 

buildings and infrastructure.

• Local Government: Facilitate distributed generation; establish best practices regarding building energy information; 

support the development of advanced manufacturing ecosystems; and reduce personal vehicle miles traveled1

through the built environment-transportation nexus.

• National Laboratories: Serve as incubators for new energy productivity technologies—and where appropriate, enable 

new energy-efficient technologies to move rapidly from the lab to the marketplace.

Businesses

• Commercial Businesses: Reduce energy consumption in their own buildings and facilities through energy efficiency; 

reinvest the resulting avoided energy costs into growing their businesses; adopt new financing models that promote 

energy productivity investments; encourage their suppliers and vendors to take measures to improve energy 

productivity; and assist in training a workforce geared for energy productivity.

• Industrial Businesses: In addition to taking similar steps to those taken by commercial entities, leverage publicprivate partnerships; adopt energy management systems; transition to advanced manufacturing technologies; and 

explore new, innovative products that enable energy productivity for customers and suppliers.

Utilities

• Electric Utilities: Modernize the grid infrastructure through smart grid investments and improving the efficiency and 

interoperability of generation, transmission, storage, and distribution; adopt new utility business models to empower 

the improvement of energy productivity; design rates and support related policies for utility energy efficiency 

programs that more effectively align energy efficiency with utility business models; and support energy productivity 

investments in buildings.

• Water Utilities: Adopt more energy-efficient and energy-extracting technologies at water and wastewater treatment 

facilities and more water-efficient technologies in distribution and end use water systems (e.g., wastewater 

treatment plants can implement more efficient pumps and deploy onsite waste to energy conversion, such as 

digesters and combined heat and power; end use hot water conservation measures also have a direct impact on 

energy consumption).

Higher Education Institutions, and Individuals and Households

• Higher Education Institutions: Create new curricula and expand workforce training opportunities across multiple 

disciplines (e.g., building trades, engineering, governmental policy, economics, and law) for careers in the clean 

1 Vehicle miles traveled is a measure of distance traveled by vehicles over a given period, typically one year.
8

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

energy, energy efficiency, and advanced manufacturing fields; and act as demonstration and commercialization 

“accelerators,” enabling new energy-productive technologies to move rapidly from the lab to the marketplace. In 

addition, higher education institutions can invest in making their facilities and fleets more efficient.

• Individuals and Households: Support the markets associated with energy-efficient products in the home and for 

transportation and use available resources to make informed choices. 

MODELING ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENTS

To model the effect of the aforementioned strategies for energy productivity on the U.S. economy, the Roadmap

describes six illustrative productivity “wedges” that collectively represent the strategies. Underlying each wedge are 

assumptions based on existing published studies of the effect of productivity investments on energy use in a particular 

sector of the economy. As a result, the wedges are representative of the types of first order effects one could anticipate 

from the strategies and actions identified in the Roadmap. 

Using the wedges as a model input, the Roadmap employed a vector error correction model (VECM) to estimate the 

effect of the wedges on U.S. GDP. Although there are many different types of econometric models, VECMs have two 

advantages. First, they robustly capture interactions and feedback between sectors of the economy using historical 

relationships. And second, they dynamically estimate future effects of changes to the economy using those historical 

relationships. In other words, VECMs do not assume GDP remains fixed like many static models but allow, for example, 

changes in energy efficiency investment to produce GDP feedback effects through changes in energy prices and the 

amount of energy consumed, among other factors. 

After running the model, the Roadmap is able to rank the six wedges according to their net effect on GDP. The wedges 

analyzed are not the only six options available for improving energy productivity, but are intended to be illustrative of 

the types of energy and economic changes that are expected from following Roadmap strategies and actions. The six 

wedges are presented in descending order of their estimated impact to U.S. energy productivity2

:

• Transportation: Increasing the energy productivity of moving goods and people relies on developing and deploying 

new technologies that increase vehicle efficiency, create more options for mass transit, and better integrate 

transportation needs with the built environment to reduce the demand for motorized transport.

• Technologies for Buildings Energy Productivity: Improving the energy productivity of buildings requires both the widespread 

use of currently available energy-efficient technologies and practices, and the development of next generation technologies. 

• Smart Energy Systems: Energy systems, particularly electricity generation systems and the electricity grid, are sources 

2 Economic and energy effects are not estimated for wedge sub-elements. As a result, it is not possible to determine the relative impacts to energy 

productivity of wedge sub-elements.
9

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

and enablers of improvements to U.S. energy productivity. Broad and deep transformations are required to enable 

transitions to distributed energy resources, real-time energy pricing, smart appliances, and increased energy efficiency. 

• Financing for Buildings Energy Productivity: Significant changes to financing mechanisms and market recognition of 

the value of energy productivity are required to ensure energy productivity-enabling technology is used by businesses 

and households. This includes addressing real or perceived risk to the use and deployment of these technologies, 

which can immediately and adversely impact the cost of financing.

• Smart Manufacturing: Sensors and other information and communications technology (ICT) will allow industries 

better control over their processes and will improve the energy management of their buildings. 

• Water Infrastructure: Reducing energy consumption at water and waste water treatment plants and in water 

conveyance and distribution systems involves three actions: improving energy efficiency and demand response, 

implementing emerging technologies and processes, and deploying energy recovery and generation technologies.3

DOUBLING ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY BY 2030 IS ACHIEVABLE

The analysis demonstrates that through immediate and sustained actions, doubling energy productivity by 2030 is possible. 

The model estimates the energy productivity wedges increase energy productivity in 2030 to $287/million British thermal 

units (Btu) (MMBtu)— more than double the 2010 baseline of $134/MMBtu. The change in energy productivity is the 

result of increasing GDP ($2005) to $22.5 trillion and reducing primary energy use to 78 quadrillion (quads) Btu by 2030. 

In comparison, model baseline estimates are $21.5 trillion ($2005) and 104 quads in 2030. Thus, in 2030, the Roadmap 

scenario achieves 4.3 percent higher GDP and 25 percent lower primary energy use compared to the baseline.4

 The model 

does account for energy used to produce the additional goods and services purchased by households. This results in 

aggregate energy savings values, including this additional energy from more goods and services, are approximately 14 

percent smaller than the sum of each individual productivity wedge, as indicated by the dashed line in Figure 1.

3 Pabi, S., A. Amarnath, R. Goldstein, and L. Reekie, Electricity Use and Management in the Municipal Water Supply and Wastewater Utilities (Palo Alto, CA: 

Electric Power Research Institute, 2013), accessed July 2015, http://www.waterrf.org/PublicReportLibrary/4454.pdf.

4 This compares to the Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook 2015 Reference Case estimates of $22.0 trillion ($2005) and 103 quads in 2030.
10

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

FIGURE 1

Building Technology

Smart Manufacturing

Buildings Finance

Smart Energy Systems

Transportation

Net Impact of Wedges

Business as Usual (BAU)

GOAL

300

2010 2015 2020 2025 2030

250

200

150

ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY (GDP 2005$ per MMBtu)

100

50

0

Figure 1. Estimated Energy Productivity Benefits to 2030

$1400

$1200

$1000

$800

$600

$400

$200

0

$(200)

$(400)

$1400

$1200

$1000

$800

$600

$400

$200

0

$(200)

$(400)

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030

FIGURE 2

GDP (BILLIONS 2005$)

SERVICES

GOODS

NATURAL RESOURCES & UTILITIES

Figure 2. Estimated Changes to GDP by Sector
11

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

According to the model underpinning the Roadmap, the six energy productivity wedges will contribute in aggregate to a net 

increase of $922 billion in U.S. GDP by 2030. This is primarily supported by an increase of $753 billion in household expenditures 

and by a $169 billion increase in investment in products and services that increase energy efficiency. For households, there 

is a double benefit: they are able to increase their purchases of other goods and services in part by making energy efficiency 

investments that reduce their energy bills. Figure 2 shows the estimated changes to GDP by sector.

Producers of goods and services are also shown to benefit from increased economic activity spurred by energy 

productivity investments. The service industry shows the most significant growth, with a nearly $1.08 trillion increase 

over baseline economic activity by 2030. By 2030, goods-providing industries (e.g., manufacturing, agriculture, and 

construction) increase by approximately $91 billion over the model baseline. Declines in economic activity in the natural 

resources and utilities are due to decreases in energy expenditures and demand for production from utilities and their 

supply chain. No specific assumptions are made concerning export markets for natural resources. 

CONCLUSION

As is clear from the Accelerate Energy Productivity 2030 regional roundtables and dialogues, as well as the modeling 

analyses, a wide range of available activities will yield significant productivity benefits. Implementing these activities 

will require changes in behavior, investment, and technology deployment in both the public and private sectors.

Collectively, they can improve U.S. economic output, reduce U.S. energy consumption, and reduce the energy impact 

on the environment. Government and the private sector are already deploying many of these changes. While the task of 

doubling energy productivity is a significant challenge, the fact that many activities are already underway suggests that 

the nation can – and already is – beginning to meet this challenge. The Roadmap provides a foundation for scaling these 

efforts nationwide while allowing for flexible and tailored solutions. 
Increasing energy 

productivity is doing 

more with less, generating 

greater economic well-being for 

the amount of energy 

used, and improving 

living standards and 

quality of life.
13

1. INTRODUCTION TO THE ROADMAP

INTRODUCTION 

TO THE ROADMAP

In his 2013 State of the Union address, President Obama announced the bold goal of 

doubling energy productivity with the statement, “I’m also issuing a new goal for America: 

Let’s cut in half the energy wasted by our homes and businesses over the next 20 years.”5

The goal of doubling energy productivity complements other administration goals, such as 

deploying 40 gigawatts (GW) of new combined heat and power (CHP) by 2020.6

Secretary Moniz echoed the president’s remarks, stating, “Taking action today to increase our energy productivity, by boosting 

the competitiveness of American manufacturers and building clean energy technologies here in the U.S., will help grow our 

economy for generations to come.”7

 In November 2014, Secretary Moniz on behalf of DOE, the Council on Competitiveness, 

and the Alliance to Save Energy (the Partners) created the Accelerate Energy Productivity 2030 initiative. And, the Partners 

jointly launched a series of three dialogues (Appendixes 3–5) with business, academic, and laboratory leaders; state and local 

government officials; and researchers to identify the most promising pathways to meet the national goal of doubling energy 

productivity by 2030. These regional dialogues—in Raleigh, Seattle, and St. Paul—and accompanying roundtable discussions 

informed the sample strategies explored in this document: Accelerate Energy Productivity 2030: A Strategic Roadmap for 

American Energy Innovation, Economic Growth, and Competitiveness. 

The challenges facing the adoption of energy-efficient technologies and behavior are well-documented.8

 The recent 

5 The White House Office of the Press Secretary, “Remarks by the President in the State of the Union Address,” news release, February 12, 2013, https://www.

whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/02/12/remarks-president-state-union-address.

6 The White House Office of the Press Secretary, “Executive Order -- Accelerating Investment in Industrial Energy Efficiency”, news release, August 30, 2012, 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/08/30/executive-order-accelerating-investment-industrial-energy-efficiency.

7 U.S. DOE. 2015. Accelerate Energy Productivity 2030 Fact Sheet. http://energy.gov/epsa/downloads/accelerate-energy-productivity-2030-fact-sheet.

8 William H. Golove and Joseph H. Eto, Market Barriers to Energy Efficiency: A Critical Reappraisal of the Rationale for Public Policies to Promote Energy Efficiency, 

LBL-38059 (Berkeley, CA: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1996), accessed July 2015, http://eetd.lbl.gov/sites/all/files/lbnl-38059.pdf; Steve Sorrell, Eoin 

O’Malley, Joachim Schleich, and Sue Scott, The Economics of Energy Efficiency: Barriers to Cost-Effective Investment (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 

2004); Richard B. Howarth and Bo Andersson, “Market Barriers to Energy Efficiency,” Energy Economics 15:4 (1993): 262–272.
14

1. INTRODUCTION TO THE ROADMAP

recession highlighted structural impediments to robust continual economic growth. The loss of economic potential9

 in 2015 

due to effects of the recession is estimated to be between 5.3 percent and 7.7 percent.10 With a focus on producing more 

economic output with less energy, the national goal to double energy productivity encompasses strategies focusing on reducing 

energy consumption as well as growing the economy.

Since 2014, the federal government has implemented several significant actions that will accelerate U.S. energy productivity:

• DOE adopted new appliance efficiency standards, in addition to those issued since 2008, that will help households save over 

$26 billion on their utility bills by 2030.11

• DOE and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development launched an initiative to increase energy literacy to 

support science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. 

• The Green Preservation Plus loan program was expanded to improve further the efficient use of energy and water in 

multifamily properties.12

• As part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, the federal government created three “Better Buildings Accelerators” 

(BBA) in 2013, bringing the total number of accelerators to seven.13

• Federal buildings were given an additional $2 billion goal for energy efficiency investments, which will create tens of 

thousands of new jobs at no net cost to taxpayers through reduced energy expenditures. 

The strategies presented in this Roadmap build on these existing efforts and provide stakeholders with the information needed 

to undertake similar efforts themselves. The Roadmap does not provide an exhaustive list of strategies and actions that could 

double energy productivity. Rather, the strategies presented here represent a survey of known, demonstrated, and replicable 

options for the United States to reach the goal of doubling energy productivity.14

9 Economic potential refers to the normal level of GDP that could be expected for an economy given its available resources and technology. See PierreOlivier Beffy, Patrice Ollivaud, Pete Richardson, and Franck Sédillot, New OECD Methods for Supply-side and Medium-term Assessments: A Capital Services 

Approach (Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2006), accessed July 2015, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/628752675863.

10 Lawrence M. Ball, Long-Term Damage from the Great Recession in OECD Countries, NBER Working Paper No. 20185 (Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of 

Economic Research, 2014), accessed July 2015, http://www.nber.org/papers/w20185.

11 The White House Office of the Press Secretary, “Fact Sheet: President Obama Announces Commitments and Executive Actions to Advance Solar 

Deployment and Energy Efficiency,” news release, May 9, 2014, https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/05/09/fact-sheet-president-obamaannounces-commitments-and-executive-actions-a.

12 Fannie Mae, “HUD and Fannie Mae Announce Expansion of Green Preservation Plus,” news release, May 8, 2014, http://fanniemae.com/portal/about-us/

media/corporate-news/2014/6117.html.

13 “Accelerating Investment in Energy Efficiency,” U.S. Department of Energy Better Buildings, accessed July 2015, http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/

betterbuildings/accelerators/.

14 Note that reference to any non-Federal entity in this document does not constitute an endorsement on the part of DOE or the U.S. government.
15

1.1 Energy Productivity

Energy is a foundation for economic activity and a requisite for 

every product we buy and every service we use. Increasing energy 

productivity is doing more with less, generating greater economic 

well-being for the amount of energy used, and, critically, improving 

living standards and quality of life. National efforts to boost energy 

productivity date back at least 35 years. In 1981, the United States 

Congress Joint Economic Committee worked to develop a national 

energy productivity index,15 and the concept gained momentum more 

recently through announcements like President Obama’s goal of 

doubling energy productivity by 2030. 

Energy productivity (the inverse of energy intensity) is defined in the Roadmap as the ratio of annual GDP to annual total 

primary energy use. The energy productivity of an economy, like its energy intensity, is a highly aggregated measure of energy 

use and economic output. As a result, the energy productivity metric reflects many underlying factors, including structural 

changes (i.e., changes to the relative contribution of different economic sectors) and changes in energy efficiency (i.e., changes 

to the amount of energy used to provide a good or service). Unlike analysis that aims to distinguish the impacts of energy 

efficiency to national energy use,16 the energy productivity analysis completed here implicitly includes structural, efficiency15 A. Penze and D. Bakke, A National Index for Energy Productivity (Washington, D.C.: Joint Economic Committee (U.S. Congress), 1981), accessed July 

2015, http://www.osti.gov/scitech/biblio/6531717.

16 Energy Intensity Indicators,” U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, last modified March 3, 2015, http://www1.

eere.energy.gov/analysis/eii_index.html.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY VS. 

ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY

ENERGY EFFICIENCY provides the 

same level of goods and services using 

less energy.

ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY increases 

the economic value created per unit of 

energy used.

The Clean Power Plan and Energy Productivity

On August 3, 2015, President Obama and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy announced the Clean 

Power Plan (CPP), new regulations that will reduce carbon emissions from new and existing power 

plants.  States can draw on a wide range of options to meet the emissions standards outlined in the plan, 

designed to allow states to choose plans that work for their unique energy mix, resources and economy.

Because each of the Accelerate Energy Productivity 2030 regional dialogues occurred before the Clean 

Power Plan was finalized, discussions at these dialogues were not intended to address the CPP.  However, 

many of the strategies in this Roadmap can increase energy productivity while also assisting with CPP 

compliance, including shifting to renewable electricity generation as well as efficiency improvements at 

power plants, transmission and distribution infrastructure, and ramping up demand-side energy efficiency.

For more information on the CPP, please visit http://www2.epa.gov/cleanpowerplan.  For information 

on DOE resources that could be helpful for state plans, please visit www.doe.gov/ta.
16

1. INTRODUCTION TO THE ROADMAP

related, and activity-related factors, and it does not 

separately identify the GDP or energy effects of each factor.

Because energy productivity is defined as a ratio, increasing 

energy productivity can be achieved by either growing GDP 

at a faster rate than energy use or reducing the growth rate 

of energy use to a rate of growth less than GDP growth. 

However, energy use and GDP are linked and tend to move 

in the same direction (see Figure 3), raising concerns 

that any reduction in the rate of growth of energy use 

may contribute to lower GDP growth. Analysis conducted for the Roadmap, which is discussed in Section 3, examines the 

interaction between energy use and GDP and estimates the net impacts to GDP, energy use, and energy productivity.

FIGURE 3

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2015 2010

8%

6%

4%

2%

-2%

-4%

-6%

0

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT

TOTAL PRIMARY ENERGY USE

ANNUAL CHARGE

Figure 3. U.S. Total Primary Energy and Real GDP (1971–2014)17

17 GDP in chain-weighted 2005 dollars from the Bureau of Economic Analysis; total primary energy from the Energy Information Administration, adjusted for 

International Energy Agency accounting of renewable electricity.

International Interest 

in Energy Productivity

The United States is not alone in its interest 

in increasing energy productivity. A number 

of governments and international actors are 

embracing this framework to set or support the 

achievement of national and regional goals. 

Additional information on international interest 

in energy productivity can be found in Appendix 1.
17

1. INTRODUCTION TO THE ROADMAP

1.2 Overview of the 2030 Productivity Goal 

1.2.1 SYNOPSIS OF CURRENT ENERGY USE AND ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

Figure 4 summarizes the trends in U.S. GDP and primary energy use since 1970. As the figure depicts, primary energy 

use for the period peaked in 2007, and it remains largely flat since 2000. Conversely, GDP has grown for most of the 

period. In 2010, the U.S. economy produced approximately $136 (chained 2005 dollars18) in GDP for each MMBtu used.19

FIGURE 4

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2015 2010

4

8

12

16

0

100

75

50

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT 25

TOTAL PRIMARY ENERGY USE

GDP (TRILLIONS 2005$)

PRIMARY ENERGY (QUADRILLIONS Btus)

Figure 4. U.S. GDP and Total Primary Energy Use (1970–2014)

18 The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis uses chain-weighted indexes to adjust nominal estimates of GDP to account for inflation.

19 National primary energy accounting is performed on a “production” rather than a “consumption” basis. This means that national energy data does not 

include the energy used to create imported materials and products (i.e., “embodied” energy), and they do not subtract energy used to produce exported 

materials and products.
18

1. INTRODUCTION TO THE ROADMAP

FIGURE 5

1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040

50

100

150

200

250

300

0

HISTORICAL

AEO 2014 REFERENCE CASE

AEO 2015 REFERENCE CASE

CLIMATE ACTION REPORT SCENARIOS

GOAL

ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY

($ REAL GDP per MMBtu PRIMARY ENRGY)

Figure 5. Historical and Projected Energy Productivity (1970–2030)

Figure 5 summarizes the historical performance and projected trends in U.S. energy productivity. Energy productivity has 

increased since 2010, reaching $149 per MMBtu in 2014. The business-as-usual (BAU) pathway is represented by the 

U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA’s) Annual Energy Outlook (AEO) 2014 Reference Case, and it achieves 57 

percent of the goal. A combination of nearly flat primary energy demand growth (0.24 percent average annual growth 

rate from 2010 to 2030) and moderate economic growth forecast (2.43 percent average annual growth rate from 2010 

to 2030) drive BAU improvements.

The Side Cases of AEO 2014 offer scenarios for how policy and technology may affect the U.S. energy productivity 

trajectory. Yet, even the most aggressive energy efficiency Side Case in AEO 2014, Best Available Technology, 

represents only a 6 percent improvement in energy productivity by 2030 over the AEO 2014 Reference Case BAU, 

achieving 70 percent of the goal by 2030.20

20 The EIA did not conduct any energy efficiency Side Cases for the 2015 AEO.
19

1. INTRODUCTION TO THE ROADMAP

Actions identified in the 2014 Climate Action Report21 could lead to as much as a 62 percent increase in energy 

productivity over the AEO 2014 Reference Case BAU. However, achieving the remaining portion of the goal will require 

significant additional actions in transforming how the U.S. economy provides and uses energy. The most effective 

strategies for meeting the productivity goal will involve both reducing energy use and increasing economic growth; 

however, there is another significant opportunity to improve energy use intensity by modernizing the manufacturing 

sector to use innovative, effective, and more efficient manufacturing processes. Achieving the goal within the current 

national economic-energy structure will require significant action on the part of government, private businesses, and 

individual citizens.

1.2.2 IDENTIFIED ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY POTENTIAL

1.2.2.1 Synopsis of Existing Studies and Strategies

The Roadmap follows on a report22 commissioned by the Alliance to Save Energy that identifies specific strategies for 

doubling U.S. energy productivity by 2030. The 2013 report’s supporting analysis of the impacts of doubling energy 

productivity estimates that an additional $166 billion annual investment in energy efficiency in the buildings, industry, 

and transportation sectors could reduce energy use in 2030 by 18 percent relative to 2011 levels and save $343 billion 

in annual energy costs.23 Together with savings of $151 billion from lower energy prices that could result from decreased 

demand, the annual savings by 2030 would equal approximately $327 billion, which is equivalent to 2 percent of nominal 

GDP in 2030. The analysis also highlighted associated benefits of increased net employment, reduced greenhouse gas 

emissions, and improved energy security. The net economic effects of these savings and investments (i.e., changes to 

GDP) were not estimated in the 2013 report.

In 2012 the Alliance to Save Energy’s Commission on National Energy Efficiency Policy issued a set of 54 diverse 

policy recommendations in 2012 that, taken together with the elements of this Roadmap, could achieve the goal of 

doubling U.S. energy productivity. The report24 highlights the roles of utilities, residential and commercial buildings, 

industries, and the transport sector in achieving cost-effective energy efficiency improvements. The report also provides 

recommendations for accelerating energy innovation through research, development, demonstration, and deployment. 

21 The Climate Action Report identifies potential greenhouse gas emissions reduction scenarios from private sector uptake of federal government 

greenhouse gas emissions mitigation measures. See U.S. Department of State, United States Climate Action Report 2014 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department 

of State, 2014), accessed July 2015, http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/219038.pdf.

22 Rhodium Group, American Energy Productivity: The Economic, Environmental and Security Benefits of Unlocking Energy Efficiency (New York, 2013), 

accessed July 2015, http://www.ase.org/sites/ase.org/files/rhg_americanenergyproductivity_0.pdf.

23 Rhodium Group, American Energy Productivity: The Economic, Environmental and Security Benefits of Unlocking Energy Efficiency.

24 Alliance to Save Energy, Doubling U.S. Energy Productivity by 2030, accessed July 2015, http://www.ase.org/sites/ase.org/files/full_commission_report.pdf.
20

1. INTRODUCTION TO THE ROADMAP

The Bipartisan Policy Center also has issued a report that includes recommendations for improving the nation’s energy 

productivity.25 In addition to proposing policies like those contained in the Alliance’s report, the Bipartisan Policy Center 

also recommends expanding the portfolio of energy resources; and modifying the federal government’s role in energy 

markets, both of which may support achieving the energy productivity goal.26

The Council on Competitiveness and DOE’s Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative also focuses the nation’s most senior 

private and public sector leadership on opportunities around energy productivity. The American Energy and Manufacturing 

Competitiveness Partnership—launched in 2012 and encompassing a series of nine dialogues and three summits—

catalyzed a movement and set of recommendations to drive energy productivity through new-to-the-world public-private 

partnerships.27 The partnership has two clear goals: to increase U.S. competitiveness in the production of clean energy 

products and to increase U.S. manufacturing competitiveness across the board by increasing energy productivity.

1.3 A Sample of Existing Efforts within 

and across the Federal Government

1.3.1 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR 

INCREASING ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY

The federal government maintains a long-standing commitment to performing research and development in energy 

technology areas where private investments may not yet be justified. Research and development (R&D) funded in these 

areas is taking place at DOE, DOE national laboratories, the National Science Foundation, and Department of Defense 

(DOD). Examples of DOE program successes are included throughout the section on strategies for accelerating energy 

productivity (Section 2). 

25 Bipartisan Policy Center, America’s Energy Resurgence: Sustaining Success, Confronting Challenges (Washington, D.C.: Bipartisan Policy Center, 2013), 

accessed July 2015, http://bipartisanpolicy.org/library/americas-energy-resurgence-sustaining-success-confronting-challenges/.

26 Bipartisan Policy Center, America’s Energy Resurgence: Sustaining Success, Confronting Challenges.

27 “American Energy & Manufacturing Competitiveness (AEMC) Partnership,” Council on Competitiveness, accessed July 2015, http://www.compete.org/

initiatives/compete-energy-a-manufacturing/22-aemc.
21

1. INTRODUCTION TO THE ROADMAP

1.3.2 PROGRAMS TO DEPLOY INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES 

Once a new technology or practice is successfully demonstrated, financial and informational barriers can slow adoption. 

The federal government and its partners continue to address these barriers by helping energy consumers across all 

economic sectors manage their energy use and costs based on accessing the information needed to take action. 

Examples include the DOE Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP)’s energy savings performance contracts 

(ESPCs), DOD test beds, the General Services Administration’s Green Proving Ground program, DOE’s Weatherization 

and Intergovernmental Programs Office, the DOE and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s State and Local Energy 

Efficiency in Action Network (SEE Action), and the Better Buildings Challenge initiative.

1.3.3 SETTING THE BAR FOR ENERGY PERFORMANCE

Through both market-based voluntary programs and regulatory standards, the federal government identifies commercial 

products that can be manufactured to limit the amount of energy needed to operate them, providing significant cost 

savings to the end user as well as significant public benefits. Examples include appliance standards, the EPA-led ENERGY 

STAR®, and vehicle fuel economy standards. For instance, DOE developed energy conservation standards for appliances 

and equipment, which saved consumers $60 billion on their energy bills in 2014.28 This reduction of absolute energy use 

contributes directly to increasing energy productivity. 

28 U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Saving Energy and Money with Appliance and Equipment Standards in 

the United States, DOE/EE-1086 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Energy, 2015), accessed July 2015, http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2015/07/f24/

Appliance%20and%20Equipment%20Standards%20Fact%20Sheet%207-21-15.pdf.
The ten energy 

efficiency standards 

DOE finalized in 2014 

alone will save U.S. families 

and businesses an 

estimated $67 

billion in electricity 

bills through 2030.
23

2. STRATEGIES AND ACTORS FOR ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY

STRATEGIES AND 

ACTORS FOR ENERGY 

PRODUCTIVITY 

Achieving the goal of doubling energy productivity by 2030 will require action across 

the economy, in both the private and public sectors. This section identifies strategies 

for achieving the goal within each major sector. These strategies were gathered from 

roundtable discussions, regional dialogues, and endorsers of the goal that include a 

wide array of energy efficiency, energy productivity, smart grid, clean energy, advanced 

manufacturing, clean transportation, and other organizations committed to promoting 

energy-efficient economic growth. While not an exhaustive list, strategies provided in the 

Roadmap form a foundation to accelerate U.S. energy productivity. They also illustrate the 

broad range of actions available to citizens and a wide range of stakeholder groups that 

can share the benefits of achieving the productivity goal. 

The energy productivity strategies presented in the Roadmap often involve multiple economic sectors and levels of 

government. To present a cohesive analysis of the potential impacts of the strategies, six productivity “wedges” were 

developed as representations of aggregate individual strategies. Table 1 provides a brief description of each wedge; Section 

3 provides details about how the wedges were used in the energy productivity analysis. The six energy productivity wedges 

are color-coded throughout the Roadmap. The beginning of each strategy section identifies the relevant energy productivity 

wedges to highlight the connections between the strategies and the energy productivity analysis.
24

2. STRATEGIES AND ACTORS FOR ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY

SMART ENERGY

SYSTEMS

TECHNOLOGIES

for BUILDING ENERGY

PRODUCTIVIT

M

Y

ANU

FA

C

TURING

SM

A

RT

TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE

WATER

FINA

N

C

N

I

G

for

BUIL

DIN

G

ENERGY

PRO

D

U

C

TIVITY

Energy 

Productivity Wedge

Description

Smart Energy 

Systems

Energy systems, particularly electricity generation systems and the electricity grid, are sources and enablers of improvements to U.S. energy productivity. Broad and deep transformations are required to enable transitions to distributed energy 

resources, real-time energy pricing, smart appliances, and increased energy efficiency.

Technologies for 

Buildings Energy 

Productivity

Improving the energy productivity of buildings requires both the widespread use of currently available energy-efficient 

technologies and practices, and the development of next generation technologies.

Buildings Energy 

Productivity 

Financing

Significant changes to financing mechanisms and market recognition of the value of energy productivity are required to 

ensure that energy productivity-enabling technology is used by businesses and households. This includes addressing real 

or perceived risk to the use and deployment of these technologies, which can immediately and adversely impact the cost 

of financing.

Smart

Manufacturing

Sensors and other information and communications technology (ICT) will allow industries better control over their processes and improved energy management of their buildings.

Transportation Increasing the energy productivity of moving goods and people relies on developing and deploying new technologies that 

increase vehicle efficiency, increasing options for mass transit, and better integrating transportation needs with the built 

environment to reduce the demand for motorized transport.

Water

Infrastructure

Reducing energy consumption at water and waste water treatment plants and in water conveyance and distribution systems involves three actions: 1) improving energy efficiency and demand response; 2) implementing emerging technologies 

and processes; and 3) deploying energy recovery and generation technologies.

Table 1. Analysis Sources and Inputs: Summary Description of Energy Productivity Wedges
25

2.1 Government

Action from all levels of government is necessary to accelerate energy productivity. The identified strategies recognize 

government’s own energy use, as well as interactions and responsibilities each level of government has with respect to 

businesses and private citizens. 

2.1.1 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Throughout the Accelerate Energy Productivity 2030 meetings, stakeholders emphasized ways the federal government, 

through a range of policies and programs, can drive increases in U.S. energy productivity. While federal agencies 

are advancing energy productivity across different sectors of the U.S. economy through existing programs, policies, 

and proposals for innovative new strategies, they have the potential to do even more. For example, federal minimum 

efficiency standards for appliances and equipment cover the vast majority of energy use in buildings including 88 percent 

of all residential energy use, 77 percent of all commercial energy use, and 26 percent of industrial energy use. The 

standards promulgated by DOE since January 2009 will cumulatively save over 39 quadrillion Btu of energy by 2030. As 

an additional example, the 2015 Clean Power Plan is expected to drive energy efficiency across states, resulting in a 7 

percent reduction in electricity demand by 2030.29

The federal government can play a role in promoting energy productivity strategies in five areas: (1) supporting the 

R&D of new technologies and strategies; (2) using regulatory programs to secure energy and cost savings; (3) setting 

29 “Fact Sheet: Energy Efficiency in the Clean Power Plan”, United States Environmental Protection Agency, last updated August 20, 2015, http://www2.epa.

gov/cleanpowerplan/fact-sheet-energy-efficiency-clean-power-plan.

Renewable Energy’s Role in Growing Energy Productivity

To calculate the primary energy of electricity generated from noncombustable renewable energy sources 

(i.e., hydroelectric, geothermal, solar, and wind), the EIA assumes a heat rate equal to the average heat 

rate of electricity generated from fossil fuels. The energy productivity analysis for the Roadmap instead 

uses the heat content of electricity, which is approximately one-third the value of the fossil fuel average 

heat rate, in its primary energy accounting. This approach is consistent with International Energy 

Agency accounting of primary energy production,1

 and it was chosen to avoid ascribing transformation 

losses where they do not exist in electricity production from solar, wind, and other noncombustable 

renewables. The effect is that replacing fossil generation with generation from noncombustable 

renewables can improve energy productivity, although this was not a focus of the analysis performed for 

this Roadmap.

1 OECD, IEA, and Eurostat, Energy Statistics Manual, (Paris: OECD, 2005), accessed July 2015, http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/

statistics_manual.pdf. 
26

2. STRATEGIES AND ACTORS FOR ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY

the financial foundation through revised tax policies; (4) identifying and reducing barriers to the adoption of innovative, 

proven strategies; and (5) leading by example in adopting and deploying new technologies and strategies in its own 

operations. Actions taken by the federal government contribute to all six energy productivity wedges:

Smart Energy Systems

Technologies for Buildings Energy Productivity

Financing for Buildings Energy Productivity

Water Infrastructure

Smart Manufacturing

Transportation

2.1.1.1 Investing in Long-Term Energy Productivity: Research and Development 

The federal government has an established role in conducting and supporting long-term R&D—the fundamental seed of 

innovation. This is a vital role because, as the Congressional Budget Office states in its 2014 report, Federal Policies 

and Innovation30, “Innovation is a central driver of economic growth in the U.S. Workers become more productive when 

they can make use of improved equipment and processes, and consumers benefit when new goods and services become 

available or when existing ones become better or cheaper—although the transition can be disruptive to established 

firms and workers as new products and processes supersede old ones. Innovation produces some benefits for society 

from which individual innovators are not able to profit, and, as a result, those innovators tend to underinvest in such 

activity. Policymakers endeavor to promote innovation to compensate for that underinvestment. The federal government 

influences innovation through two broad channels: spending and tax policies, and the legal and regulatory systems.” 

The report adds, “Because the effects of innovation on the economy can be difficult to measure, economists typically 

use the growth in total factor productivity (TFP) as a proxy. Growth in TFP is defined as the growth of real output that 

is not explained by increases in the amount of labor and capital—typically physical structures and equipment used in 

production, along with intangible capital such as computer software and research and development (R&D).” The more 

efficient use of physical resources, such as energy, can also translate into gains in TFP. For example, in its 2014 Global 

R&D Funding Forecast, Battelle projected a 1.2 percent decline in U.S. investment in aerospace, defense, and security 

R&D.31 To ensure continued increases in U.S. energy productivity through 2030 and beyond, federal R&D will be essential 

to continuing to advance the technical potential and lowering the costs of productivity-enabling technologies. The 

following are a few key areas of technology R&D that will help achieve the goal. 

30 United State Congressional Budget Office, Federal Policies and Innovation (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Congressional Budget Office, 2014), accessed July 

2015, http://www.cbo.gov/publication/49487.

31 Martin Grueber and Tim Studt, 2014 Global R&D Funding Forecast (Columbus, OH: Battelle and R&D Magazine, 2013), accessed July 2015, http://www.

battelle.org/docs/tpp/2014_global_rd_funding_forecast.pdf.
27

2. STRATEGIES AND ACTORS FOR ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY

2.1.1.1.1 Transportation Technologies 

The development and deployment of technologies that displace fossil-based transportation fuels or reduce fuel 

consumption are critical to doubling energy productivity. Federal efforts in vehicle technology R&D span eight agencies. 

Areas of work include light-weight materials; next-generation aircraft configurations; alternative fuels and lubricants; 

hybrid propulsion systems; batteries and energy storage; electrical power management between vehicles and the grid; 

afloat power systems; locomotive engine efficiency; exhaust emissions reduction; vehicle automation; and baseline 

safety performance of electric vehicles. The fiscal year (FY) 2016 budget requests $1.3 billion for vehicle technology 

R&D (e.g., automobiles, aircraft, and locomotives), 95 percent of which is divided across the agencies that have 

transportation programs, such as DOE, DOD, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).32

DOE’s investments in hybrid and electric vehicle technologies have helped drivers save one billion gallons of gasoline 

between 1999 and 2012, and they are projected to save another billion gallons by 2022, in total saving consumers $7.3 

billion from 1999 through 2022.33

Beyond electric and hybrid vehicles, DOE investment in advanced combustion engines has drastically improved the 

efficiency of cars on the road. A 2010 study estimates that between 1995 and 2007, DOE-supported R&D on advanced 

combustion engines saved 17.6 billion gallons of diesel fuel, which is equivalent to a 1 percent reduction in total crude 

oil imports to the United States over those twelve years.34 The DOE’s SuperTruck Initiative, which aims to increase 

tractor-trailer efficiency by 50 percent over baseline models by 2015, has demonstrated a vehicle that increases freight 

efficiency by 115 percent and saves $20,000 per year on fuel costs.35 Federal policies incentivizing the conversion of all 

Class 8 vehicles36 into “SuperTrucks” could save the United States $30 billion in annual fuel costs.37

32 Executive Office of the President Office of Management and Budget, Government-Wide Funding for Clean Energy Technology (Washington, D.C.: The 

White House, 2015), accessed July 2015, https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2016/assets/fact_sheets/government-wide-funding-forclean-energy-technology.pdf.

33 Albert N. Link, Alan C. O’Connor, Troy J. Scott, Sara E. Casey, Ross J. Loomis, and J. Lynn Davis, Benefit-Cost Evaluation of U.S. DOE Investment in 

Energy Storage Technologies for Hybrid and Electric Cars and Trucks (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy, 2013), accessed July 2015, http://www1.eere.energy.gov/analysis/pdfs/2013_bca_vto_edvs.pdf.

34 Albert N. Link, Retrospective Benefit-Cost Evaluation of U.S. DOE Vehicle Combustion Engine R&D Investments: Impacts of a Cluster of Energy 

Technologies (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 2010), accessed July 2015, http://www1.eere.

energy.gov/analysis/pdfs/advanced_combustion_report.pdf.

35 “SuperTruck Initiative Partner Improves Class 8 Truck Efficiency by 115%,” U.S. Department of Energy, last modified June 23, 2015, http://energy.gov/

eere/success-stories/articles/supertruck-initiative-partner-improves-class-8-truck-efficiency-115.

36 A Class 8 vehicle has a gross vehicle weight of more than 33,000 pounds. See “Vehicle Weight Classes & Categories,” U.S. Department of Energy 

Alternative Fuels Data Center, accessed July 2015, http://www.afdc.energy.gov/data/10380.

37 The White House, Improving the Fuel Efficiency of American Trucks: Bolstering Energy Security, Cutting Carbon Pollution, Saving Money and 

Supporting Manufacturing Innovation (Washington, D.C.: The White House, 2014), accessed July 2015, https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/

finaltrucksreport.pdf.
28

2. STRATEGIES AND ACTORS FOR ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY

2.1.1.1.2 Building Technologies 

R&D on next-generation building technologies will lead to advances in end uses representing the majority of building 

energy consumption, including efficient and cost-competitive lighting, heating and cooling technologies, and windows 

that decrease energy demand, reduce energy costs for consumers, and improve comfort. DOE also invests in wholebuilding R&D that demonstrates how new energy-efficient technologies can function together to create an efficient 

system and achieve greater overall energy bill savings for families and businesses. DOE is also performing applied 

research on methods to reduce U.S. building-related energy use in existing homes. 

As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), DOE initiated the Better Buildings 

Neighborhood Program to both accelerate the adoption of energy-efficient technologies in buildings and generate 

employment and economic activity during the worst economic crisis in a generation. Between 2010 and 2012, the 

program created over 4,200 jobs, generated over $155 million in personal income, and saved nearly 1.4 trillion Btu of 

energy. The standards finalized since the inception of the program are estimated to save 127 quads of energy and offer 

consumers utility bill savings of $1.8 trillion by 2030. 

2.1.1.1.3 Manufacturing Technologies 

Development of advanced materials for solar energy conversion, refrigeration systems, and reduced vehicle component 

mass (i.e., “lightweighting”) carry significant potential for improving U.S. energy productivity, through both the use 

of the materials in U.S. products and the increased global competitiveness that would be realized by developing and 

manufacturing them in the United States. As an FY 2016 key focus area of DOE’s Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative, 

DOE offices will collaborate in a crosscutting advanced materials development acceleration effort across the Department. 

One such effort is the recently announced Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute on Smart Manufacturing. 

Smart Manufacturing represents an emerging opportunity faced broadly by the U.S. manufacturing sector to merge 

information and communications technologies with the manufacturing environment for the real-time management of 

energy, productivity, and costs in American factories all across the country. Smart Manufacturing was recently identified 

by private sector and university leaders in the White House’s Advanced Manufacturing Partnership 2.0 as one of the 

highest priority manufacturing technology areas in need of federal investment.

The most recent analysis of DOE’s manufacturing technology R&D estimated that in 2009, technologies developed with DOE’s 

support were responsible for saving over 53 trillion Btu. In addition to these energy savings, industrial facility management 

programs focused on energy-efficient production were able to save 35 trillion Btu and helped businesses save $218 million in 
29

2. STRATEGIES AND ACTORS FOR ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY

energy cost.38 In addition to saving energy, these technologies allow manufacturers to increase productivity, reduce resource 

consumption, decrease emissions, and enhance product quality, making U.S. manufacturers more competitive globally.

2.1.1.2 Securing Energy Productivity: Performance Information and Product Standards 

To ensure widespread access to productivity gains from continuing technological advances, the federal government 

sets energy performance standards for many types of appliances and equipment. Efforts to gain consensus between 

manufacturers, consumers and other stakeholders, federal agencies (including DOE, EPA, and Department of 

Transportation (DOT)) have established market-based programs and finalized rules to promote efficient products. DOE’s 

appliance standards program sets minimum energy efficiency standards for approximately 60 categories of appliances 

and equipment used in homes, businesses, and other applications. The ten energy efficiency standards DOE finalized 

in 2014 alone will save U.S. families and businesses an estimated $67 billion in electricity bills through 2030 and will 

reduce U.S. energy use by nearly 4.9 quads per year. DOE also determines mandatory efficiency requirements for new 

federal, commercial, and residential buildings and develops energy efficiency standards for manufactured homes.39

In the transportation sector, fuel economy and greenhouse gas emission standards for light-duty vehicles finalized in 2010 

and 2012 by EPA and DOT are projected to save families more than $1.7 trillion in fuel costs.40 EPA and DOT have also 

proposed standards to further improve fuel economy in heavy-duty vehicles that could reduce fuel costs by $170 billion.41

The federal government also secured energy productivity gains by partnering with industry to voluntarily identify energyefficient projects. The ENERGY STAR® program now features 16,000 partners from across every sector of the U.S. 

economy, with 70 different product categories and estimated customer savings of nearly $300 billion.42

The federal government has the ability to continue its work convening industry experts to develop recognized standards 

for how energy savings are calculated from a wide variety of measures. This will help ensure that policymakers, 

financiers, and customers can be confident that investments supporting energy productivity will reliably reduce energy 

use and save money. The Quadrennial Energy Review (QER) released in early 2015 recommended that DOE accelerate 

38 U.S. Department of Energy Industrial Technologies Program, Industrial Technologies Program: Summary of Program Results for CY 2009 (Washington, 

D.C.: U.S. Department of Energy, 2009), accessed July 2015, http://www1.eere.energy.gov/manufacturing/about/pdfs/impacts2009_full_report.pdf.

39 U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, “Regulations & Rulemaking”, last updated July 28, 2014, https://www.

energycodes.gov/regulations.

40 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA and NHTSA Set Standards to Reduce Greenhouse Gases and Improve Fuel Economy for Model Years 2017-

2025 Cars and Light Trucks, EPA-420-F-12-051 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2012), accessed July 2015, http://www.epa.gov/

otaq/climate/documents/420f12051.pdf.

41 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cutting Carbon Pollution, Improving Fuel Efficiency, Saving Money, and Supporting Innovation for Trucks, EPA420-F-15-900 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2015), accessed July 2015, http://www.epa.gov/otaq/climate/documents/420f15900.pdf. 

42 “About ENERGY STAR,” Energy STAR, accessed July 2015, http://www.energystar.gov/about.
30

2. STRATEGIES AND ACTORS FOR ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY

the development of uniform methods for measuring energy savings and promote widespread adoption of these methods 

in public and private efficiency programs.43 This effort will reduce information barriers to efficiency investments, making it 

easier for consumers to reduce their energy bills. 

2.1.1.3 Setting the Financial Foundation for Energy Productivity: Tax Policy 

Tax policy can be a powerful instrument for the federal government to influence decision makers and transform the 

economy. Taxes may discourage individuals and business from actions that have negative economic and environmental 

consequences, while tax credits can encourage outcomes, such as private-sector R&D or capital investments, with 

positive effects for society. Smart, well-directed national tax policy is a tool the federal government could further employ 

if the United States is to double energy productivity by 2030. Specific examples follow for households and private-sector 

R&D. As proposed, the FY 2016 Federal budget includes research and clean energy incentives, including the Research 

and Experimentation Tax Credit, the renewable energy Production Tax Credit, and the Investment Tax Credit.44

2.1.1.3.1 Tax Policy for Households 

Individual tax credits for residential energy efficiency and passive solar investments can increase the adoption of 

technologies that will reduce household energy use beyond what minimum efficiency standards and building codes 

require. Federal tax incentives have been shown to be successful in transforming the efficiency of residential appliances 

and new construction. Between 2006 and 2009, a targeted tax credit for builders aimed at increasing the amount of 

energy-efficient new construction was able to quadruple the number of homes built that are twice as efficient as the 

required building energy code. Another targeted tax credit for manufacturers was instrumental in doubling the market 

share of energy-efficient clothes washers in just two years.45

A variety of federal tax credits is available for retrofit investments in energy-efficient and clean energy technologies, specifically 

geothermal heat pumps. However, these tax credits are available only for owner-occupied housing and cannot be claimed for rental 

properties, which constitute over 33 percent of households.46 Tax credits that include rental properties could spur a transformation 

similar to what is occurring in owner-occupied housing. This tax credit could be combined with informational programs, including 

policies that require building owners to disclose energy use to further incentivize equipment upgrades in rental properties. 

43 U.S. Department of Energy, Quadrennial Energy Review: Energy Transmission, Storage, and Distribution Infrastructure (Washington, D.C.: U.S. 

Department of Energy, 2015), accessed July 2015, http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2015/07/f24/QER%20Full%20Report_TS%26D%20April%202015_0.pdf.

44 Office of Management and Budget, Fiscal Year 2016 Budget of the U.S. Government (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2015), 

accessed July 2015, https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2016/assets/budget.pdf.

45 Rachel Gold and Steven Nadel, Energy Efficiency Tax Incentives, 2005–2011: How Have They Performed? (Washington, D.C.: American Council for an 

Energy-Efficient Economy, 2011), accessed July 2015, http://aceee.org/sites/default/files/pdf/white-paper/Tax%20incentive%20white%20paper.pdf.

46 U.S. Census Bureau, 2009-2013 5-Year American Community Survey, accessed July 2015, http://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/data.html.
31

2. STRATEGIES AND ACTORS FOR ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY

2.1.1.3.2 Tax Policy for Private-Sector R&D

The federal government could support the development of advanced manufacturing through tax credits. One example 

of such a proposal is from the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in 2011 that recommended 

reforming corporate income taxes and permanently extending and increasing the R&D tax credit.47

2.1.1.3.3 Tax Policy for Clean Energy Technologies 

Stable and refundable tax credits for the production of renewable energy could provide a strong, consistent incentive to 

encourage investments in renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, create jobs, and support U.S. companies. 

These new investments, in addition to increased generation of electricity from noncombustible renewables, represent 

potential gains in energy productivity for the overall economy. Conversely, cyclic or unpredictable tax credits can have an 

adverse effect on the development of renewable energy. Additionally, the federal government can pursue new tax credits 

for installation of alternative fuel equipment. Customers may be more likely to adopt electric vehicle technology with 

faster charging, but direct current (DC), fast-charging technology is currently expensive. As is done with the amenity 

model where businesses provide no-cost chargers to attract customers, the government could provide tax incentives 

to businesses that install fast-charging technology, especially during new construction. In all cases, the stability 

and predictability of renewable energy tax policy is key to its effectiveness.

2.1.1.4 Workforce Training

Some DOE programs, such as the Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) program48 and the Solar Ready Vets program,49 support 

the type of workforce training that will be integral to meeting the energy productivity goal. The federal government should 

continue and expand on its partnerships with community and technical colleges, universities, and trade organizations to 

advance curricula and skills for training the next generation of leaders in energy productivity and clean energy manufacturing. 

In September 2014, DOE’s SunShot Initiative launched the Solar Ready Vets program to connect the nation’s skilled veterans 

with the solar energy industry, preparing them for careers as solar photovoltaic (PV) system installers, sales representatives, 

system inspectors, and in other industry-related occupations. Solar Ready Vets trains active military personnel—who are 

“transitioning military” status—within a few months of leaving military service and becoming veterans. The initiative is 

47 President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, Report to the President on Ensuring American Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing (Washington, 

D.C.: The White House, 2011), accessed July 2015, https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/pcast-advanced-manufacturing-june2011.pdf. 

48 “Industrial Assessment Centers (IACs),” U.S. Department of Energy, accessed July 2015, http://energy.gov/eere/amo/industrial-assessment-centers-iacs.

49 “Solar Ready Vets,” U.S. Department of Energy, accessed July 2015, http://energy.gov/eere/sunshot/solar-ready-vets.
32

2. STRATEGIES AND ACTORS FOR ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY

enabled by the DOD’s SkillBridge initiative, which allows exiting military personnel to pursue civilian job training, employment 

skills training, apprenticeships, and internships up to six months prior to their separation. 

DOE’s IACs train the next generation of energy-savvy engineers, more than 60 percent of whom pursue energy-related 

careers upon graduation. IAC assessments are in-depth evaluations of a facility conducted by engineering faculty 

with junior and senior college students, and graduate students from participating universities. Small-and mediumsized manufacturers may be eligible to receive a no-cost assessment provided by IACs. Over 16,000 IAC assessments 

have been conducted. Typically, IACs identify more than $130,000 in potential annual savings opportunities for every 

manufacturer assessed, nearly $50,000 of which is implemented during the first year following the assessment. 

2.1.1.5 Implementing Strategies for Energy Productivity: Demonstrations and Leading by Example

The federal government is the single largest consumer of energy in the U.S. economy, but its use of 0.96 quadrillion Btu in 

FY 2014 was the lowest since tracking began in 1975.50 Other federal building and facility accomplishments include reducing 

Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 17.4 percent, using 8.8 percent renewable electricity, reducing potable water use 

by 21 percent,51 and reducing the energy use per square foot of building space by 21 percent. By expanding its use of proven 

strategies to improve energy efficiency, the federal government can provide public services at lower cost, saving taxpayer 

dollars and helping realize the benefits of doubled energy productivity. Through Executive Order 13693, President Obama 

directed federal agencies to reduce energy intensity (Btu/gross square foot) in federal buildings by 2.5 percent per year from an 

FY 2015 baseline through FY 2025.52 Executive vehicle fleets also have been directed to achieve maximum fuel efficiency.53

The federal government has expanded and extended the Presidential Performance Contracting Challenge—one tool to 

achieve the savings goal—to deploy $4 billion in energy-saving and renewable energy projects at government facilities 

through 2016. DOE’s FEMP will continue to support the challenge by working with agencies to meet the $4 billion goal 

and by helping agencies continue to accelerate their use of performance contracts to meet future energy investment 

needs and goals. FEMP will also share and rely on best practices from the challenge to partner with other government 

and private-sector stakeholders and partners to accelerate their use of performance contracts.54

50 “Federal Comprehensive Annual Energy Performance Data,” U.S. Department of Energy, accessed July 2015, http://www.energy.gov/eere/femp/federalfacility-annual-energy-reports-and-performance. 

51 Chris Tremper, “Federal Progress toward Energy/Sustainability Goals” (presented June 10, 2014), accessed July 2015, http://energy.gov/sites/prod/

files/2015/06/f22/facility_sustainability_goals.pdf.

52 Executive Order 13693—Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade, 80 Fed. Reg. 57 (March 25, 2015), accessed July 2015, http://www.gpo.

gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-03-25/pdf/2015-07016.pdf.

53 The White House Office of the Press Secretary, “Presidential Memorandum--Federal Fleet Performance,” news release, May 24, 2011, https://www.

whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/05/24/presidential-memorandum-federal-fleet-performance.

54 “Federal Energy Management Program,” U.S. Department of Energy, accessed July 2015, http://www.energy.gov/eere/femp/federal-energy-management-program. 
33

2. STRATEGIES AND ACTORS FOR ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY

For technologies and systems that have the potential to reduce energy costs but require further demonstration before 

becoming market-ready, the federal government leverages its full portfolio of facilities as testbeds for innovation. The 

General Services Administration’s Green Proving Ground program leverages government real estate and facilities to evaluate 

sustainable building technologies in the pre- or early-commercial stages of development and to provide recommendations 

on their deployment.55 DOD’s Installation Energy Test Bed program features projects to demonstrate emerging technologies 

for building efficiency, energy management, smart microgrids, energy storage and distributed renewable generation. These 

projects will help identify technologies that can be adopted at government and private facilities across the United States 

while simultaneously helping DOD reduce its facility energy bill, which totals roughly $4 billion per year.56

Programs across several agencies provide opportunities to deploy strategies to improve energy productivity:

• Reducing Energy Costs in Multifamily Homes: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 

provides the $25-million Multifamily Energy Innovation Fund, which enables affordable housing providers, technology 

firms, academic institutions, and philanthropic organizations to test new approaches to delivering cost-effective, 

residential energy efficiency upgrades.57

• Improving Energy Productivity in Rural Communities: As soon as the third quarter of 2015, the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service will have finalized a proposed update to its Energy Efficiency 

and Conservation Loan Program to provide up to $250 million for rural utilities to finance efficiency investments by 

businesses and homeowners across rural America.58 The Department of Agriculture is also streamlining its Rural 

Energy for America Program to provide grants and loan guarantees directly to agricultural producers and rural small 

businesses for energy efficiency and renewable energy systems.59 These programs will help reduce energy costs for 

rural households and businesses, allowing savings to be reinvested in local communities. 

• Improving Energy Productivity in Transportation: Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), including plug-in hybrid electric 

vehicles (PHEVs) and all-electric vehicles (EVs), offer the potential of lower primary energy than conventional gasoline 

vehicles. The adoption of PEVs would benefit from introducing and refining new technologies for batteries, drivetrains, 

and other vehicle components. Expanding the number of charging stations and related infrastructure would also promote 

adoption of PEVs as well as enable new electricity supply and demand options by integrating PEVs with building energy use. 

• DOE’s Workplace Charging Challenge: This program, which seeks a tenfold increase in the number of employers 

providing workplace-charging stations, estimates that the employees of participating businesses are twenty times as 

55 “What is GPG?” U.S. General Services Administration, last modified August 12, 2015, http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/102575. 

56 “Installation Energy Test Bed,” The Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program and The Environmental Security Technology Certification 

Program, accessed July 2015, https://www.serdp-estcp.org/Featured-Initiatives/Installation-Energy. 

57 “Multifamily Energy Innovation Fund,” U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, accessed July 2015, http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/

HUD?src=/program_offices/housing/mfh/presrv/energy. 

58 Executive Office of the President, The President’s Climate Action Plan (Washington, D.C.: The White House, 2013), accessed July 2015, https://www.

whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/image/president27sclimateactionplan.pdf.

59 “Rural Energy for America Program Renewable Energy Systems & Energy Efficiency Improvement Loans & Grants,” U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural 

Development, accessed July 2015, http://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/rural-energy-america-program-renewable-energy-systems-energy-efficiency.
34

2. STRATEGIES AND ACTORS FOR ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY

likely to drive a PEV as the average worker. As of June 2014, the partner charging stations provided an estimated 6.7 

million kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually or approximately 0.8 percent of estimated light-duty vehicle electricity use in 2014.

2.1.2 STATE GOVERNMENT

State governments possess a wide range of tools to drive energy productivity in state operations as well as in the private sector, 

and they can play an important role in supporting and leveraging local government-led efforts. The Roadmap highlights state 

strategies for increasing the energy productivity of buildings and transportation systems, enabling the smart grid, and improving 

energy productivity financing mechanisms. Workforce development programs offered by state universities and technical colleges 

are discussed in Section 2.5. Actions taken by state governments contribute to all six energy productivity wedges:

Smart Energy Systems

Technologies for Buildings Energy Productivity

Financing for Buildings Energy Productivity

Water Infrastructure

Smart Manufacturing

Transportation

2.1.2.1 Energy Efficiency Portfolio Resource Standards

Where appropriate, energy productivity improvements can come from state implementation of energy efficiency resource 

standards or energy efficiency portfolio standards. In general, portfolio standards establish performance targets for the 

amount of energy efficiency improvements achieved, which then allow market forces to identify the most cost-effective 

way(s) to achieve the targets. Currently, 26 states have an energy efficiency portfolio standard.60 

2.1.2.2 Energy Productivity Financing

States can reduce barriers to business and household adoption of energy productivity technology by focusing on 

strategies to improve financing mechanisms.61 One such strategy is to develop secondary markets for energy efficiency 

60 Counts for both types of portfolio standards were obtained from http://www.dsireusa.org/. The figure for energy efficiency portfolio standards includes 

states with voluntary or underfunded goals, such as those for Delaware, Florida, Missouri, and Virginia. Other states have repealed (Indiana), have frozen 

(Ohio), or are considering repealing their energy efficiency portfolio standards (Michigan). Conversely, other states, such as Maryland and Pennsylvania, have 

extended theirs.

61 State and Local Energy Efficiency Action Network, Energy Efficiency Financing Program Implementation Primer (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department 

of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 2014), accessed July 2015, https://www4.eere.energy.gov/seeaction/system/files/documents/

financing_primer_0.pdf.
35

2. STRATEGIES AND ACTORS FOR ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY

loans, such as those provided under the Warehouse for Energy Efficiency Loans (WHEEL) program.62 WHEEL is a publicprivate partnership sponsored by states, local governments, and utilities. It uses public funds and private capital to 

provide funding for energy improvement projects.

Other financing strategies involve using public funding to unlock private capital. For example, Connecticut’s Property 

Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) program has used property assessed clean energy (PACE) financing.63 Revolving 

loan funds are another source of financing for energy productivity. They offer long-term, low-interest rate financing for 

initiatives such as building efficiency retrofits and job creation. Revolving loan funds also support on-bill repayment, 

ESPCs, and public-private partnerships. Currently, 79 revolving loan funds programs across 44 states represent over $2 

billion in financing.64 Utilities, businesses, and lending institutions also have significant potential to improve access to 

financing for energy productivity investments, and these are discussed in subsequent sections.

The Keystone Home Energy Loan Program (Keystone HELP) is an example of a specialized loan program for improvements 

in home energy efficiency. Under the program, which is supported by the Pennsylvania Treasury Department and the 

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, homeowners seeking financing for their energy efficiency and 

renewable energy related home improvements can apply for low fixed-rate loans with repayment periods of up to ten 

years.65 Under the program, homeowners have financed over $63 million in projects since the program began in 2006, 

and they have saved $2.3 million annually on utility bills.66

Finally, regulators can more effectively incentivize utility energy and water efficiency programs using a three-pronged approach 

that includes cost recovery, throughput incentives, and earnings opportunities.67 Cost recovery options, such as escrow and rate 

riders, enable utilities to recover energy efficiency costs roughly when they occur. Throughput incentives address reduced energy 

and water sales from efficiency by decoupling sales from revenues. Earning opportunities, such as a share of energy and water 

efficiency program net benefits, could be provided to utilities as incentives for achieving energy efficiency program success.

62 “Warehouse for Energy Efficiency Loans (WHEEL),” National Association of State Energy Officials, accessed July 2015, http://www.naseo.org/wheel.

63 “C-PACE,” Connecticut Green Bank, accessed July 2015, http://www.c-pace.com/.

64 National Association of State Energy Officials, State Energy Revolving Loan Funds (Arlington, VA: National Association of State Energy Officials, 2013), 

accessed July 2015, http://www.naseo.org/Data/Sites/1/documents/selfs/state_energy_rlf_report.pdf. 

65 “Financing Program,” EnergyLoan, accessed July 2015, http://www.energyloan.net/info/financing-program.

66 “Keystone Help,” Pennsylvania Treasury, accessed July 2015, http://www.patreasury.gov/website-redesign/earn/keystonehelp/.

67 Dan York and Martin Kushler, The Old Model Isn’t Working: Creating the Energy Utility for the 21st Century (Washington, D.C.: American Council for an 

Energy-Efficient Economy, 2011), accessed July 2015, http://aceee.org/files/pdf/white-paper/The_Old_Model_Isnt_Working.pdf.
FINANCING SUCCESS STORY

Massachusetts Leads by Example

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a DOE Better Buildings Challenge partner, in 2007 set ambitious 

energy savings targets for the Commonwealth to reduce energy use intensity 20 percent by 2012 and 35 

percent by 2020, based on 2004 levels. However, in the wake of the national economic downturn in 2008, a 

steep decline in project financing from banks and energy service companies stranded a three-year pipeline 

of $237 million in energy efficiency projects. In 2010, Massachusetts responded by creating an innovative 

financing model called the Clean Energy Investment Program (CEIP). The program invests in projects using 

bond funding which is repaid from the energy savings generated by the projects. The bonds are obtained 

at the same time as general obligation bonds; however, Massachusetts leverages this low-cost financing 

without hitting the Commonwealth’s general obligation debt limits. 

In four years, CEIP mobilized 28 projects for more than $136 million across 15 million square feet of 

Commonwealth buildings with projected annual savings of $14.3 million over the life of the bond terms, 

which can often equal or sometimes exceed 20 years. These projects represent greater Commonwealth 

investment in energy efficiency than in the previous 25 years. The Commonwealth also has a pipeline of 

approximately $260 million for 74 ready-to-go energy efficiency projects, which will generate $22 million 

in annual savings over the terms of the contracts, typically 10–20 years. Massachusetts maintained the 

top spot on the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s State Energy Efficiency Scorecard for 

four consecutive years, and it attributes its success in part to operationalizing its energy efficiency policies 

for its facilities via CEIP program financing. The Commonwealth plans to make CEIP financing available to 

additional energy retrofit initiatives.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is now working with 42 separate Commonwealth agencies to track, 

measure, and report energy savings annually. In all, 29 of the 42 agencies have seen energy reductions from 

the baseline, demonstrating that energy reductions are broad and have occurred across the majority of the 

Commonwealth’s portfolio. In 2014, Massachusetts reduced energy use intensity by 7 percent as part of 

CEIP and other efforts, bringing total savings to 16 percent across its entire 65 million square feet portfolio 

of Commonwealth-owned buildings.

Reference to a non-federal entity does not constitute an endorsement on the part of DOE or the U.S. government.
37

2. STRATEGIES AND ACTORS FOR ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY

2.1.2.3 Combined Heat and Power

States have an important role in supporting the installation of new combined heat and power (CHP) capacity, a significant 

enabler of increased energy productivity. Achieving the national goal of 40 gigawatts (GW) of new, cost-effective CHP by 2020 

would save energy users $10 billion per year, conserve one quad of energy, and result in $40 billion–$80 billion in new capital 

investment in manufacturing over the course of a decade.68 States can support CHP installation through several strategies, 

including folding CHP requirements into energy efficiency portfolio standards (discussed in Section 2.1.2.1), reconsidering 

standby rate regimes that better align the economics of CHP facilities and utilities, and revising interconnection standards.69

The DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) provides CHP Technical Assistance Partnerships (CHP TAPs) that 

offer market analysis for CHP opportunities, education and outreach on the energy and non-energy benefits of CHP, and 

technical assistance to help end-users through the project development process. Between fiscal year (FY) 2009 and FY 

2013, centers sponsored by the Advanced Manufacturing Office provided technical support to over 590 CHP projects. 

About 350 of those projects received “Technical Site Evaluations” (either alone or in conjunction with other support) 

while the rest were provided with other types of technical assistance, often on multiple occasions. Of those projects, 

more than 190 are currently under development or online with a total capacity of 1.54 GW.70

2.1.2.4 Smart Regional Transportation Solutions 

Improving the energy productivity of regional transportation systems involves increasing both the energy efficiency of 

transportation modes and the economic benefits of transportation services. Transportation options that are more energy 

productive, such as multi-modal transportation options, can benefit the movement of goods and people. State transportation 

planning (as well as land use planning) provides opportunities to directly influence energy productivity and increase 

collaboration of state governments and communities. States can also provide support for electric vehicles, which may reduce 

primary energy use relative to conventional gasoline vehicles and which may have economic and other benefits. Opportunities 

for regional transportation organizations to incentivize reduced vehicle energy use are discussed in Section 2.1.3. 

68 U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Manufacturing Office, Combined Heat and Power: A Clean Energy Solution, DOE/EE-0779 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. 

Department of Energy, 2012), accessed July 2015, http://www1.eere.energy.gov/manufacturing/distributedenergy/pdfs/chp_clean_energy_solution.pdf.

69 State and Local Energy Efficiency Action Network, Guide to the Successful Implementation of State Combined Heat and Power Policies (Washington, 

D.C.: U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 2013), accessed July 2015, http://www4.eere.energy.gov/seeaction/

system/files/documents/see_action_chp_policies_guide.pdf.

70 Claudia Tighe, “CHP Deployment Program: AMO Technical Assistance Overview,” (presented 2014), accessed July 2015, http://energy.gov/sites/prod/

files/2014/06/f17/CHP%20Deployment%20Program.pdf.
TRANSPORTATION 

SUCCESS STORY 

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation 

Authority - Encouraging Consumer Acceptance of 

Energy Efficiency through Electric Vehicles

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has a unique function among the 

nation’s transportation agencies. It serves as the transportation planner and coordinator, designer, builder 

and operator for one of the country’s largest, most populous counties. More than 9.6 million people – nearly 

one-third of California’s residents – live, work, and play within its 1,433-square-mile service area.

Metro recognizes the importance of energy efficiency, while ensuring that its transit and transportation 

network continues to be resilient in changing times. In 2011, Metro developed a comprehensive Energy 

Conservation and Management Plan (Energy Plan) that provides a blueprint for Metro’s overall energy 

management and use. The Energy Plan incorporates elements of the Metro Board-adopted Energy and 

Sustainability and Renewable Energy Policies. By 2020, Metro’s goal is 33 percent renewable energy 

use, and the agency is well on its way to hitting that target. Metro is now at 25 percent. The emergence 

of electric vehicles as an alternative type of personal transportation influenced how Metro plans for an 

integrated multi-modal transportation network. In 2013, Metro deployed, through a California Energy 

Commission (CEC) funded pilot program, twenty electric vehicle charging stations at five of Metro’s park 

and ride locations. This type of electric vehicle charger network is the first of its kind that is operated and 

maintained by a transit agency in the United States. 

The placement of electric vehicle chargers at Metro park and ride locations was strategic. Charge stations 

at Metro park and ride facilities provide much needed infrastructure to Plug-In Electric Vehicle (PEV) users, 

but also provide those users with connectivity to Metro’s other modes of transportation. This powerful link 

enables important consumer behavioral changes by blending two low-carbon transportation options: PEV 
and public transportation via rail and any of Metro’s natural gas fueled buses. Additionally, by placing PEV 

infrastructure at Metro transit stations, Metro provides visual reinforcement to a large number of potential 

PEV adopters that there is a charging network readily available. Further, connected through a support 

network that subscribes EV charger users, collects payments, and provides operations and maintenance 

support, Metro’s electric vehicle charger stations provide a seamless integrated mobility solution. 

Using Metro’s approach to incorporating EV chargers into its park and ride stations as a fundamental 

strategy, Southern California Edison has successfully applied for a tariff to fund extensive deployment of 

electric vehicle chargers across Southern California, ensuring that the transit and electric vehicle nexus 

continue to be a viable option in avoiding trips and traffic congestion in Southern California roads and 

highways. Through another CEC grant, Metro is currently expanding its EV charger network to an additional 

five park and ride locations. It is also leveraging local fiscal year 2016 funding to deploy EV chargers at 

four rail divisions and 11 bus divisions for workplace charging. Metro will ultimately deploy electric vehicle 

chargers throughout its system and workplace locations. 

Metro continues to explore innovative ideas to ensure energy resiliency, including powering EV chargers 

with renewable energy sources (such as solar panels connected to deployable storage systems) and using 

those chargers as a source of emergency power. Metro’s procurement to use biomethane as bus fleet fuel 

(instead of fossil natural gas) will further enhance Metro’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction efforts for 

the Los Angeles region. Metro currently produces carbon credits generated through its dispensing of fossil 

natural gas. In the future, carbon credits through the use of biomethane and electricity as propulsion power 

(through its EV chargers and its rail network) can be sold along with Metro’s current carbon credits to 

reinvest in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and energy resilience initiatives.

More information on Metro’s EV charger program can be obtained at www.metro.net/ev. Metro’s Energy and Resource 

Management Programs can be obtained at www.metro.net/ecsd. 

Reference to any non-Federal entity does not constitute an endorsement on the part of the Department of Energy or U.S. Government
40

2. STRATEGIES AND ACTORS FOR ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY

2.1.2.5 Adoption and Enforcement of Building Codes 

Building energy efficiency codes provide the foundation for increasing the energy productivity of buildings. Existing 

codes are estimated to yield cumulative benefits of 44 quadrillion Btu, which is more than twice as much energy as all 

households in the U.S. use in a year, and $230 billion in customer utility bill savings by 2040.71 Expanding state adoption 

of building energy codes,72 as well as increasing the stringency, enforcement and compliance with the codes themselves, 

will yield additional energy productivity benefits, while reducing utility bills and increasing customers’ comfort within their 

homes and buildings. Utilities can play important roles in developing and funding building code programs. For instance, 

utilities provided partial funding for Ohio’s Energy Code Ambassadors Program (ECAP). ECAP seeks to increase building 

code enforcement by directly connecting local code officials with trained, experienced code officials.73 Washington, with 

a 2013 compliance rate of 96 percent,74 partnered with utilities to fund much of its work with building codes.

2.1.3 LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Local governments are critical sources of policies and other strategies for meeting the goal of doubling energy 

productivity. In addition to setting policies that affect individual businesses and citizen groups, local governments have 

the opportunity to affect the types of systematic changes necessary to develop energy-productive communities. In 

particular, land use policy decisions at the local level can unlock energy productivity potential found at the intersection of 

transportation and the built environment. These decisions can affect how much citizens must spend on energy to support 

their daily routines, and their impacts last for decades. 

Participants in the Accelerate Energy Productivity 2030 regional dialogues confirmed that a multitude of energy productivity 

actions are available to local leaders, depending on the local characteristics of geography, population density, energy 

resources, and economy. Characteristics of energy-efficient built environments include building density and mixed-use 

development (often referred to as “smart growth”), sensitivity to microclimatic factors, and the availability of distributed 

energy resources. Actions by local governments contribute to all six energy productivity wedges:

71 Livingston, O.V., D.B. Elliott, P.C. Cole, R. Bartlett, Building Energy Codes Program: National Benefits Assessment, 1992 2040 (Richland, WA: Pacific 

Northwest National Laboratory, 2014), accessed July 2015, https://www.energycodes.gov/sites/default/files/documents/BenefitsReport_Final_March20142.pdf.

72 In home rule states, codes must be adopted by the local government.

73 U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Achieving Energy Savings and Emission Reductions from Building Energy 

Codes: A Primer for State Planning (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Energy, 2015), accessed July 2015, https://www.energycodes.gov/sites/default/files/

documents/Codes_Energy_Savings_State_Primer.pdf.

74 Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance. Washington Residential Energy Code Compliance, Report #E13-251, prepared by the Cadmus Group, Inc. 

(Portland, OR: Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, 2013), accessed July 2015, http://neea.org/docs/default-source/reports/washington-residential-energy-codecompliance.pdf?sfvrsn=11
41

2. STRATEGIES AND ACTORS FOR ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY

Smart Energy Systems

Technologies for Buildings Energy Productivity

Financing for Buildings Energy Productivity

Water Infrastructure

Smart Manufacturing

Transportation

2.1.3.1 Local Ordinances to Facilitate Distributed Generation 

Promotion of distributed generation sources (e.g., cogeneration, solar photovoltaics, and wind power) can be an effective 

lever that local communities can use to improve their energy productivity through increased energy-efficient power 

generation, transmission, and distribution. Establishing installation targets, creating PACE programs, and implementing 

property and sales tax incentives can facilitate distributed generation. In addition to creating new ordinances or other 

policies, local governments can review existing ordinances to determine which, if any, inadvertently hinder distributed 

generation (e.g., ordinances that may restrict installation of solar photovoltaic systems). 

One strategy to encourage the development of distributed generation is for local communities to support solar 

cooperatives, by which members collectively purchase solar energy systems to achieve discounted installation and 

equipment costs. Community solar initiatives that have appeared in municipalities across the United States have taken 

different forms based on the motivation of the members.75 There may also be opportunities for community-based solar on 

under-utilized land.

And, local communities can complement ordinances that support the installation of distributed electricity generation 

by encouraging construction and retrofit of ultra-efficient buildings. Local policies such as permitting and building code 

enforcement can be instrumental in integrating energy considerations early in project planning. These considerations can 

include passive solar design and siting and the integration of building designs among architects, engineers, contractors, 

and developers. 

75 The applicability of community solar projects will vary by state. For example, certain state laws may prohibit third-party purchase agreements, which 

significantly impact the viability of solar for businesses and communities. See Jason Coughlin, Jennifer Grove, Linda Irvine, Janet F. Jacobs, Sarah Johnson 

Phillips, Leslie Moynihan, and Joseph Wiedman, A Guide to Community Solar: Utility, Private, and Non-Profit Project Development, DOE/GO-102011-3189 

(Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2011), accessed July 2015, http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy11osti/49930.pdf.
PUBLIC BUILDING 

SUCCESS STORY

Washington State Drives Energy Efficiency through 

Benchmarking Public Buildings 

The Washington State Department of Commerce’s State Energy Office is a leader in providing energy policy 

support, analysis, and information for the Governor, Legislature, and other stakeholders on key energy 

efficiency issues. Despite this expertise and strong legislative support, participation in benchmarking public 

buildings remained extremely low. The majority of public facilities were not benchmarked, and those that 

were eventually stopped reporting because monthly manual entries were time consuming, there was no 

compliance enforcement, and there was no apparent value to tracking this consumption data. In early 2014, 

less than 7 percent of the required benchmarking sites within the state’s forty nine executive and small 

cabinet agencies were populating current data within Portfolio Manager, a free web-based tool created by 

the State to track and report building energy use. 

A second barrier to achieving 100 percent benchmarking compliance was the lack of an internal method 

to determine how many sites that were required to report benchmarking data actually existed. Because of 

the way the initial 2009 energy efficiency law was written, large groups of buildings residing on a master 

-metered campus could be benchmarked as a single site. While that was a logical way to capture data for 

campuses without having to expend money on sub-meters, it was impossible to track because the State 

Facility Inventory System did not provide campus groupings. 

In 2014, the State Energy office was directed by Executive Order 14-04—the Washington Carbon Pollution 

Reduction and Clean Energy Action—to increase public building efficiency. This order brought together a 

broad group of agencies that agreed achieving 100 percent benchmarking compliance was a necessary step 

towards increasing public building efficiency. With support from a U.S. Department of Energy State Energy 

Program Competitive Awards grant, the State created the Interagency Energy Workgroup and provided 

dedicated staffing support to address the lack of a centralized system for benchmarking and compliance. 

This support included the state Department of Enterprise Services and Office of Financial Management, and 
Washington State University (WSU). The Interagency Energy Workgroup created and promoted a process 

for increasing energy efficiency in public buildings. However, the lack of current benchmarking data was 

a key challenge to implementing the overall process, so compiling benchmarking data became a primary 

objective. 

Initial efforts focused on completing benchmarking via a centralized process through partnership with utilities; 

as a result, benchmarking compliance increased from 7 to 37 percent. After determining that this centralized 

process was too cumbersome, the State Energy Office led an effort supported by WSU and the Smart Buildings 

Center to identify exactly how many required “target sites” existed within the state Executive agencies. 

This effort involved high-level mapping and assumptions using the Facilities Inventory System database to 

categorize similar WSU campuses and compare those sites to data found within the Portfolio Manager. 

Several months later, the first “Benchmarking Yardstick” was presented as a rough assessment of compliance, 

and indicated that approximately 25 percent of required Executive agency sites were benchmarked. This 

first yardstick was presented to the Governor’s Office by the directors of the Department of Commerce and 

Department of Enterprise Services, creating high-level awareness and further amplifying progress. 

With support from the Governor’s Office, the Interagency Energy Workgroup expanded its efforts and 

subsequently hosted a well-attended webinar, created a set of instructions specific to benchmarking, and 

distributed an Agency Facility Status report. The report identified the buildings or campuses that were required 

to benchmark, and provided a survey whereby each agency could confirm or correct their campus groupings, 

building conditioning status, and utility payment. With the survey results in hand, for the first time the State 

was able to identify that there were 219 Target Sites operated by Executive agencies that were required to be 

benchmarked. These 219 target sites included energy consumption for over 2,000 individual buildings.

Washington State knew there was inherent value in the ability to evaluate building stocks’ energy intensity 

and track changes in energy consumption over time, but until these recent efforts was unable to obtain the 

participation needed to make the energy efficiency program as effective as possible. the work undertaken by the 

Interagency Energy Workgroup allowed Washington State Executive Agencies to increase their benchmarking 

compliance from less than 7 percent in 2009 to over 80 percent by 2014. Further efforts are underway to perform 

data quality assessment and data analytics using this new benchmarking data, which can point the State towards 

the best opportunities for energy efficiency gains—a capability not previously possible. 

Reference to a non-federal entity does not constitute an endorsement on the part of DOE or the U.S. government.
44

2. STRATEGIES AND ACTORS FOR ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY

2.1.3.2 Building Energy Disclosure Ordinances 

Communities typically lack actionable information on how residents use energy to interact with one another and 

with their built environment. Advancing transparency of building energy use is an important established strategy for 

accelerating energy efficiency in cities.76 Ordinances regarding disclosure of building energy use are one way to provide 

transparency about where, when, and how communities use energy. Atlanta, Austin, New York, Minneapolis, and 

Philadelphia (see Figure 6) have enacted disclosure ordinances regarding energy use in buildings. All told across the 

United States, disclosure ordinances covered more than 45,000 properties and 4.3 billion square feet in 2013.77

Figure 6. Philadelphia’s Building Energy Data Mapping Platform

76 “Frequently Asked Questions,” The City Energy Project, accessed July 2015, http://www.cityenergyproject.org/faq/.

77 Andrew Burr, “Building Energy Benchmarking and Disclosure: U.S. Policy Overview” (presented at the U.S. Department of Energy Better Buildings 

Summit, May 30, 2013), accessed July 2015, http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wip/solutioncenter/pdfs/bbs2013_burr_overview.pdf. 
45

2. STRATEGIES AND ACTORS FOR ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY

Disclosure of energy data alone has been associated with a 3 percent reduction in utility expenditures.78 Energy 

disclosure ordinances help local governments benchmark building energy performance and efficiently target energy 

productivity improvements. New York City’s benchmarking analysis found that buildings serving similar purposes varied in 

their energy by a factor of three to seven.79

Buildings that are more energy productive have higher occupancy levels, and they command higher rental and sales 

premiums than their less productive counterparts do.80 By facilitating transparent energy use data and benchmarking, 

building energy disclosure ordinances can help make communities more economically competitive. 

2.1.3.3 Creating Advanced Manufacturing Ecosystems

Local initiatives can help build the foundation for enabling growth of innovative businesses, such as advanced 

manufacturing. For local policymakers to more effectively foster the growth of new businesses, such as advanced 

manufacturing, a new type of organizational structure has emerged: the “startup delivery unit.” Using a startup delivery 

unit, which is comprised of a rotating assignment of eight to twelve public- and private-sector employees, local 

policymakers can think strategically about the talent, infrastructure, capital, and networks required to foster the growth 

of advanced manufacturing businesses.81 Successful local policies can focus on establishing enabling structures to meet 

the needs of entrepreneurs—rather than defining specific resources—and bringing together and managing diverse sets 

of stakeholders, which include businesses, universities, and multiple levels of government.

Local governments could also look to partnering with other local and state counterparts to expand available resources 

in order to attract new businesses that provide energy productivity-enabling products or services. This strategy is 

modeled on efforts to promote entrepreneurship and start-up activity as embodied by Silicon Valley in California. One 

important feature of successful local partnerships is fostering interaction between entrepreneurs and local colleges and 

universities. For example, the City of New York challenged top applied science and engineering institutions to propose 

a new campus situated on city-owned land; the result is Cornell Tech, a partnership between Cornell University and the 

Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.82 Other local initiatives for supporting energy innovation clusters include public 

funding instruments for early-stage businesses and creating a campus for entrepreneurs.

78 Karen Palmer and Margaret Walls, Does Information Provision Shrink the Energy Efficiency Gap? A Cross-City Comparison of Commercial Building 

Benchmarking and Disclosure Laws (Washington, D.C.: Resources for the Future, 2015), accessed July 2015, http://www.rff.org/RFF/Documents/RFF-DP-15-12.pdf.

79 PLANYC, New York City Local Law 84 Benchmarking Report (New York: Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning & Sustainability, 2012), accessed July 

2015, http://www.nyc.gov/html/gbee/downloads/pdf/nyc_ll84_benchmarking_report_2012.pdf.

80 Institute for Market Transformation, Energy Benchmarking and Transparency Benefits (Washington, D.C.: Institute for Market Transformation, 2015), 

accessed July 2015, http://www.imt.org/uploads/resources/files/IMTBenefitsofBenchmarking_Online_June2015.pdf. 

81 Julian Kirchherr, Gundbert Scherf, and Katrin Suder. (New York: McKinsey & Company, 2014), accessed July 2015, Julian Kirchherr, Gundbert Scherf, 

and Katrin Suder. Creating growth clusters: What role for local government? (New York: McKinsey & Company, 2014), accessed July 2015, http://www.

compete.org/storage/images/uploads/File/PDF%20Files/Creating-growth-clusters-what-role-for-local-government%20(2).pdf. 

82 For more information, see tech.cornell.edu.
46

2. STRATEGIES AND ACTORS FOR ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY

2.1.3.4 The Local Built Environment-Transportation Nexus

Opportunities to increase energy productivity also exist through improved design of our built environment, which is 

estimated to affect 65 - 70 percent of energy use.83 By better matching the ways energy is used for transportation and 

within buildings to the design of our communities, more productive uses of energy can be uncovered. The relationship 

between energy use and the built environment is complex and while physical features of a place certainly play a role, energy 

use may ultimately be determined by human behavior. For this reason, strategies to improve the built environment and 

transportation policies often require consensus or partnerships between those responsible for publicly owned infrastructure 

and those responsible for privately owned residential and commercial buildings.84 Envision Charlotte is an example of an 

initiative that connects local government, utilities, private businesses, and higher education institutions in an effort to drive 

dramatic reductions in local energy use (20 percent over five years in Uptown Charlotte office buildings) while growing 

a vibrant economy. Reductions in building energy use are sought through participation in Duke Energy’s Smart Energy 

in Offices program, which provides support for benchmarking of energy use and the identification and implementation 

of energy efficiency improvements.85 Over 98 percent of the eligible building area is participating in Envision Charlotte

programs, and as of 2012, 55 building tenants have committed to meeting the 20 percent reduction goal.86

Many other local actions increase the energy productivity associated with existing buildings. The City of Atlanta’s 

Sustainable Home Initiative in the New Economy (SHINE) partners with Georgia Power and the ENERGY STAR® program 

to offer home energy assessments and rebates for cost-effective energy efficiency retrofits.87 The SHINE program, along 

with similar initiatives in the Southeast, was found to be associated with increases of 349 new jobs and nearly $78 

million in economic output.88

Other opportunities to advance energy productivity include (1) increasing the availability and accessibility of nonmotorized transportation, mass transit options, and carpooling and (2) fostering vibrant communities by encouraging 

density and mixed-use development to reduce the distances between activities. The Transportation Research Board 

83 J.O. Lamm, Energy in physical planning: a method for developing the municipality master plan with regard to energy criteria, Document D14:1986 

(Stockholm: Swedish Council for Building Research, 1986).

84 William P. Anderson, Pavlos S. Kanaroglou, and Eric J. Miller, “Urban Form, Energy and the Environment: A Review of Issues, Evidence and Policy,” 

Urban Studies 33:1 (1996): 7–35, accessed July 2015, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00420989650012095.

85 “Smart Energy in Offices,” Duke Energy, accessed July 2015, http://www.smartenergyinoffices.com/.

86 Envision Charlotte, Envision Charlotte Annual Report 2012 (Charlotte, NC: Envision Charlotte, 2012), accessed July 2015, http://www.envisioncharlotte.

com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/Annual-Report-2012.pdf.

87 Brad Turner, “City of Atlanta Introduces Shine Program,” Atlanta Building News, April 2010, accessed July 2015, http://www.naylornetwork.com/gah-nwl/

articles/abn.asp?aid=64603&projid=4172.

88 Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance, The Economic Impact of EE Investments in the Southeast (Atlanta: Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance, 2013), 

accessed July 2015, http://www.seealliance.org/wp-content/uploads/SEEA-EPS-EE-Report.pdf.
47

2. STRATEGIES AND ACTORS FOR ENERGY PRODUCTIVITY

concluded that (1) developing at higher residential and employment densities would reduce vehicle miles traveled 

and (2) direct and indirect reductions in transportation energy use are possible through more compact, mixed-use 

development. Specifically, a doubling of metropolitan residential density combined with demand management measures 

could reduce household vehicle miles traveled by as much as 25 percent.89 The Transportation Research Board also 

identified the ability of regional transportation organizations to incentivize more-compact developments and coupling 

development with transit.

89 Transportation Research Board, Driving and the Built Environment: The Effects of Compact Development on Motorized Travel, Energy Use, and CO2 

Emissions (Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2009), accessed July 2015, http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12747/driving-and-the-built-environment-theeffects-of-compact-development.
CITY SUCCESS STORY

Atlanta Leverages Public-Private Partnerships

In November 2011 the City of Atlanta, Georgia, used a public-private partnership to launch the Atlanta 

Better Buildings Challenge (ABBC), an initiative to engage downtown businesses in reducing energy and 

water consumption in more than 40 million square feet of buildings by at least 20 percent by 2020, and 

a goal of becoming one of the country’s 10 most sustainable cities. The Mayor’s Office of Sustainability 

championed the initiative, which is aligned with Atlanta’s sustainability plan, Power to Change, released 

in the fall of 2010. Power to Change lays out a plan for continuous improvement in sustainability practices 

through policies and activities that balance economic growth with environmental protection while being 

mindful of social justice.

Atlanta used a multi-pronged outreach approach to develop, establish, and market the ABBC. Atlanta 

convened meetings to develop the initiative, established a dedicated ABBC website, created marketing 

materials for interested participants, and designed public relations materials to inform the press and public 

about the initiative. 

The City’s primary partners in developing and implementing the ABBC were Central Atlanta Progress, a 

non-profit corporation of Atlanta business leaders; property owners; institutions committed to enhancing 

the environmental sustainability and economic vitality of Downtown Atlanta; and the Atlanta Downtown 

Improvement District, a public-private partnership funded through a community improvement district in 

which commercial property owners pay special assessments to support capital projects and programs.

Building owners and managers joined the ABBC by pledging to save energy and water in their selected 

buildings. Through the ABBC network of partners, participants were provided with tools and incentives 

such as guidance on making the case for energy upgrades, free building assessments, energy efficiency 

implementation technical assistance, education and training courses, access to project financing 

opportunities, and public recognition. The City is currently pursuing a performance contract to finance 

public building retrofit projects, and community participants will have access to financing options.
The City of Atlanta partnered with Georgia Power to streamline the sharing of energy data for energy 

consumed by participants in the Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge program. The city worked with its 

Department of Watershed Management to gain automatic access to data about facility-level water 

consumption. Atlanta also helped participants benchmark energy use in their buildings and provided software 

that automatically feeds energy use data into ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager, a no-cost web-based tool for 

tracking and reporting building energy use. Once collected, the aggregated participant energy and water data 

are displayed on a public-facing dashboard showing real-time progress against program milestones.

Since launching the challenge in 2011, Atlanta has been on track to meet its energy and water savings 

goals, and it continues to expand its goals by engaging additional private-sector partners to commit their 

buildings to energy improvements. In 2014, Atlanta buildings participating in the pilot saved 163 million 

gallons relative to their baseline consumption, enough water to fill 570 Olympic-sized swimming pools. 

One of the key benefits of this pilot program is being able to show participants the impact of their behavior 

based and infrastructure-based efforts. 

The floor area of city buildings participating in the challenge increased from 40 million to 100 million square 

feet in four years. These facilities are reporting their energy data annually. And, they have collectively 

reduced their energy use intensity by 11 percent from a 2009 baseline and have improved their water 

performance by 20 percent from a 2010 baseline. Nearly a quarter of the 350 participating buildings have 

already achieved 20 percent savings. Annually, the city is using an average of 2.5 percent less energy and 

consuming 4 percent less water. Atlanta publicly recognized the program participants for their progress in 

achieving milestones and reaching goals through various marketing and public relations initiatives, including 

an annual recognition event supported by the city’s mayor.

For more information, see www.atlantabbc.com.

Reference to a non-federal entity does not constitute an endorsement on the part of DOE or the U.S. government.