The United States needs to make major changes as we fight the threat of climate change. New Jersey is vulnerable to extreme weather like Hurricane Sandy, which threaten to take out our infrastructure and housing. The Shore is especially vulnerable to increased flooding from rising sea levels. New Jerseyans across the state will suffer as rising temperatures bring heat waves that will push summer highs above 100 degrees.
We need to use a combination of strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and minimize the impacts of climate change. One powerful tool in our arsenal is energy efficiency. By reducing energy usage in buildings and homes, we can achieve major emissions reductions quickly and within existing facilities. Energy efficiency in buildings provides a triple benefit: the environment, public health, and job prospects all see improvements through energy efficiency programs.
Strategies to implement energy efficiency in buildings take on many forms. They include programs such as installing efficient lighting, HVAC, and other appliances; insulating homes and repairing leaky windows; and using smart controls to turn off lights and heating when no one’s home. New Jersey is already seeing the benefits of these programs: on average, residents saved an average of $536 per household on their utility bills through energy efficiency in 2015. The financial savings of energy efficiency vastly outweigh the costs: NJ customers save about $11 for every $1 spent on commercial and industrial energy efficiency programs.[1] Every 1 million dollars invested in energy efficiency creates about 8 jobs, compared to the smaller ratio of 2.5 jobs created for every 1 million dollars spent on fossil fuel industries.[2]
Energy efficiency in buildings also brings better health and environmental outcomes. Reducing fossil fuels usage reduces the amount of pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxides (SOx), and fine particulate matter in the atmosphere.[3] People with respiratory illnesses, lung cancer, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), and asthma see improvements in their air quality when homes and buildings are properly insulated. By reducing greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency reduces climate change impacts like heat waves, which can cause heart and respiratory problems, or flooding, which leads to water contamination and disease spread.
By 2030, air quality improvements from efficiency standards for cars are expected to save 100 to 300 lives each year and avoid 14,000 lost work days.[4] Disproportionately vulnerable populations like children, environmental justice communities, and the elderly, gain immensely from energy efficiency programs.
New Jersey has historically emphasized the importance of energy efficiency and clean energy programs. The state has overseen energy efficiency initiatives such as high performance green building standards; free benchmarking for hospitals, municipalities, public schools, universities, multifamily units, retail, and other sectors; the NJ SmartStart Buildings Program; and support for energy efficiency projects through NJ’s Clean Energy Program.[5]
But New Jersey can do more! The state should improve energy efficiency savings by requiring a 30 percent reduction (below 2015 levels) for electric and natural gas usage in NJ by 2030. New Jersey can also expand energy efficiency technologies at industrial facilities by supporting policies and measures that expand the use of industrial energy efficiency technologies, such as combined heat and power, and waste heat recovery, technologies that will serve to reduce GHG emissions, maximize efficiency, and help industrial facilities be more competitive nationally and globally.
[1] New Jersey Energy Master Plan, October 2008.
[2] Garrett-Peltier, Heidi. (2017). Green versus brown: comparing the employment impacts of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and fossil fuels using an input-output model. Economic Modelling. 61: 439–447.
[3] American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, Physicians for Social Responsibility. “Energy Efficiency and Health.”
[4] American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. “Saving Energy Improves Americans’ Health and the Environment.”
[5] American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. “State and Local Policy Database: New Jersey.” September 2016.
This blog post and the factsheet were authored by WEC intern, Vivian Chang.
