Pushing the Efficiency Envelope: R&D for High-Performance Buildings, Industries and Consumers

Opening Statement By Chairman Brian Baird

I want to welcome members of the Subcommittee and our distinguished panelists to today’s hearing on advancing the state of science and technology for energy efficiency in the buildings and industrial sectors.

Energy efficiency and conservation will have the greatest near-term impact of any approach to our energy security and global over heating problems. Today's buildings consume 40 percent of our country’s energy – more than any other sector of the U.S. economy. And together, the building and industrial sectors are responsible for almost three quarters of U.S. energy consumption.

As many of you know this committee oversees a broad range of activities designed to push the energy technology envelope, including R&D programs of the Department of Energy, and programs to support the development of codes and standards that are vital to ensuring the performance and interoperability of energy technologies.

The DOE Building Technologies Program and, within this, the activities of the High Performance Buildings and Net-Zero Energy Commercial Buildings initiatives, support advanced technology development for buildings, and their associated equipment, materials, and systems.

The Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) works to reduce energy intensity and carbon emissions of industry through cost-shared R&D, energy auditing, and dissemination of best practices.

While these programs have proven successful over the years, we still have a very long way to go in maximizing the nation’s efficiency. Pushing the efficiency envelope will require us to combine the expertise of multiple disciplines, or look in entirely new directions for scientific and technological insight.

For instance, coupling buildings sciences, architecture, and information technologies together can lead to entirely new “self-tuning” buildings with subsystems that continuously communicate with each other and respond to a range of environmental factors.

We should also enlist the expertise found in the social sciences to provide greater understanding of how people and organizations make energy-related decisions. Insight into how consumers receive and react to information will be critical for progress in areas such as the development of a whole-building approach to design and operation of building systems.

This Committee has a long and distinguished history in this area. As the Congress moves forward with climate and energy legislation we will continue our efforts to assess the federal government’s role in building and industrial R&D and standards development, and lay the groundwork for new activities if needed.

With that, I look forward to working with you all in exploring ways in which federal programs can be improved to support cleaner, more efficient, and sustainable buildings and industries in the U.S.

I now yield to my distinguished colleague from South Carolina, our Ranking Member, Mr. Inglis for his opening statement.
 

Witnesses

Panel

0 - Mr. Steven Chalk
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy U.S. Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy U.S. Department of
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0 - Mr. William J. Coad
President Coad Engineering Enterprises and Chairman High-Performance Building Council Coad Engineering Enterprises and Chairman High-Performance Building Counci
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0 - Mr. Paul Cicio
President Industrial Energy Consumers of America Industrial Energy Consumers of America
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0 - Dr. Karen Ehrhardt-Martinez
Research Staff Economic and Social Analysis Program American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) Economic and Social Analysis Program American Counc
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0 - Dr. J. Michael McQuade
Senior Vice President Science and Technology United Technologies Corporation Science and Technology United Technologies Corporation
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