Overview of A2EP:
A2EP is a non-partisan, non-profit coalition promoting energy productivity in Australia. It drives the adoption of transformative technologies and ensures the implementation of roadmaps and reports. A2EP is currently working with ARENA on a study of industrial heat pumps and solar thermal heating.

Energy Productivity:
Energy productivity should not be seen as a series of standalone technologies. It should be integrated into the design and development of projects from the beginning. Integrated design is essential for achieving significant energy savings.

Amory Lovins:
Amory Lovins is the Chairman and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI). RMI is a leading consulting organization on sustainability worldwide. Lovins is considered one of the most respected futurists in the scientific world. He coined terms like “negawatt” and “hypercar” and has been influential in the development of energy-efficient technologies.

Audience Participation:
Attendees can ask questions by typing them in the Q&A box. Upvoting questions will help prioritize them for answering at the end of the session.

Conclusion:
The introduction sets the stage for the presentation by Amory Lovins, emphasizing the importance of integrated design for achieving radical efficiency in energy systems.

Energy Efficiency:
Saved energy is the world’s largest energy source, with smarter technologies and practices driving two-thirds of the savings. The US has cut its total primary energy demand by more than half since 1975, saving cumulative energy equivalent to 25 years of current use. Innovations added by 2010 can save another threefold, and integrated design can often make big energy savings cost less than small or no savings.

Reserves of Energy Efficiency:
Energy efficiency reserves are several fold larger than typically recognized and captured, hiding in plain view and exploitable by integrative design. Unlike oil or copper, most new energy efficiency reserves actually cost less than the current savings due to fewer and simpler devices used more artfully.

Mental Calisthenics:
To approach energy efficiency with a fresh perspective, one should seek original mind and beginner’s mind, shedding assumptions and preconceptions. An example from Caltech’s Paul McCready illustrates this, where a student solved a nine-dot puzzle with three lines instead of four by thinking outside the box and seeing the dots as plump, allowing lines to go through them.

Key Points:
Integrative design involves optimizing a system as a whole rather than focusing on individual components. Eliminating the need for a heating system through super insulation, super windows, and ventilation heat recovery can save construction costs and eliminate energy use for heating. The Empire State Building retrofit, using integrative design, saved 38% of energy with a three-year payback. The Rocky Mountain Institute’s office building uses a sixth of the energy of a typical office building, demonstrating the potential for significant energy savings through integrative design. Integrative design can lead to significant energy savings, lower construction costs, and improved comfort. Optimizing the whole house as a system, rather than focusing on individual components, can lead to significant energy savings. Integrative design can be applied to different climates, including hot and humid climates, to achieve energy savings and improved comfort. By focusing on technical efficiency benchmarks, buildings can be designed to achieve high levels of energy performance.

Building Energy Efficiency Potential:
The best US practices can reduce total and electrical needs by 5-10 fold, lighting power density by 5-24 fold, plug loads by even more, and glazing efficiency by an order of magnitude. Adding super insulation and a heat-rejecting roof can reduce cooling needs by three to five times. Water-cooled centrifugals can make cooling systems four to 13 times more efficient.

Industrializing Mass Retrofits:
Mass retrofits to net-zero standards are becoming more affordable, especially in multifamily housing. The Dutch Energiesprong method involves adding a pre-built “tea cozy” around a house, which can be installed in a single day. The cost of the Dutch projects includes a new kitchen and bathroom, making the energy savings more likely to pay for themselves without subsidies.

Best European New Builds and Retrofits:
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported that the best European new builds and retrofits can save up to 90% on energy without increasing the cost per unit of saved energy. The better projects are all highly cost-effective, and the large cost scatter shows the business opportunity to improve inferior projects to best practices.

Energy-Efficient Design as a System:
Energy-efficient design is not just about choosing and installing energy-efficient equipment. Efficient systems, like good cooking, result from whole-system design. Even the finest ingredients will not make a great meal unless you use a good recipe and a skilled chef to combine the right ingredients in the right proportions.

Introduction:
Amory Lovins, an expert in design and energy efficiency, discusses the importance of sequence, timing, and a whole-system approach in achieving optimal results in design, particularly in the context of energy savings and improved comfort.

Sequence in Design:
Proper sequencing is crucial in design, similar to cooking, to ensure that steps are taken in the correct order for maximum efficiency and effectiveness. In lighting retrofit projects, for instance, it’s more beneficial to start with improving visual quality, geometry, and reflectance before optimizing illuminance and luminaires. This sequence can result in significant energy savings and improved visual performance.

Thermal Comfort in Buildings:
The Rocky Mountain Institute’s Innovation Center in Basalt, Colorado, serves as an example of achieving thermal comfort without heating or cooling systems, specifically focusing on cooling. The center utilizes various strategies to maintain comfortable indoor temperatures, including task comfort, efficient use of ceiling fans, super windows, and effective insulation.

Cooling Efficiency:
Lian Grok in Singapore demonstrates how to triple the efficiency of a water-cooled centrifugal chiller system with lower capex and better comfort. By rethinking the cooling coils and optimizing airflow, significant energy savings can be achieved while preserving precious water droplets for dehumidification.

Whole-System Optimization:
Optimizing buildings as whole systems, rather than as a collection of components, is essential for achieving cost-effectiveness and efficiency. Focusing on the end-use effect and minimizing capex by saving from downstream to upstream can lead to substantial savings and improved performance.

Timing and Coordination:
Proper timing is crucial for retrofit projects to maximize savings. Coordinating deep retrofits with routine renovations or upgrades can significantly reduce costs and payback periods. The website retrofitdepot.org provides tools for analyzing commercial real estate portfolios to identify opportunities for such right-timing retrofits.

Application to Automobiles:
Similar design logic applies to automobiles, where optimizing the sequence and timing of design steps can lead to improved efficiency and performance.

Understanding Energy Loss in Standard Cars:
Only 20% of a car’s fuel energy reaches the wheels, with the majority lost due to air resistance, tire and road heating, and acceleration and braking. Only 0.3% of fuel energy ultimately moves the driver, highlighting the need for improved energy efficiency.

Focusing on Tractive Load Reduction:
Reducing tractive load, which depends on mass, is more effective than reducing powertrain losses in improving fuel efficiency. Saving one unit of energy at the wheels saves five or six units lost in the powertrain, leading to greater overall efficiency gains.

Lightweighting through Advanced Materials:
Using ultra-strong carbon fiber composites can reduce vehicle weight by 70% without compromising crash safety. This lightweighting approach saves weight and capital costs, making lightweight vehicles more feasible.

Case Study: Hypercar Design:
The hypercar concept, designed with two tier one auto engineering firms, utilized carbon fiber composites and an airframe-inspired body to achieve significant weight reduction. This innovative design had just 14 parts, each made with a single low-pressure die set, reducing tooling costs by 95% to 99%.

Design Innovation:
Amory Lovins introduces a groundbreaking automotive design concept that eliminates the need for robotic body shops and paint shops, reducing manufacturing capital by 80%. The design employs snap-together parts that self-fixture and de-tolerance, simplifying the assembly process. Laying color in the mold eliminates the need for painting, further streamlining production.

Ultralight Materials and Powertrain:
Carbon fiber is used to create ultralight vehicles, reducing weight by two-thirds, resulting in significant fuel savings. The smaller powertrain made possible by the weight reduction offsets the cost of carbon fiber, making ultralight vehicles economically viable. BMW’s i3 carbon fiber electric car serves as an example of successful implementation, proving the viability of carbon fiber in automotive manufacturing.

Manufacturing Advancements:
A new manufacturing process developed by an RMI spinoff enables rapid production of complex carbon fiber parts, potentially reducing production time by several folds. The process eliminates the need for conventional body and paint shops, improving working conditions and reducing manufacturing costs.

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Integration:
The reduced weight of ultralight vehicles allows for smaller hydrogen tanks and fuel cells, making hydrogen-powered vehicles more practical and cost-effective. The smaller fuel cell and tanks require less production volume to achieve competitive costs, potentially accelerating the transition to hydrogen-powered transportation.

Design Spiral for Weight Reduction:
Iterative design cycles focused on weight reduction lead to cascading benefits, including smaller and lighter powertrains and chassis components, improved packaging space, and enhanced safety. The elimination of multiple components, such as transmission, clutch, and axles, further reduces weight and complexity.

Whole-Vehicle Design Approach:
A collaborative design approach involving a small team responsible for the entire vehicle, rather than individual components, promotes a highly integrated design. This approach avoids sub-optimization and enables the realization of ambitious whole-vehicle requirements.

Policy Implications:
Current efficiency standards are conservative due to a focus on component-based analysis, which overlooks the potential of whole-vehicle design integration. Highly integrative whole-vehicle design can achieve fuel savings three times higher than current policy estimates, at lower costs. Electrification can be far cheaper and faster than current heavy hydride platforms suggest.

Industrial Efficiency:
Amory Lovins’ team has demonstrated significant energy savings in industrial settings through integrative design, often with payback periods of a few years. Rethinking industrial processes and redesigning equipment can lead to energy savings of 30% to 60% in retrofits and 40% to 90% in new builds, at lower capital costs.

Design Changes for Reduced Friction:
Use larger pipes and smaller pumps for reduced friction. Layout pipes first, then equipment, to minimize elbows and bends.

System Optimization:
Optimizing the entire system, not just components, leads to lower capital costs and energy consumption.

Simple Design Changes:
Straight pipes and fewer bends can significantly reduce friction and energy consumption. Proper layout of critical pumps and valves can save energy and maintenance costs.

Compounding Savings:
Energy savings in pumps and fans can lead to significant reductions in fuel consumption and emissions.

Motor System Improvements:
Beyond energy-efficient motors and adjustable speed drives, other improvements can save additional energy. A comprehensive analysis showed potential energy savings of nearly half the total drive power energy in the U.S.

Updating the Analysis:
Given technological advancements, an updated analysis is needed to determine current energy-saving potential.

Comparison to the Human Heart:
The human heart pumps blood about 10 times more efficiently than current pumping systems.

Nature’s Efficient Fluid Flow:
Amory Lovins compares the inefficiency of industrial pumping systems to the human body’s efficient circulatory system, highlighting the significance of laminar vortex flow.

Inspiration from Nature:
Jay Harmon, CEO of Pax Scientific, observed the Fibonacci spiral shape in vortices and realized its potential for energy-efficient fluid movement.

Vortex-Shaped Rotor Design:
Harmon’s design of a rotor with a vortex-like shape mimics the natural water vortex, resulting in significantly improved efficiency.

Applications and Benefits:
The vortex-shaped rotor design can enhance the efficiency of pumps and fans by 20-30%, offering potential energy savings. One successful application is in large municipal water tanks, where a small vortex rotor with a 25-50 watt motor outperforms traditional designs.

Biomimetic Rotor Performance:
The biomimetic vortex rotor’s performance is independent of scale and Reynolds number, enabling a wide range of applications.

Biomimicry for Energy Efficiency:
Biomimicry can inspire innovative energy-efficient designs. Websites like biomimicry.net.org and asknature.org provide resources for learning from nature’s solutions.

Data Centers and Energy Waste:
Two-thirds of fuel fed into power plants is lost in the plant and grid. Half of metered electricity in data centers is lost in cooling and power supply systems. Severe underutilization of computing resources leads to inefficient energy usage.

Software Optimization for Energy Efficiency:
Writing elegant, terse code can save an order of magnitude or more in compute cycles. Efficient code extends battery life in mobile devices.

Improving Server Efficiency:
Server efficiency can be quadrupled or more through improved design. Reduced cooling and power supply requirements further enhance efficiency. Fuel cell tri-generation can save half the utility losses.

Integrative Design for Energy Supply:
Integrative design can transform energy supply technologies. Rocky Mountain Institute’s SHINE program reduced photovoltaic balance of system costs by half.

Modular Solar Design:
Shine Renewable Energy developed a modular solar system with 98% fewer parts and optimized for shipping, installation, and wind loads. It connects directly to the community’s distribution system, eliminating the need for transmission lines. Can provide unsubsidized power at a cost of roughly 2.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, below SunShot’s 2030 target of 3 cents.

H-Simple Methods:
Encourage the application of H-simple methods and priorities to achieve significant energy efficiency improvements. Focus on holistic system design, eliminating waste, and optimizing performance across the entire value chain. Consider the fun and creativity that drew many engineers and architects to their fields in the first place.

Pumps and Equipment:
Pumps should be small and efficient, while pipes should be large to reduce friction losses. Many industries could benefit from adopting this approach. Request for examples, photographs, and measured data of successful implementations.

Doubling Energy Productivity:
Doubling energy productivity is a conservative goal, as some technologies offer five or six-fold improvements in efficiency. HVAC efficiency can be reduced to less than 50 kilowatt-hours per square meter, significantly below current standards.

The Cost Barrier:
Insulation costs increase exponentially as its effectiveness grows. However, designing buildings without mechanical systems can lead to significant cost reductions.

Avoiding Incrementalism:
Traditional approaches focus on incremental energy efficiency improvements. Instead, designers should consider radical improvements that eliminate the need for heating and cooling systems altogether.

Case Study: Vegetable Oil Processing Industry:
The industry sets energy consumption targets in performance guarantee contracts. Continuous improvement is challenging due to the high initial efficiency standards.

Data Centers and Chip Fabs:
Designing energy-efficient data centers and chip fabs was a major challenge. Texas Instruments’ RFAB project achieved significant energy, water, and cost savings. The project’s success led to industry-wide adoption of similar practices.

Emerging Success Stories:
Chemical, mining, and building sectors are showing progress in energy efficiency. Passive building practices and net-zero buildings are gaining traction.

Conclusion:
Energy efficiency can be achieved by looking beyond incremental improvements and considering radical changes in design. The adoption of energy efficiency practices is spreading across various industries, leading to significant environmental and economic benefits.

Efficiency and Supply:
Even as energy supply becomes cheaper, efficiency remains a crucial aspect of energy management. Combining efficiency and supply can lead to significant cost savings.

Design and Implementation:
Designers and those who commission designs need to recognize the potential for net zero or net positive buildings, passive design, and similar approaches in various sectors, including vehicles and industry. Many people are unaware of the possibilities in these areas.

Real-Life Examples in Hospitals:
Examples of highly efficient hospitals exist, showing savings in the range of 1/3 to 2/3 of energy usage. The use of laminar flow ventilation, commonly used in clean rooms, is surprisingly limited in hospitals, resulting in higher infection rates.

Rationalization of Air Changes in Hospitals:
The CDC’s requirements for air changes per hour in hospitals should be reevaluated, as there may not be a clear connection between higher air changes and better infection control. Learning from other sectors, such as chemical and semiconductor industries, can lead to more efficient and effective ventilation strategies.

Teaching and Pedagogy:
Efforts are being made to spread the pedagogy of energy efficiency and optimal design, and experts are encouraged to share their materials and collaborate.

Floor Space and Net Leaseable Area:
Concerns about losing net leaseable area due to efficient design approaches, such as beer ducts and displacement ventilation, are often unfounded. Optimal design can actually improve net rentable space by three to six percentage points.

Mechanical Rooms and Space Savings:
Efficient design can significantly reduce the size of mechanical rooms and eliminate the need for large vertical duct sections, resulting in space savings.

Beginner’s Mind and Innovation:
The current crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic, can be an opportunity to reset and approach energy and climate challenges with fresh perspectives. Innovative design solutions are possible by letting go of preconceptions.

Fossil Fuel Decline:
A paper titled “Decline and Fall” suggests that the peak of fossil fuel and oil may have already occurred, as renewable energy growth is outpacing demand recovery.

Examples of Peak Fossil Fuel Milestones:
Peak coal: 2013 Peak car (internal combustion engines): 2017 Peak fossil fuel electric generation: 2018

Challenges to Energy Efficiency in Building Contracting:
Contractors often see design improvements as a challenge to their authority. Builders have little incentive to prioritize energy efficiency due to time pressure and lack of commercial incentives. The structure of the building contracting system inherently disincentivizes energy-saving opportunities.

Potential Solution:
Implement performance-based fees for design professionals, incentivizing them to deliver energy-efficient designs.

Performance-Based Design Fees:
Designers can offer continued improvement of a building’s performance after its completion. This incentivizes designers to use the best technologies and train staff to keep the building performing well. Performance-based fees can help defend against value engineers who may suggest cheaper but less effective alternatives. A2EP promotes performance-based design fees as a way to improve building performance and collaboration.

Collaboration and Integrated Project Delivery:
Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) involves a prenuptial agreement among the owner, designers, and builders to reward common success and penalize common failure. IPD ensures aligned incentives and shared information among all parties. This approach improves efficiency, reduces delays, and promotes innovation. IPD can easily incorporate performance-based fees, making it a comprehensive solution for improving building performance.

Spreading the Word and Taking Action:
A2EP will promote performance-based design fees and IPD to encourage their adoption. The organization will share resources, including a paper on performance-based fees and information on IPD. A2EP encourages attendees to explore these approaches and share their experiences with the organization. Attendees are encouraged to reach out to A2EP for further information and support.