Washington DC, United States: At the annual Energy Efficiency Global Forum (EE Global), held on May 11-12 in Washington DC, Danfoss said that it joined with Alliance to Save Energy and nearly 500 industry leaders from around the world to advance the productivity and profitability of energy efficiency.

During the plenary panel ‘Doubling Energy Productivity through Government Leadership’, the press release stated that John Galyen, President, Danfoss North America, joined Dr Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency; Kateri Callahan, President, Alliance to Save Energy; Mark Kenber, CEO, The Climate Group and Rachel Kyte, CEO, Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All), in a discussion on international efforts to advance energy efficiency and double energy productivity.

Connected systems were also the topic of focus during one of EE Global’s 16 Executive Dialogue sessions, the press release revealed. Mark Menzer, Director of Public Affairs, Danfoss North America, moderated the panel, which included panellists – Ralph DiNola, CEO, New Buildings Institute; Ken Smith, President and CEO, District Energy, St Paul; Rob Thornton, President and CEO, International District Energy Association (IDEA); Jim Freihaut, Professor of Architectural Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University and Fleming Voetmann, Head of Public Affairs and Sustainability, Danfoss.

The panellists, the press release said, noted that there are tremendous savings to be realised through the integrated design of efficient systems. Furthermore, the press release said that Menzer quoted a report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which he summarised saying, “A transition to District Energy systems […] could contribute as much as 58% of the CO₂ emissions needed by the energy sector to meet the COP 21 pledges.”

Galyen said that as buildings represent nearly 40% of energy consumption and account for about one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, it requires a holistic approach to achieve climate and energy goals. “In the short term,” Galyen said, “we need to implement progressive policies that encourage the use of available, proven energy-efficiency technologies, low-energy building design, and building renovations that can achieve 25-50% reductions in energy demand from new and existing buildings. This includes technologies like variable speed, energy recovery, combined heat and power, and renewables.”

“In the long-term,” he added, “the greatest potential for improving energy productivity will come from smart and sustainable cities with connected infrastructure, where water, wastewater, heating, cooling, and electricity are integrated into one system.”

Galyen also noted that the US government, as the country’s largest building owner, can lead by example with its own building stock, and can make it mandatory for tenants and building owners to disclose a building’s energy use and cost — helping to increase awareness, put consumers in command of their energy consumption and encourage energy-efficiency renovation.

To showcase its commitment to doubling energy productivity, Danfoss announced during EE Global that it would join EP100 – an initiative of The Climate Group initiative, which convenes leading companies that voluntarily commit to double energy productivity in their facilities.