It's a familiar scene: Californians at work on their computers, charging their electronic devices, all the while sitting in their air conditioned cubicles.

Booming population growth, coupled with increasingly powerful and prevalent electronics, has made California's commercial sector the fastest growing electrical consumer, using 35 percent of the state's electricity, and 38 percent during peak demand times. More than 67,000 GWh of electricity are generated every year to keep California's offices cool and electronics humming - the equivalent of powering almost 10 million homes or over 5 million cars.

California's workers take their comfortably cooled offices and work gadgets for granted - PCs, laptops, cell phones, portable entertainment centers. Yet if energy efficiency measures are not employed in the near future, electricity demand is poised to grow over 50 percent by 2010, placing an unprecedented burden on energy resources.

Accelerating Energy Efficient Solutions
Several studies underscore the need for urgent solutions. For example, the Electronics Opportunity Study commissioned by Emerging Technologies showed that, without intervention, energy use by electronics will overtake that of lighting in the next decade. And according to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), residential and commercial air conditioning represent at least 30 percent of summer's peak electricity loads, making cooling the single largest component of peak demand energy use in the state.

Already, numerous businesses have partnered with Emerging Technologies to host or participate in energy efficiency pilot studies. These companies are helping to usher in the next generation of energy efficiency technologies while at the same time upping their competitive advantage by reducing their energy expenses.

Green Products for Green Offices
Large offices and retail centers comprise the lion's share of electrical consumption within California's commercial sector, with computer networks the fastest-growing consumers of plug load energy. Already, Emerging Technologies' introduction of the 80 Plus program has constricted electricity consumption in computer networks. This incentive program - a join effort between utilities, the computer industry, and consumers - integrates 20 to 30 percent increased energy efficient power supplies into desktop computers and servers.

Another technology poised to reduce computer energy is PC Network Power Management Software. Installed on a server, this product safely puts thousands of networked computers and monitors into low and no-power states when not in use, saving $25 to $75 per PC per year. Similarly, Green Plugs, another product category under review, takes the waste out of DC adapters by providing the correct power supply requirement to any electronic device and then stopping when the item is fully charged.

Taking the Heat Out of HVAC
To date, the lack of energy efficiency in commercial buildings stems from the low priority placed on energy use by owners and operators, whose primary concern is occupant comfort. Today, technological advancements, coupled with new federal appliance standards, are expected to significantly increase AC efficiency. Most important, these technologies do not reduce the comfort that occupants expect.

Wireless HVAC systems could be to commercial buildings what motion sensors have been to lighting: energy zappers. This technology combines energy efficiency software, wireless temperature sensors, and a controller to optimize air and fan settings. And for the 25 percent of buildings that use chillers and chilled water, demand-based building controls could be the wave of the future, offering a completely new approach to managing plant and air handling equipment: settings based on performance or load, not on temperature setpoints.

Hotels: Leaving the Light on Just Got Harder
Like their commercial counterparts, hotel and motel managers have been hesitant to adopt energy efficiency technologies because they fear negatively affecting guest satisfaction. However, thanks to new technologies that cut energy use without interfering with guest comfort, the days of lighting, cooling, and heating unoccupied hotel rooms are numbered.

For instance, Emerging Technologies is currently reviewing card-key guestroom controls which look like typical hotel key cards but which control HVAC systems and lights in addition to opening and locking doors. Occupancy-based guestroom controls are also under review, combining motion sensors and system shutoff or setback to reduce energy.

Hotels and motels expend huge quantities of electricity on washing and drying bedding and other linens. Emerging Technologies is examining ozone laundry systems which are highly oxidative, work in cold water, clean more thoroughly than detergents alone, and allow laundry to be cleaned with shorter wash and dry cycles than do conventional systems.

Having Dinner Out While Reeling Energy In
From fast food to gourmet food, California's food service industry consumes more energy on a square foot basis than any other commercial operation -- $1 billion worth of energy every year in California alone. Commercial kitchen equipment such as dishwashers and ovens gulp water and energy at an alarming rate. Emerging Technologies is assessing and deploying a variety of products that benefit commercial kitchens - from low-rinse spray valves to tankless water heaters to air-cooled ice machines - that make dining out as delicious and relaxing as ever, but that take a bite out of energy use. For restaurant owners, it's like having their cake and eating it, too.

Lighting: a Bright Future for Energy Efficiency
The path to energy efficiency for lighting in the commercial sector is well lit: there are technologies being evaluated today that could revolutionize lighting as we know it.

One area that has already been studied by Emerging Technologies is building stairwells. By installing motion sensors in stairwells, alcoves, and landings, Emerging Technologies has proven that energy use can be reduced by two thirds.

Today, the four major lighting areas being studied by Emerging Technologies are high-efficiency office lighting systems, daylighting strategies, wireless lighting controls, and Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). Of these, LEDs show the most promise. LED lights can save more than 40 percent of the energy used by fluorescent bulbs and up to 60 percent of that used by incandescent bulbs. Further benefits include increased durability, longevity, and compactness. Projects currently under evaluation include the use of LEDs for parking lots and garages and inside supermarket cold cases. Also under study are the use of skylights in retail establishments with suspended ceilings and the use of ceramic metal halide (CMH) lamps.