Energy efficiency "represents the most important plank in efforts to decarbonize the global energy system and achieve the world's climate objectives," said International Energy Agency officials in the body's second annual report on the energy- efficiency market, released in October.

一种衡量能源效率（EE）的度量是能量强度，或者将能源消耗与另一个度量的比率，例如建筑物的地板空间或制造工厂的生产单位。有效利用能量可降低能量强度，从而降低单位能量成本。从本质上讲，这是EE计划的目标。

A Dept. of Energy program, the multi-tiered Better Buildings Initiative, is enlisting EE to help meet the nation's energy needs. In 2013, commercial and industrial buildings used roughly 50% of the energy in the U.S. economy, according to DOE officials. The Better Buildings Initiative supports action by energy users to make their buildings and operations much more efficient using a variety of cost-effective improvements, they say.

200多个组织是该计划的合作伙伴，代表了各种建筑部门，包括工厂以及商业，多户家庭和公共建筑。9月30日，将数据中心添加到组合中，其中19家公司加入了该计划。这些组织致力于提高全国超过30亿平方英尺的建筑库存的效率。

DOE官员说，由于他们在EE项目上的投资，计划合作伙伴已经节省了36万亿个BT新利18备用网址U或3亿美元，因为DOE官员的目标是Better Buildings Challenge的开始，该计划是针对CEO和高管的计划。金融盟友通过采用一系列创新的金融产品，包括股票再投资，分配生成合同和免税租赁，成功为EE项目提供了超过17亿美元的资金。新利18备用网址

Innovative Financing

纽约州北部的一家小型塑料制造商使用EE来增强其底线并提高竞争力。Harbec Inc.是工厂计划最高的公司之一。自1990年代后期以来，私有的定制注射模制和精密零件制造商一直不懈地磨练了其孤独的50,000平方英尺工厂的能源效率和能源生产力，该工厂的最大负载为500 kW。该工厂已获得照明升级，并采用了可再生能源和创新融资。

2001年，HARBEC完成了750 kW的热电厂（CHP），其废热用于HVAC系统。2003年，它安装了250千瓦的风力涡轮机。2007年，它升级了植物照明。2013年，它安装了850千瓦的风力涡轮机。今年，它正在完成CHP的升级，并用LED替换了较早的照明升级。

Industrial companies typically do not finance equipment purchases if the return on investment exceeds three years, and the ROI for most of the above-mentioned projects has been much greater than that. But Harbec considers energy projects "fundamentally different," says Bob Bechtold, president.

BECHTOLD

Bechtold最初申请融资环境利益的实力，但被拒绝。他说：“当我将故事重写为经济时，它奏效了。”他说服了自己的融资消息来源，尽管许多项目需要三年以上的时间才能自己付款，但在初始资本支出之后，所有项目都将在几年内继续以无额新利18备用网址外的费用持有相同的收益。他说：“自那天以来，它只变得更加成功。”

The financing approach is the key, Bechtold says. If the life-cycle savings of an EE or renewable-energy project are greater than the project's implementation costs, then the project is considered economically justifiable and is likely to be approved if external financing is available. This criterion has been applied to both EE and renewable-energy projects since 1998.

According to IEA, some 40% of the global EE market is financed with debt and equity. The number of products and the volume of finance have greatly expanded in recent years, with green bonds, corporate green bonds, energy performance contracts, private commitments, carbon and climate finance, and multilateral development banks and bilateral banks all offering expanded sources of finance for EE improvements.