Standards and Labels: Transforming the Market for Energy Efficient Appliances

Standards and labels (S&L) are one of the most cost effective policies to transform the market for energy efficient appliances and equipment, and reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. In this webinar-based training, presented jointly with the Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) initiative, we discuss initial development of appliance and equipment energy efficiency standards and labeling program. The training covers key concepts, definitions, and components necessary to develop a successful S&L program, drawing on a case study of S&L program development in Ghana.

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Panelists

Robert Van Buskirk, U.S. Department of Energy

Dr. Robert Van Buskirk currently works as a Senior Technical Analyst at the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE). He conducts energy efficiency policy and program impact research for the Planning and Analysis section of USDOE’s Building Technologies Program (BTP). Van Buskirk’s research is focused on long-term appliance and equipment innovation acceleration processes that can assist USDOE/BTP in meeting its ambitious aspirational goal of economically decreasing residential and commercial building sector fossil energy consumption by 50% or more by 2030. From 1999 to 2009, Van Buskirk was a policy analyst, scientist and program manager in the Energy Efficiency Standards group at the U.S. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he worked on clean energy policy design and research applied to both the US and Africa. In the mid-1990’s he worked on clean energy research and development in Eritrea, East Africa. Van Buskirk received his Physics Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1991 based on thesis research that investigated the application of computational fluid dynamics to the Jovian atmosphere.

James E. McMahon, Technical Adviser, CLASP

Dr. James E. (“Jim”) McMahon is an Associate and former Staff Scientist in the Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Department at the U.S. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California in Berkeley. He was Leader of the Energy Efficiency Standards Group for 17 years (1994-2011) and Department Head of Energy Analysis for 5 years (2006-2011). He has over 34 years of experience and has conducted economic and technical analysis of appliance and equipment energy performance standards for the United States, China, India, and other countries; published more than 100 publications, including a book (two editions, 2001 and 2004) intended for governments of developing countries about how to quantify, analyze and implement energy efficiency policies, specifically national labels and standards; since the 1980s, conducted on energy efficiency policy for many countries, ranging from China in 1996 to recent workshop for 20 countries (mostly developing) at the International Energy Agency; and, developed and applied computation methodologies and algorithms for estimating the national (for many countries) and state impacts of energy efficiency policies, including end-use models. McMahon received a B.S. in Chemistry from Providence College and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics from Florida State University.