Sustainable Lifestyles
Sustainable Lifestyles Case Study Application- Enter today!
Interested in getting free publicity? Submit your project for CEDIA's Sustainable Lifestyles Case Study program for
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What is sustainability? Why?
Sustainability is not just about being “green.” It’s about providing a lifestyle that allows people to save energy and resources—while enhancing their comfort and convenience.
It’s about energy-efficiency and saving money in a time of rising electric costs.
It’s about limiting toxic wastes that go into landfills.
It’s about giving families the tools to assure healthy air is breathed in their homes.
It’s about using the technologies at our disposal to make all of our lives better and our planet healthier.
It’s also about sustaining your BUSINESS and thriving in a new era of efficiency.
Sustainable Lifestyles Action Team
What is CEDIA’s position?
Coming soon!
The Sustainable Lifestyles Action Team
The goal of the Sustainable Lifestyles Action Team is to identify current and emerging business opportunities that foster CEDIA member prosperity while reducing the environmental impact of residential electronics. The Sustainable Lifestyles Action Team helps to standardize the design and installation of environmentally sustainable/green residential electronics through the creation of technical and business white papers, recommended practices, and market research. The Sustainable Lifestyles Action Team will also work to foster relationships with other associations, agencies, and businesses which represent specific areas of the green building and electronics industry.
Key Issues
E-waste
Electronic Waste, or e-waste, is the term used to describe old, end-of-life or discarded appliances using electricity. It includes televisions, monitors, audio/video equipment, DVD players, video cameras, phones, fax/copy machines, wireless devices, and video game consoles which have been disposed of by their original users.
When a consumer chooses to replace outdated electronics, the Electronic Systems Contractor has the ability to not only provide that consumer with products and services for the new technology, but also services to dispose of the old technology in a safe and more environmentally friendly way.
Unwanted electronics can be donated or recycled.
- Donation benefits society in addition to being an environmentally preferable alternative. It allows schools and non-profit organizations the ability to utilize the equipment. Donation can also offer worthwhile tax incentives.When recycling electronic waste, make sure to find a responsible service provider. Visit www.ecyclingcentral.com for an excellent list of recycling service providers in your area, as well as a list of questions to ask when looking for a recycler.
- Many states are considering possible e-waste regulations that would affect manufacturers, retailers, or consumers. Please visit the CEDIA State E-waste Guide to see your state regulations and programs.
ESCs and Green Building Certifications
In the current weakened housing market, green building is the only segment of the industry that is growing.
Electronic Systems Contractors can serve a valuable and necessary role on green building project teams. ESCs have the opportunity to collaborate with architects and builders on certified home projects and bring their expertise to the team in areas such as: lighting, automation, occupancy detection, HVAC, window treatments, air quality, heat dissipation/exchange, monitoring systems/feedback, power management, and product selection.
Visit these links to learn more about some of the national programs:
CEDIA University has a course to help ESCs better understand these programs and their role in project teams. Visit LINK for more details.
CEDIA member exclusive – CEDIA and CEA staff and volunteers collaborated on the Green Certification Reference Guide. The guide is an information listing of all of the national and regional green building certifications in the US and Canada. Please contact Erica Shonkwiler, eshonkwiler@cedia.org, for your copy.
Energy Management
22% of the energy consumed in the US is in the residential sector. 26% of that energy usage is from lighting and appliances. Source: US Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Review 2008 Since 1982, growth in peak demand for electricity driven by population growth, bigger houses, bigger TVs, more air conditioners and more computers has exceeded transmission growth by almost 25% every year. Source: US Department of Energy
But it isn’t just the infrastructure demanding change, consumers are too.
LOHAS is an acronym for Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability, a market segment focused on health and fitness, the environment, personal development, sustainable living, and social justice. It describes an estimated $209 billion U.S. marketplace for goods and services. Research shows that one in four adult Americans is part of this group—nearly 41 million people.
LOHAS consumers tend to be:
- More educated
- Affluent
- Loyal
- Less Price Sensitive
These consumers are the future of your business and also the future of progressive social, environmental and economic change in this country.Visit www.lohas.com for more information.
ESCs have a great opportunity to serve this market. ESCs are already masters at thinking about the home as a whole system. In the past, the whole system approach has focused on client comfort and entertainment. That won’t change, but the new consumer will add health, energy consumption, and global impact to that list. ESCs are poised and ready for this opportunity and can offer services to the engaged consumer such as:
- Environment (i.e. lighting, automation, occupancy detection, HVAC, air quality, window treatments)
- Monitoring Systems / Feedback (i.e. dashboard, set points, measurable impact)
- Power (i.e. management, renewable energies, parasitic power)
- Product Selection (i.e. procurement, compliance, consolidation)
- Innovation (i.e. integration usage)
- Energy Audits (certification offered at CEDIA EXPO 2010)
CEDIA University has a course to help ESCs better understand the design and installation of energy management systems. Visit LINK for more details. Also, an archived version of the PowerHour webinar on Offering & Conducting Energy Audits is available here.
The US Energy Administration’s Residential Energy Consumption Survey provides valuable data on: the physical characteristics of the housing units, the appliances utilized including space heating and cooling equipment, demographic characteristics of the household, the types of fuels used, and other information that relates to energy use.
Smart Grid
The US Department of Energy describes the smart grid as an automated, widely distributed energy delivery network, characterized by a two-way flow of electricity and information and capable of monitoring everything from power plants to customer preferences to individual appliances. It incorporates into the grid the benefits of distributed computing and communications to deliver real-time information and enable the near-instantaneous balance of supply and demand at the device level. However, it is very difficult to clearly understand the smart grid from any one small definition. In our research, we found that the US Department of Energy’s document “The Smart Grid: An Introduction” was the best introductory informational piece. This document will provide a baseline understanding of why we need the smart grid, what it is, how it will work, and the role of the consumer.
The jury is still out on the details of how the smart grid will be delivered and adopted. The smart grid will offer opportunities to the ESC, but there is not a clear idea of exactly what all those opportunities are yet. In the coming years, those opportunities will begin to become more obvious. It is important that ESCs position themselves correctly to be able to take advantage of those opportunities as they arise. Offering and understanding energy storage, energy management, smart appliance integration, and consumer education services will help to position the ESC for the future. New on the smart grid can be found here.
Resources
Education (courses offered at CEDIA EXPO 2010 and archived webinars), certifications, awards, government affairs, EXPO, case studies, websites, white papers, articles, CEDIA, and Sustainable Lifestyles
Case Studies
In an effort to learn more about sustainable home design and create a baseline of the measurable impact of an ESC on energy efficiency projects, CEDIA will be calling for case study submissions. We want to know what success your company has had in these projects and help recognize your company for its innovation. Please complete the attached submission form and return to Erica Shonkwiler, eshonkwiler@cedia.org.
All completed case studies will be posted to this section for review.
White Papers
The Sustainable Lifestyles Action Team with support of the Technology Council, is developing white papers on technical topics focused on sustainable lifestyles and energy management installations. If you are interested in assisting the team on a topic as a subject matter expert, please contact Erica Shonkwiler, eshonkwiler@cedia.org.
Dimming LEDs – In Progress
More to come…
CEDIA and Sustainable Lifestyles
CEDIA leadership and staff are committed to the implementation of environmentally friendly practices at meetings, events, and the headquarters office. CEDIA began this process at the headquarters office in early 2008 through recycling, supply purchases, material donations, HVAC controls, IT energy reduction, and staff education. Since then, CEDIA has recycled approximately 22,000 pounds of paper, 2,500 pounds of cardboard, reduced dumpster waste by more than 60%, saved more than $4,000 on print cartridges, and saved more than $300 in IT energy consumption. For more detailed information or to learn how to incorporate some of these principles in your own company, please contact Erica Shonkwiler, eshonkwiler@cedia.org.
