Energy Mapping
Energy efficiency is becoming an increasingly important issue. Two large changes, energy costs and the greenhouse effect, are driving this interest.
This means new business opportunities for companies. Customers will, in ever increasing numbers, buy products which give them the lowest energy costs possible when they use the product.
Three steps for developing energy efficient products
1 Map the energy consumption for your product
This is based on examining the product and assessing how much energy it actually uses. When a new product is developed it is often based on an older version. It is often valuable to map the older product's energy consumption before you map the new product you are trying to develop.
Life cycle perspective
An energy map should map energy consumption across the entire lifetime of the product.
What is high and what is low?
Map the components that are significant for the energy consumption of your product. How can they be improved to reduce the energy consumption? How can we provide the functions that the customer wants from the product with as little energy consumption as possible?
2 Generate product improvements
Make a strategic decision. What does the new product look like? What energy related improvements can be made? How can this be implemented together with all other demands placed on the product?
3 Market the low-energy product
Marketing energy efficient products is no different from marketing other products.
Use life cycle costs, LCC
Life cycle cost (LCC) is central to marketing an energy efficient product. A reduced energy cost during use should be communicated, marketed to the customer.
Energy declarations
Swerea IVF is currently developing energy declarations, that now exist in a first version. Energy declarations are a systematic way of describing a product's energy characteristics.
Swerea IVF can offer a number of support programmes for carrying out the three steps above.