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How can the public sector be harnessed to shape the market for energy efficient products? That was the main topic of debate at a practitioners’ workshop organized by ESMAP at the World Bank on June 7-8, 2012.

Participants agreed that the public sector can serve as a strategic market for energy efficient goods and services, because governments have the ability to lead by example while stimulating markets for new technologies. This is true whether at the national or municipal level, and participants pointed out that several municipalities—such as Vienna and Mexico City—now have procurement policies that surpass those of their national governments.

Attendees shared their experiences and challenges in developing policies and programs that ensure that public agencies purchase energy efficient equipment. Such programs are important as energy efficient products offer a better value for governments than traditional equipment which costs more to operate over a lifetime. Among the hurdles to adoption of such programs identified by the participants were a lack of incentives, higher upfront costs for energy efficient equipment, and behavioral biases. A roundtable discussion on the second day of the workshop enabled participants to deliberate key issues such as barriers and drivers, policy tools, incentive mechanisms, financing, harmonization efforts and alternative procurement strategies.

More than 30 experts participated in the workshop, including representatives from China, India, Thailand, Egypt, the European Commission, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, the United States, the City of Vienna (Austria), and the District of Columbia (US). Also represented were international energy efficiency organizations such as the Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD), ENERGY STAR, the Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program (CLASP), the Alliance to Save Energy, the Confederation of Indian Industry, and UL Environment.

ESMAP has prepared a report on global experiences and good practices in energy efficient purchasing, the findings and preliminary conclusions of which were presented and discussed at the workshop. A key conclusion was that efforts needed to be stepped up to harmonize testing protocols and technical standards, so that labels in one country can be accepted in another.

The final ESMAP report, “Public Procurement of Energy Efficient Products: Lessons from Around the World” will be published in late 2012.

The full proceedings of the workshop, including a list of participants and an agenda, is available here. The presentations from the workshop can be downloaded by going to Annex 3 of the proceedings.
 

Related Publications

Recent ESMAP Publications on Urban Energy and Energy Efficiency Issues