The topics of global warming, the Greenhouse effect, reducing
energy usage and rising energy costs can be found just about
every day in the media. There are plenty of opportunities to
work to reverse the negative environmental and economic trends,
ranging from better insulation in facilities with higher thermal
efficient windows and doors to using vehicles with better
mileage or mass transit. Each has its own merits and
limitations. A bus may be “eight times more efficient per person
than a personal light truck,” according to the U.S. Department
of Energy, but an electrical contractor isn’t likely to need 45
people going to the job site at one time nor would want to carry
all tools and supplies needed for the job on the local city bus.
By the numbers Focusing on the electrical aspects as related to
energy efficiency also will lead to a substantial list of
possibilities for improvements around the world but especially
in the United States. According to the World Fact Book, the
United States is No. 1 in several