Health Benefits of Efficiency Standards Too Big to Ignore

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) efficiency standards program is hugely beneficial, it saves consumers money on their utility bills while simultaneously reducing emissions of harmful pollutants and climate-warming CO2. While supporters of the program often focus on the monetary and climate benefits, a recent report underscores the significant health impact of the efficiency standard program. 

According to a report from CLASP, DOE efficiency standards avoided between 1900 and 4400 premature deaths in 2017 through reduced PM2.5 pollution! But what about the distribution of benefits? All too often, environmental justice communities receive too small a share of the benefits relative to the burdens they face. According to the report, fortunately, that does not appear to be the case here. Disadvantaged communities, as designated by the Justice40 initiative, are 33% of the country’s population and receive 36% of these health benefits.

So what exactly is PM2.5, and how do efficiency standards help reduce it? PM stands for particulate matter. Rather than being a single molecule, like CO2, particulate matter can be a mixture of substances from a variety of sources, such as wildfire smoke or car exhaust. Particulate matter can also be a variety of sizes: the 2.5 designation specifies that we are talking specifically about particles 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter. For comparison, according to the California Air Resources Board, the width of a human hair is typically between 50 and 70 micrometers.

PM2.5 is a concern because the small particle size means that it can get deep into the lungs. It is associated with a variety of health impacts including bronchitis, reduced lung function, and, important for the CLASP study, even premature death.

Now, you might be wondering, “How exactly do efficiency standards reduce PM2.5 pollution?” Excellent question, dear reader. Appliance use is associated with PM2.5 emissions in two ways. There are direct emissions when an appliance emits PM2.5 itself. For instance, a gas furnace emits PM2.5 which is then vented outside. Appliances are also responsible for indirect PM2.5 pollution. This happens when, for instance, fossil fuels are burned to generate electricity.

Efficiency standards address both sources of emissions. More efficient products mean less fuel is required to be combusted in homes, and it also means less fossil fuels will need to be burned to generate our electricity. This translates, as the CLASP report shows, directly to avoided deaths.

So what’s next for DOE efficiency standards? The Biden-Harris administration has set a goal of finalizing standards this term that over 30 years will cumulatively achieve $1 trillion in consumer savings and 2.5 billion metric tons of reduced carbon emissions. In April, DOE finalized standards for residential water heaters that will bring large savings. There are several important standards that we expect to see before the end of the year, such as walk-in coolers and freezers and commercial refrigeration equipment. These are great energy-saving opportunities, and that means more money for consumers, less climate-warming pollution, and, as the CLASP report demonstrates, more avoided deaths.