NRDC and Energy Efficiency: Building the Clean Energy Future

Energy efficiency is the art of getting the same or better performance using less energy—all while cutting utility bills for residential, business, and industrial customers. It has done more to meet our growing energy needs than oil, gas, and nuclear combined over the past 40 years, and NRDC’s energy efficiency contributions during that time have helped improve almost everything you use at home and at work.

Energy efficiency already accounts for more than 2.2 million U.S. jobs—10 times more than oil and gas drilling and 30 times more than coal mining. Scaling up America’s energy efficiency efforts will create tens of thousands of additional well-paying local jobs.

Smarter energy use is also one of the world’s most powerful weapons for combating climate change and ensuring our air is safe to breathe, because the cleanest energy source is the one you don’t burn in the first place.

But limiting the dangerous impacts of climate change, including devastating sea-level rises and deadly heat waves, will require slashing even more carbon pollution and accelerating a range of energy efficiency solutions.   

The large amount of energy waste from commercial, industrial, and residential buildings provides a major opportunity to improve efficiency programs, state and national building energy codes, as well as appliance and equipment standards that can cut carbon pollution and energy bills. Seizing the huge untapped opportunities for efficiency in every sector of the economy will slash our dependence on fossil fuels and help ensure a clean energy future and more employment.

NRDC is continually refining and expanding our work across the United States and internationally to further advance efficiency by transforming utilities, ensuring energy equity, cutting energy waste in our buildings, avoiding harmful power plant pollution, and much more.

This brochure details the wide range and breadth of our efforts to optimize our energy use and “build the clean energy future.”