Lighting, Plug Loads & Appliances

Definition

Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) is defined as the conductors, connectors, related equipment, and control software that deliver energy to an electric vehicle (EV). Electrified transportation is expected to be the major driver of load growth within California, and EVSE is a key enabling technology to unlock decarbonization of this sector. The California Energy Commission’s (CEC) latest Integrated Energy Policy Report projects that by 2030, electrical consumption from transportation will make up more than 20 terawatt hours (TWh), or 6.7% of all electrical consumption. This technology family has strong overlaps with the electrical infrastructure technology family within the Whole Buildings TPM.

Note: A number of mobile battery charging applications exist outside of traditional passenger vehicles and are covered in separate technology families within this TPM. These include applications such as e-bikes, motorized wheelchairs, forklifts, and golf carts.

Research Initiatives

Research Initiatives	Performance Validation Needs	Market Analysis Needs	Measure Development Needs	Program Development Needs
EVSE load management for panel loads
Panel upsizing alternatives
Level 2 EVSE load management for multifamily installations
DC coupled bi-directional EVSE for residential

Opportunities

Given the rapid deployment in progress, it is crucial for state energy goals to ensure that EVSE is functioning with energy efficiency, load management, and demand flexibility in mind. To that end, some highlighted opportunities are as follows:

• Limiting standby energy usage
• Incorporation of demand flexibility
• Load management at the panel level
• Load management for multi-family installations
  
  

Barriers

While EVSEs are relatively new, their technical performance is well understood, especially for Level 1 and Level 2 equipment. Market understanding is growing, although as EVs reach mass market end-users, there is a need for both broad and specialized consumer education to help end-users navigate the following barriers:

• Lack of understanding of load management and flexible demand programs.
• No ability to claim benefits related to load shifting.
• Limited panel upgrade space for existing buildings.
• Infrastructure challenges (such as panels being located too far from the parking spaces).
• Upgrading electric panels to accommodate new electric equipment can be costly, especially for older homes, which are prevalent in disadvantaged communities (DAC) and hard-to-reach (HTR) communities. This poses a barrier to installing EVSE and promoting access to EVs.

Definition

This technology family focuses on the replacement of gas appliances used in housekeeping tasks, known as white goods, with high-efficiency electric ones. Products include cooking ranges, cooktops, ovens, clothes dryers, and combination washer-dryers.

Note: This technology family has strong overlaps with the electrical infrastructure technology family within the Whole Buildings TPM.

Research Initiatives

Research Initiatives	Performance Validation Needs	Market Analysis Needs	Measure Development Needs	Program Development Needs
120V induction stoves
120V combination washer / HP dryer
Commercial HP dryers in multifamily
Artificial-intelligence-supported electric appliances (laundry products and induction stoves)
Residential HP / hybrid (HP + resistance heat) dryers

Opportunities

In California, most households use gas-powered white goods for cooking and clothes drying, creating a huge opportunity for electrification.

• Energy efficiency: Electric and induction technologies offer substantial energy savings, supporting household decarbonization efforts.
• Health benefits: A report by San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association determined that gas appliances emit four times more nitrogen oxides (NOx)—harmful pollutants linked to respiratory issues—than gas power plants, and about two-thirds as much NOx as all passenger cars in California. Transitioning to electric appliances can significantly reduce NOx emissions.
• Help achieve policy goals: The California Air Resources Board (CARB) plans to ban the sale of new gas space and water heaters by 2030, but other gas appliances—e.g., stoves and dryers—are not yet widely targeted. There is potential for accelerated regulation of gas-powered appliances beyond space and water heating. The percentages of white good products that are still gas powered in California are as follows:
  • Residential clothes dryers: 58 percent
  • Commercial clothes dryers: 82 percent
  • Cooktops: 54 percent
• Environmental benefits: Recent research shows gas stoves emit pollutants even when turned off, highlighting ongoing indoor air quality risks. Transitioning to electric appliances can effectively improve indoor air quality. While heat pumps are highly energy efficient and support decarbonization, the type of refrigerant used can either enhance or undermine their climate benefits.
• Achieve higher savings through artificial intelligence (AI): Smart laundry products use AI to unlock higher energy savings potentials, including:
  • Energy optimization through the sensing of load size, fabric type, and soil level.
  • Avoiding overuse of hot water and long cycles, reducing electricity or gas consumption.
  • Supporting cold wash cycles where appropriate, which use significantly less energy.
  • Coordinating with the electric grid, running during times of low demand.
  • Detecting and preventing energy-wasting issues like clogged filters and ensuring the machines are operating at peak performance.
  • Providing energy consumption feedback and recommendations on the best detergent use and cycle choice.
    
    

Barriers

• Despite the large savings opportunities, there are significant deployment barriers, from basic consumer understanding of induction cooking to performance concerns around low-voltage combination washer/heat pump dryer models.
• Marketing challenges for electric cooktops include:
  • Consumer habits and preferences: Emotional attachment to gas, fear of change.
  • Cost barriers: Higher upfront costs, cookware compatibility, and electrical upgrade costs.
  • Knowledge gaps: Low awareness and misinformation.
  • Market constraints: Gas-favoring real estate and builder incentives.
  • Mixed policy signals: In regions without strong electrification mandates or incentives, gas appliances are still being installed in new homes.
• A lack of energy efficiency performance-based standards and test procedures make evaluating technological improvements challenging, such as with standalone ovens or commercial clothes dryers.
• Electrical panel constraints can limit the ability of a building to easily electrify. This is especially prominent in low-income and multifamily buildings, which have more challenges with electric panel upgrades.
• The single biggest concern among DACs and HTR communities for electrification is the potential for bill increases. A close second is losing power in a blackout. Fuel-switching household gas appliances need to address these concerns when looking at the viability of decarbonization in this market segment and any potential solution options.
• Strong cultural biases and beliefs exist within the DAC and HTR market segment in relation to traditional, gas-cooking methods.

Definition

This technology family encompasses products, design strategies, and components that improve the efficiency, adaptability, and resiliency of exterior lighting in commercial and public sectors while also considering best practices for the nighttime lighting environment, including human health, visual comfort, public safety, and environmental impacts. This category has the opportunity to produce a large change both visually and in terms of energy consumption if changes are made in design approach and technology deployment.

Research Initiatives

Research Initiatives	Performance Validation Needs	Market Analysis Needs	Measure Development Needs	Program Development Needs
DERs-integrated (hybrid solar outdoor lighting and controls)
Adaptive outdoor lighting design standards

Opportunities

There are significant energy savings and demand flexibility benefits if the exterior lighting stock is transformed by this technology family. Streetlights managed by the public sector stakeholders and area lighting managed by commercial sector stakeholders are the primary focus. The key opportunities are described below.

• With the peak demand on the California grid moving toward the early evening hours, this technology family could shift and reduce a significant portion of exterior lighting demand while also delivering meaningful energy savings.
• As increased daytime solar energy is produced, reducing nighttime loads through energy storage integrated into the light points will reduce the demand on the grid and help decarbonize the power generation in the state.
• As utility tariffs continue to evolve, advanced network controls and DERs integration for exterior lighting will become more cost-effective, and increased adoption should drive additional innovation. DERs-integrated exterior lighting also has the potential to serve as part of the essential infrastructure in locations with a high likelihood of power outage, such as areas impacted by the Public Safety Power Shutoff events.
• Advanced motion-sensing technologies that enable deep savings for installations where the dimensions or other site-specific conditions, such as vegetation or weather, prohibit the deployment of existing motion sensing technologies.
• Advanced exterior lighting, particularly roadway or parking lot lighting, also has the potential to incorporate electric vehicle (EV) chargers into the existing infrastructure for non-energy benefits (equity and low-income sector), plus other municipal support systems like transportation communications and other distributed systems.

Barriers

• Exterior lighting consists of a wide array of applications—such as roadway, hardscape or other area, façade, landscaping, and more—and it is a significant barrier to justifying programs for technologies covered under this family.
• Workforce training related to installation and commissioning, and adoption/acceptance by operations and maintenance staff remain a significant barrier to the adoption and deployment of advanced approaches to exterior lighting.
• The conventional exterior lighting design practice of providing minimum required illuminance and uniformity for nighttime visibility and public safety, regardless of the presence of pedestrians and traffic, significantly limits the wide adoption of motion sensor control technology.
• The cost-effectiveness of motion sensor integration in exterior lighting systems is increasingly constrained by the rising luminous efficacy of LEDs and the persistently high cost of outdoor motion sensor technologies. This combination reduces the marginal energy savings achievable through motion-based control, thereby diminishing the overall return on investment. However, rising electricity cost are driving the market to maximize energy savings from every watt consumed by LED exterior lighting systems, and the increasing coincident demand alignment during winter peak further encourages advanced strategies.

Definition

This category includes both FDA-regulated and non-regulated energy consuming medical equipment in two key categories:

• Labs and Hospitals
• Residential and Assisted Living
  
  

Labs and hospitals are one of the highest energy consuming sectors due to their energy-intensive activities and stringent health and safety requirements. A 2015 market assessment conducted by the California IOUs estimated that just 12 types of lab and hospital equipment were likely responsible for between 0.8 and 3.2 TWh per year. Despite this large opportunity, only lab grade freezers, refrigerators, and ultra-low temperatures had significant development—all three now have ENERGY STAR^® specifications.

Residential and assisted living facilities are a growing market for medical devices in the United States. The US Center for Disease Control estimates that there are 61 million adults with disabilities in the country, and 13.7 percent with a disability that impacts walking and climbing stairs. In addition, a 2021 study by Lawrence Berkeley National Lab estimates there are 2.74 million oxygen concentrators and 2.2 million continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) ventilators.

Research Initiatives

Research Initiatives	Performance Validation Needs	Market Analysis Needs	Measure Development Needs	Program Development Needs
Energy consumption and load profiles
Power management strategies
Standard development

Opportunities

Hospital/Lab: In 2023, the EPA began working more within this sector as ENERGY STAR looks to develop product specifications for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The key opportunity areas include: 

• Creating a baseline industry standard for lab and hospital equipment.
• Promoting energy efficiency to original equipment manufacturers as a priority in product development to unlock higher energy savings potential.
• Creating best practice guideline for labs and hospitals and their medical devices.

Residential/Assisted Living: The key opportunities in this area include:

• Reducing parasitic load in residential/assisted living medical equipment.
• Energy savings opportunities from home based medical equipment usage with priority to high-power durable medical equipment (DME).
  
  

According to the Medical Device Market Characterization Study, there are also opportunities to build demand flexibility into device energy efficiency standards, such as reducing standby loads in magnetic resonance imaging equipment as part of the proposed Energy Star standard, or in standardizing the variance of power demand across residential medical devices of the same type.

Barriers

As noted in the Medical Device Market Characterization Study, a general acceptance that medical safety and effectiveness are primary objectives for regulation or standards means that additional objectives such as energy performance or efficiency will necessarily be deprioritized.

Additionally, the potential variety or uniqueness of product functions and limited approved models for certain product categories also pose challenges for establishing energy performance standards or data collection/test procedures.

Hospital/Lab: With the few exceptions mentioned above, there is limited technical understanding about many of the types of more energy-intensive equipment of interest, including:

• Limited understanding of the variety of energy-intensive equipment in hospitals, their usage, and the magnitude of savings potentials.
• The lack of national energy efficiency standards for most lab equipment (except for ULTs and Fume Hoods).
  
  

Residential/Assisted Living: Information about medical equipment for residential and assisted living sectors is not well understood, and there are no efficiency programs currently in place for this market. The key barriers include:

• Technical performance and load shape are not well understood for residential/assisted living medical equipment.
• Equipment has not been evaluated from an appliance standards perspective but only from the perspective of health outcomes.
• Cost analysis is not known because of the capital expenditures being reimbursed by health insurance.

Definition

This cross-cutting technology family included components, platforms, control algorithms, advanced diagnostics and analytics, and foundational communications protocols with the ability to communicate, coordinate, and reduce energy use of electric loads in a residential or commercial building. Devices and systems within this technology family are expected to enable lighting and plug load appliances to operate at lower power modes based on either automated control or behavior modifying features.

This family can include control of additional building systems and appliances, enhancing occupant comfort and wellness, or providing environmental data to building systems in other technology families, including Envelopes, Integrated Systems, and Scalable HVAC Controls.

Research Initiatives

Research Initiatives	Performance Validation Needs	Market Analysis Needs	Measure Development Needs	Program Development Needs
Integrated lighting, plug load, and other end-use control solutions for small and medium buildings
Coordinated load management of lighting and plug loads
Compatibility and scalability of control and communication protocols for lighting and plug loads

Opportunities

Emerging technologies within this technology family have the potential to yield significant energy savings, demand flexibility, and broad decarbonization benefits by managing lighting, plug loads, and other end-use operations to communicate across devices and minimize consumption when not in use. Specific opportunities include:

• Largely untapped energy savings potential in small and medium buildings, where there is no central building management or control system.
• Deeper energy savings may be possible with embedded intelligence, including behavior learning algorithms that manage usage based on learned occupant behavior, and automatic and dynamic load detection capability that identifies devices as they are plugged into a building.
• Open-source communication protocols are becoming more prevalent to enable sustainable and scalable control layers across multiple building systems.
• Research findings will also benefit standard development organizations, such as the Connectivity Standards Alliance.
  
  

Barriers

Significant barriers must be overcome to actualize and scale this technology family to the broader market. Key barriers include:

• Lack of simple, affordable, and effective control integration solutions for small and medium-sized buildings that don’t have any building or energy management systems and/or dedicated building operation personnel.
• Standardized communication protocols have yet to be deployed to or be adopted by different product types to easily allow data sharing across products, which would facilitate more holistic, sophisticated controls and analytics.
• Insufficient understanding of the scope, availability, and cost of the technologies, as well as the viability of embedding intelligence into the products.
• Slow adoption due to the lack of understanding of customer experience in interacting with these technologies and potential data privacy concerns.

Definition

The Residential and Commercial Electronics and Electrical Appliances technology family is defined as electrically powered appliances and electronics found within commercial and residential environments, including devices that can be operated untethered via battery. Example products include clothes washers, refrigerators, dishwashers, air purifiers, televisions, and computer monitors.

Note: Products that commonly use gas such as clothes dryers, ovens, cooktops, and ranges are covered in the Decarbonized Household Appliances technology family in this TPM to focus on the unique challenges for decarbonization.

Note: This technology family excludes medical mobility devices which are covered under the Medical Equipment technology family within this TPM.

Research Initiatives

Research Initiatives	Performance Validation Needs	Market Analysis Needs	Measure Development Needs	Program Development Needs
Inactive/low power modes
User behavior/ interaction
Battery integration potential and viability
Update EE test procedures to reflect real-world conditions

Opportunities

A number of products in this category are generally technologically mature, and energy efficiency for many of these products has been addressed by appliance standards, voluntary certification programs, and industry voluntary agreements, many implemented at a national level. But there are still other opportunities to consider, including:

• New technological innovations, such as advances in televisions and monitors, or energy savings from inactive and low power modes.
• Understanding the motivation for consumer habits—especially those that may significantly affect energy or water consumption—and identifying effective interventions to help motivate consumers to choose the more energy- and water-efficient path.
• As battery technologies evolve and are integrated into more products, so will charging and appliance operating profiles. New research will be needed to ensure that the chargers maintain optimal battery and product performance while offering efficient charging profiles, low-power mode operation, and grid flexibility.
• The integration of new technologies—such as variable speed compressors, AI, and additional sensors—into long-standing appliances may change how the products themselves operate and how consumers interact with them. Updates to energy efficiency test procedures and associated metrics may be needed to ensure that new technologies are being properly evaluated and incentivized.
  
  

Outside of products with existing standards, research to develop test procedures or demonstrate novel technologies in support of the deployment of new standards remains an opportunity for energy savings impacts.

Barriers

• Technical, market, and consumer use of these products has historically been known, but as these products have continued to mature and evolve, studies have not kept up with any potential changes.
• Consumer interaction with these products is frequently colored by past experiences and feelings, so it may prove difficult to sway how consumers operate the product or purchase something they’re not already familiar with.
• Consumers often make their own purchasing decisions with limited expert insight, leading to an information gap that is challenging to overcome.
• For higher power density products, such as major home appliances, utilities codes and standards teams have been active in regulatory rulemakings to push higher efficiency standards; however, for lower power density devices, such as office equipment and televisions, energy efficiency does not drive purchasing behavior, and regulatory rulemaking largely ignores these devices.
• For a number of products, renters are in a unique split-incentive situation where the building owner is likely the decision maker in determining whether to install, repair, or replace an appliance or not, but it’s the renter who would realize the benefits of lower energy and water use—when properly used—and time saved.