“Approximately one third of the world’s energy use takes place inside buildings. This has earned the building sector the dubious honor of being the Earth’s biggest contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.”
-United Nations Environment Program
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For commercial buildings HVAC represents about 50% of total energy consumption
Within buildings, HVAC is typically the largest single source of energy demand. Increasing energy efficiency in the built environment is a critical strategy in addressing climate change and HVAC systems are the biggest user of energy.
Air conditioning has been unable to match the efficiency improvements of lighting and heating.
According to the EIA, in commercial buildings from 2003 to 2012 we saw a reduction of overall energy consumption for space heating and lighting. However, we saw significant increases of up to 50% for cooling and ventilation.
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HFCs are expected to represent 14%-27% of global warming potential.
HFCs are up to ten thousand times more potent than CO2; potentially accounting for up to one half a degree of temperature rise. In October of 2016, 170 countries signed an agreement in Kigali to phase out HFCs.
There are potential replacements for HFC’s but they will make current air conditioning technology operate much less efficiently. 7AC’s approach will greatly increase the efficiency of systems that will use HFC replacements.
Most of the world's development is predominantly in hot and humid climates.
Use of air conditioning is forecasted to rapidly accelerate in developing countries. Even with predictions of a six-fold increase for renewable energy by 2050, our clean energy supply will only meet three quarters of the expected demand for air conditioning alone. Efficiency improvements for vapor compression based air conditioning will not keep pace with increased demand.
Absent ambitious action to limit their use, emissions of HFCs are expected to nearly triple in the U.S. by 2030.
With strong international action to phase down HFCs, we can avoid up to 0.5°C of warming by 2100, substantially furthering our goal to limit temperature rise.
“By 2050, energy consumed for space cooling in developing nations alone may grow by 450% from 2010 levels as billions of people seek relief from high heat and humidity."
US DOE