Dear Friend of Building Science,

This issue of Recent Research describes a neglected area for energy savings: the non-process energy use in factories. Akbari and Sezgen demonstrate that a surprisingly large fraction of the energy use consumed inside a "high-tech factory" is in fact more like an office building.

Why is this observation important? First, office-like energy use is often overlooked because the building is officially a factory. Second, energy management in offices and factories is different. Typically, the HVAC equipment in an office is managed by the building owner, who is not necessarily the occupant. In an industrial building, the design is simpler and "modular," but it is often designed and paid for by the occupant. Finally, the high-tech sector is the fastest-growing part of the US economy, so the number of office buildings hiding in these factories will increase. Already, the office-energy component in factories probably rates among the top ten industrial "processes" behind the more familiar, steel making, pulp and paper, aluminum smelting, etc. and there's every reason to believe that it will climb.

BEA staff are involved with several research projects on industrial energy use. You can expect to see more results in future issues of Recent Research .

Sincerely yours,

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