The increase in electricity demand, coupled with drastic deficit in energy generation and depleting conventional energy resources continues to create complex challenges for the energy market in Ghana. But Energy Efficiency (EE) in lighting and air-conditioning has been considered as a green area for reducing energy consumption. The manufacturing sector has been considered as a key area for the implementation of energy efficiency practices. This paper presents a survey to assess the drivers to energy efficiency in lighting and air-conditioning systems from the perspective of two manufacturing industries. Questionnaires were distributed to 260 employees in two manufacturing industries in Ghana. Key informant interviews were carried with four respondents. The impact of employee gender, department of work and job position in mediating the drivers of EE was also assessed using correlation analysis. The results showed that the staff of manufacturing industries sees the availability of information on energy efficiency measures, staff awareness and knowledge and the availability of funds as leading driversto energy efficiency development. Also providing incentives in the form of awards to employees for energy efficiency participation was shown to be effective in the implementation of EE measures.The inferential statistics showed that employees’ gender, department and job position predict the barriers to energy efficiency in the manufacturing industries. However, few of the drivers of energy efficiency are not dependent on gender, department of work and job position.

 

Key words: Energy efficiency, energy consumption, drivers.