Commercial buildings account for roughly 35% of total electricity consumption in the United States, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and audiovisual (AV) systems are an often-overlooked contributor to that figure. As offices fill with video walls, conferencing displays, digital signage, and networked audio systems, energy use tied to AV equipment has climbed steadily. For facility managers and IT decision-makers, understanding how to reduce that footprint without sacrificing functionality has become a practical necessity rather than a nice-to-have.

This shift has prompted many organizations to work with regional integrators such as Infassure to evaluate how AV infrastructure is designed, installed, and managed with energy performance in mind. The conversation isn’t just about swapping old projectors for new displays, it’s about rethinking how AV systems are specified, powered, and scheduled across an entire building.

Why AV Energy Use Has Become a Boardroom Topic

A decade ago, energy audits in commercial buildings focused almost entirely on HVAC and lighting. AV equipment was a rounding error. That’s no longer true. The rise of always-on video conferencing rooms, multi-display collaboration spaces, and digital signage networks means AV hardware now runs for far longer stretches of the day, sometimes continuously.

A 2023 study published by the International Energy Agency noted that networked devices, including AV and communication equipment, are among the fastest-growing categories of electricity demand in commercial settings, partly because they rarely power down fully even when idle. This “always-on” behavior, sometimes called standby or vampire power draw, can account for a meaningful share of a building’s total electricity bill when multiplied across dozens of conference rooms and lobby displays.

Facility teams are increasingly asked to justify AV equipment purchases not just on capability, but on total cost of ownership, a calculation that now includes power consumption over the equipment’s lifespan.

What Makes an AV System Energy-Efficient

Energy efficiency in AV design isn’t a single feature; it’s the sum of several design and equipment decisions working together. The most impactful factors typically include:

Display technology — LED and OLED panels generally consume less power per unit of brightness than older LCD or plasma displays, particularly at larger screen sizes.

Automated scheduling — Systems that power down displays, projectors, and audio DSPs outside of business hours prevent unnecessary standby draw.

Occupancy-based controls — Sensors that detect whether a conference room is in use can trigger AV equipment to enter low-power states automatically.

 Centralized control platforms — A single control system that manages multiple rooms allows for consistent energy policies rather than relying on individual users to turn equipment off.

Efficient amplification — Class D amplifiers, now standard in most modern commercial audio systems, draw significantly less power than older Class A/B designs while delivering comparable sound quality.

None of these elements work in isolation. A building with energy-efficient displays but no scheduling automation will still waste power if screens are left running overnight.

Comparing Common AV Equipment by Energy Profile

The table below outlines general energy characteristics of AV equipment categories commonly found in commercial spaces. These are illustrative ranges based on manufacturer specifications and industry benchmarking data, not figures for any specific product line.

Equipment Type	Typical Active Power Draw	Standby Power Draw	Efficiency Notes
LCD Conference Display (55–65″)	90–150W	0.5W	Efficiency varies with brightness settings
LED Video Wall (per panel)	200–400W	2–5W	Higher draw but often replaces multiple smaller units
Class D Audio Amplifier	30–80W	<1W	Substantially more efficient than Class A/B models
DSP/Audio Processor	15–25W	3–8W	Often left running continuously for network reasons
Laser Projector	250–450W	0.5–1W	More efficient long-term than lamp-based projectors

The takeaway isn’t that any one category is inherently “bad,” but that cumulative standby draw across a building even at low per-device wattage  adds up when multiplied by dozens or hundreds of endpoints.

Design Considerations for Energy-Conscious AV Deployments

When AV systems are specified for a new build or major renovation, energy considerations should ideally be part of the initial design conversation rather than treated as a retrofit afterthought. Commercial integrators such as Infassure design customized AV systems around the requirements of each space, including its displays, audio equipment, conferencing tools, control systems, and room-scheduling technology. Considering these components together makes it easier to establish consistent operating and shutdown practices across the completed system. 

A few principles tend to guide these design decisions:

1. Right-sizing displays and speakers to the room, rather than defaulting to the largest or most powerful option available.

 2. Centralizing control infrastructure so that energy policies (like automatic shutoff schedules) can be applied consistently across a facility.

3. Selecting equipment with recognized efficiency certifications, such as ENERGY STAR ratings, where applicable.

4. Planning for future scalability so that equipment doesn’t need premature replacement, which itself carries an environmental and financial cost.

This is where the role of Infassure and similar regional integrators becomes relevant to the broader energy conversation, not as a vendor selling hardware, but as a technical partner helping translate efficiency goals into a working system architecture.

The Middle Ground Between Performance and Power Savings

It’s worth noting that energy efficiency and AV performance aren’t always in direct competition, but there are trade-offs worth understanding. Brighter displays for high-ambient-light spaces, for instance, inherently draw more power than dimmer alternatives suited to controlled lighting. Video walls used for branding or wayfinding may need to run continuously during business hours regardless of occupancy.

The practical approach most facility managers land on is tiered: apply aggressive power management to spaces with intermittent use (conference rooms, huddle spaces) while accepting higher, but justified, energy use in spaces where continuous operation serves a clear business function (lobbies, digital signage networks). This is a case where organizations working with Infassure or comparable integrators often request energy modeling as part of the design phase, allowing them to see projected consumption before equipment is installed rather than after.

Measuring the Actual Impact

Claims about energy savings should be treated with some skepticism unless backed by measurement. Facility teams considering an AV upgrade for efficiency reasons can benefit from:

•  Requesting power draw specifications (not just brightness or resolution specs) for any equipment under consideration.
• Installing sub-metering on AV circuits where feasible, to track actual consumption rather than estimated figures.
• Comparing before-and-after utility data over a full billing cycle, since seasonal variation in building HVAC and lighting use can otherwise mask AV-specific savings.

Without this kind of measurement, it’s difficult to know whether a given upgrade delivered meaningful savings or simply shifted where the energy was being used.

What We’ve Learned

Energy-efficient commercial AV design is less about any single piece of equipment and more about how systems are specified, controlled, and measured over time. Display technology, amplification class, and automated scheduling each play a role, but the largest gains tend to come from centralized control and consistent power-down policies applied across a building rather than left to individual habits.

As commercial spaces continue to add more networked AV infrastructure, the conversation between efficiency and functionality will likely keep evolving. Organizations that work with experienced integrators  Infassure among them  during the design phase tend to have an easier time balancing these priorities, since energy considerations are harder to retrofit than they are to plan for from the outset. For facility managers and IT leaders, the practical step forward is straightforward: ask for power specifications up front, measure results after installation, and treat AV energy use as a standard part of building efficiency planning rather than a separate concern.