UC Deep Energy Efficiency project Study

The goal of this project is to establish a whole building M&V approach based on the short-time interval energy use data (collectively known as “M&V 2.0”) for the University and possibly Public Sector environment that is simple to apply but accurately captures real savings from existing conditions in a defensible and repeatable way. The project will demonstrate how to apply the approach practically in campus buildings and will document other noteworthy issues and benefits that inform its application to other buildings. These issues may include: capturing savings beyond retrofits such as from behavioral, operational, and hard-to-quantify measures not typically included in projects; integrating energy tracking and on-going commissioning methods to assure persistence in savings; accounting for onsite generation; facilitating payment of performance-based incentives over time; and defining methods for addressing unexpected impacts on energy use.

In 2015, California Assembly Bill 802 (AB 802) was passed authorizing Program Administrators (PAs) to “provide financial incentives, rebates, technical assistance, and support to their customers to increase the energy efficiency of existing buildings based on all estimated energy savings and energy usage reductions, taking into consideration the overall reduction in normalized metered energy consumption as a measure of energy savings.” The legislation and subsequent proceedings and decisions from the CPUC enable PAs to design and implement energy efficiency programs that provide incentives from energy savings that are based on analysis of metered energy use data before and after energy efficiency measures are installed in customer buildings. These procedures and methods are based on, and similar to, Option C Whole Facility and Option B All Parameter Measurement of the industry standard International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP). In anticipation, SCE developed this Normalized Metered Energy Consumption (NMEC) Savings Procedures Manual, to further specify procedures and requirements for implementing the NMEC savings analysis for individual projects in commercial sector customer facilities. It is intended to provide PAs, their implementation contractors, the CPUC, and program evaluators some consistency in the methods used to implement and document NMEC-based Measurement and Verification (M&V) procedures for each site-specific project. While the procedures to determine savings from metered energy use before and after energy efficiency measures are established and well known, there may be variation in different procedural steps. For example, different modeling algorithms may be better suited to different buildings, or stakeholders may require more stringent model accuracy criteria than documented herein. In addition, public policy regarding NMEC programs is evolving, and will have an impact on documentation requirements. This document is designed to be flexible to accommodate different elements of the NMEC savings approach, yet maintain consistency among projects. Its initial sections describe the procedures and the documentation requirements. More information, examples, and discussion of issues are provided in a later section, so as not to confuse the fundamental requirements. A template M&V Plan and Savings Report are provided in the Appendices, to assist implementers in documenting the site-specific savings analysis. This is the initial release of the NMEC Savings Procedures Manual, and its sponsors anticipate that as projects are completed, additional insights to the methods and requirements will be gained. It is expected that revisions will be made to this manual. A Change Log is provided, to document the changes made to each revision. In addition, Appendix A contains important issues identified by reviewers, which should be considered for future revisions.