Jeff Perkins, ERS, for Zondits
There have been a number of great discussions about EM&V here at the ACEEE Summer Study this year. In addition to some good papers in the formal sessions each morning, there have also been at least two well-attended informal sessions on the topic. I held an informal session on Monday and attended another hosted by Ellen Franconi of Rocky Mountain Institute on Tuesday.
While the Monday session had perhaps an evaluator’s bent and the Tuesday session spent a fair bit of time discussing the merits of terminology “2.0”, there is demonstrated agreement within the industry that both the measurement of actual savings and the evaluation of programs should be taken to a new level. Numerous parties on Zondits have written a number of articles about it in recent months, and I will not revisit those. But if you follow the embedded links you will find our ideas about ubiquitous data harvesting and EDGE M&V.
My takeaway from all of it is that while E, M, & V seem to be three letters forever joined in the EE space, to understand where it is headed, perhaps we should dissect it into E and M and V…
E is an important piece of the energy efficiency program world. We must evaluate programs to ensure that our efforts deliver successful energy efficiency. Vast sums of ratepayer funds are in play and we must quantify actual savings and understand the how and why of the savings actually achieved. In addition to a need for faster turnaround times and shorter cycle times, we are increasingly entering an era of energy efficiency as capacity where we must assure reductions at specific hours of need, defend load reductions to T&D and supply planners, all while we continue to ensure that energy efficiency is the most cost-effective resource.