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em&v

Mar 21
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Image shows a graphic of stacked books with "Energy Rant" on the spine. Next to graphic is text displaying: "The Book of Energy Program Evaluation - Tssssss"

The Book on Energy Program Evaluation – Tssssss

By Energy Rant No Comments
Although, or maybe because Michaels Energy has provided research and evaluation services for about 25 years, I’ve been a consistent critic of evaluation, measurement, and verification (EMV), and I’ll tell you why in several chapters. Chapter 1 Resource Acquisition Evaluation methodologies are predominately based on widget programs, also known as resource acquisition programs. The hypothesis is this: efficient equipment costs more, and that extra cost is the barrier. How to mitigate or remove the barrier? Pay down the incremental cost with a rebate after the purchase or incentive before the purchase. It’s that simple and dumb. The simpleton approach to…
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Jul 06
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Hidden Barriers to Energy Efficiency

By The Big Why of Evaluation
At their core, energy efficiency programs exist to help the market overcome barriers preventing the adoption of energy-efficient equipment or behaviors. Some barriers, like the high first cost of equipment, are obvious and often targeted, but they may mask other obstacles that are even harder to overcome. Better understanding and addressing these overlooked barriers can help programs increase their participation and savings. Commonly Addressed Barriers When developing a program, the program administrator should create a program theory/logic model (PTLM) to list the barriers preventing the adoption of energy efficiency, followed by the activities to help the market overcome these barriers, then the…
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May 11
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The Case of the Wonky Solar Data

By The Big Why of Evaluation
No matter the methodology, we calculate energy savings or production using data. Sometimes, however, the data is missing or appears to be an outlier due to a variety of reasons. When this occurs we need to figure out why and how to fix it. Let’s dig into a recent issue with my solar panels as an example. The Backstory I am an unapologetic energy nerd. So it is no surprise that I love regularly looking at the online data dashboard for my home’s solar PV system. I find it so interesting that, despite the hour-to-hour changes in weather in New…
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Apr 13
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End of the Year Crunch: Does the Timing of Projects Affect Their Savings?

By The Big Why of Evaluation No Comments
When evaluating commercial and industrial (C&I) energy efficiency programs, it often seems like the most extensive and complicated projects (those most likely to be adjusted during our review) come in at the end of the year. Is that the case, or is that just selective memory? I wasn’t sure, so I decided to investigate. Making Waves Evaluations of C&I programs are often conducted in waves for several reasons. First, they provide more “real-time” feedback to program implementers to make changes to the program as quickly as possible. Segmenting projects into waves also spreads the evaluation work over a more extended…
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Mar 28
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Decoding Code Compliance, Part 2

By The Big Why of Evaluation No Comments
In Part 1, we covered what energy code programs do and different ways of measuring code compliance. In this part, we will examine the steps needed to estimate program savings. Code adoption and compliance change over time. To estimate savings, we must consider the counterfactual of what would have happened if the program did not exist. When would a code have been adopted and how would building practices have changed over time? These are not easy questions, but let’s dig in. If Only It Was So Easy Recently I was looking through the Rhode Island TRM and chuckled when I found this description…
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Mar 02
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Decoding Code Compliance, Part 1

By The Big Why of Evaluation No Comments
Building energy codes programs are a very cost-effective opportunity for energy savings and many utilities consider these programs the next frontier of energy efficiency. The potential savings from adopting more efficient building energy codes can be significant, but only if compliance is high. But do you measure compliance and how can the same building be 0%, 50%, 67%, or 80% compliant at the same time? Let’s dig into energy codes, what energy codes programs do, and how to evaluate their impacts. What Are Energy Codes? Building energy codes are local laws that establish requirements to limit the energy use in buildings,…
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Jan 19
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Kitchen Renovations, Induction Cooking, and Non-Energy Impacts

By The Big Why of Evaluation No Comments
I am renovating my kitchen. The project was supposed to start in March 2020, but then the world shut down due to Covid. Now, nearly two years later, we are finally getting started. During that time, I have decided to switch from a gas range to an induction cooktop. While energy efficiency did factor into this decision, most of my reasoning to choose induction was due to its non-energy impacts. What are non-energy impacts and how do they play in the decision-making around energy efficiency? Read on! One benefit of putting off a big renovation for two years (and also…
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Dec 22
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Impact Evaluations – How Good is Good Enough?

By The Big Why of Evaluation No Comments
A major theme of the Big Why of Evaluation is that evaluations always involve balancing accuracy and costs due to time and budget constraints as well as the pesky issue of dealing with counterfactuals. The eternal question of “how good is good enough” drives one of Michaels Energy’s core values of “intuitive analysis.” The key to impact evaluations is managing uncertainty. Often, this is measured in terms of confidence and precision related to sampling error (i.e., the industry standard 90% confidence/10% precision threshold), but there are many other types of error that we need to account for that cannot be…
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Jul 31
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Program Evaluation – Most Excellent Avocado Practices

By Energy Rant No Comments
Everyone has applied for health insurance, and many of you have applied for life insurance. Anyone over, oh, 40, 50, or for sure 60, knows health flaws start to accumulate like the dumpster’s worth of unwelcome gifts, used shoes, and outdated clothes for those of you who stay current with the style trends of the day.Come to think of it, all you digital natives, back in the day before weddingregistry.com (where you shop and make other people fill your house with stuff you want), we just took whatever the aunts, uncles, or more especially, great aunts and uncles, decided to…
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Oct 03
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Evaluation, Measurement and Verification 2.0; A Whale Bus or an Airbus?

By Energy Rant 2 Comments
Evaluation, Measurement and Verification 2.0, or EM&V 2.0, is a nerdy term coined in 2014, according to this blog by Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP). The hype of EM&V 2.0, which I will explain later, is that it will automate measurement and verification, putting us engineers out of business. This is not going to happen anytime soon. Definition 2.0 The definition of EM&V 2.0 boils down to using utility meter interval data, typically hourly or sometimes every 15 minutes, or maybe even 5 minutes, to disaggregate and measure impacts from energy efficiency measures. One could consider that EM&V 2.0 is…
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