By Cecily McChalicher | Tue, May 1, 12
The pace never slows at the Regional Evaluation Measurement &Verification Forum. In addition to conducting several ongoing projects, the Forum is launching two new projects - the HVAC Variable Speed Drive (VSD) Loadshape project and the Building Energy Codes project - and further developing it Regional Energy Efficiency Database (REED).
On April 18, the Forum released an RFP for the HVAC VSD Loadshape project. The selected contractor will conduct onsite measurement of VSD controlled HVAC equipment and perform site-specific analysis of VSD hourly savings to develop annual measure savings load shapes and associated factors that can be used by Forum members. Proposals are due on May 8. The project is the third study the Forum has conducted to develop load shapes for efficiency measures based on results from new and or existing metering data – the other completed studies focused on Unitary HVAC and Commercial Lighting.
The Forum recently selected a team led by The Cadmus Group as the contractor for its Estimating Building Energy Code Savings Attributable to Energy Efficiency Programs project, and kicked-off the project with an Advisory Committee meeting on April 24. The project is funded by the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT) and the Institute for Electric Efficiency (IEE). Results of the project will advance knowledge on how to capture and account for energy efficiency benefits available from policies and utility program activities that advance residential and commercial building energy codes, recommend next steps to help capture energy efficiency benefits from codes, and encourage quality and consistency in EM&V approaches to account for energy efficiency benefits.
Regional Energy Efficiency Database Moving Forward
Along with launching these new projects, the Forum is also in the process of modifying its Regional Energy Efficiency Database (REED) set to launch in Fall 2012. Currently in development, REED will be an online tool, available to the public, that will allow states to access energy efficiency data, readily use the energy efficiency reporting guidelines' reporting tables, and view resulting comprehensive reports. We are currently coordinating with Independent Systems Operators-New England (ISO-NE)'s data collection so that energy efficiency data available in the REED is consistent with data used to inform long term energy efficiency forecasts. With this modification, the New England states will report energy efficiency program impacts to ISO-NE directly, which NEEP will be able to import directly into REED. Eric Winkler from ISO-NE presented at the April 13 Restructuring Roundtable on ISO-NE’s incorporation of energy efficiency into its long term forecasting efforts, in which he touched on this important coordination between ISO-NE and the EM&V Forum’s REED. For other Forum states, including NY, DE, MD and DC, energy efficiency data will be collected using a REED data collection tool currently in development by the project contractor, Peregrine Energy Group.
Find out more about these projects and our other current project on NEEP's website, http://www.neep.org/emv-forum.