Industry Research
Industry Research
The UMCA is committed to providing updates to its members, friends, and colleagues with regard to legislative news and industry practices. It is important to stay informed, and we trust you will do the same for the UMCA as you engage in your daily business affairs. We have researched and curated some important industry news. We hope you will find the information below useful.
Sub-Metering Energy Use in Colleges and Universities: Incentives and Challenges
A Resource Document for Energy, Facility, and Financial Managers from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR®
1. INTRODUCTION
The supply and costs of energy have become increasingly volatile over the last several years. Electricity shortages and rising costs of natural gas in the summer of 2001 increased national attention on those energy sources. There are many possible actions to address energy supply and cost issues. One option is to improve building energy efficiency to reduce demand. Decisions about improving energy systems in buildings rest, in part, on detailed knowledge of current energy use. That, in turn, depends upon the metering of all energy sources such as electricity, natural gas, steam, and chilled water.
National Submetering and Allocation Billing Program Study (2004)
Koplow and Lownie found higher water savings for both submetering and RUBS compared with the National Submetering and Allocation Billing Program Study (current study). Although the sample size in the Koplow and Lownie study was small (n=32 compared with n=953 in this study), the statistical methods employed were generally sound. However, a critical assumption by Koplow and Lownie to combine the water savings from fixture conversion and water billing appears to have impacted their results. Surprisingly this assumption was not made explicit in Koplow and Lownie's report. However, recent personal communication with Doug Koplow revealed that the savings estimates in his 1999 study included savings attributable to fixture upgrades, as well as to the billing system itself. Doug Koplow wrote in a memo dated January 2004:
Submetering, RUBS, and Water Conservation
Prepared for:
National Apartment Association (Alexandria, VA)
National Multi Housing Council (Washington, DC)
Prepare by:
Doug Koplow and Alexi Lownie
Industrial Economics, Incorporated
2067 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02140
June 1999
Final Report
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
To better understand how billing methods affect water consumption patterns, we examined detailed water and wastewater billing information for 32 properties across three states. The properties represented a mix of sizes, ages, and management companies. In addition, properties were grouped by whether they charged tenants directly for water using meters on each apartment; allocated water and sewer charges based on some mix of apartment size or number of people (referred to as Ratio Utility Billing Systems, or RUBS); or simply recovered these costs indirectly from tenants through the rents they charged (referred to as "in-rent").
To enable comparisons across this diverse sample, we developed a number of standardized metrics. These included cost and consumption per resident and per occupied square foot. Properties were also paired with a building of similar age, location, and size, but with a different method of charging for water, in order to compare consumption patterns.
New York State Energy Research & Development Authority
Residential Electrical Submetering Manual
Prepared for:
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
Project Manager: Mary Ann Bowers
Prepare by Consulting Project Team:
Herbert E. Hirschfeld, P.E.
Joseph S. Lopes, Applied Energy Gorup, Inc.
Howard Schechter, Esq., Schechter & Bricker, P.C.
Ruth Lerner
October 1997, revised October 2001
NYSERDA Contracts #4483-IABR-BR-97, #5037
ABSTRACT
Residential submetering is the measurement and billing of electric use in individual apartments in mastermetered buildings. In master-metered building situations, residents do not bear electricity costs in proportion to consumption levels. As a result, studies have confirmed that residents in master-metered buildings tend to consume more electricity than residents with individual apartment metering, and have established electrical submetering as an effective energy conservation measure.
The New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) has commissioned a project called Submetering Manual and Information Package to develop educational materials, as recommended and described in the project Facilitating Submetering Implementation (Report 96-7). These materials are designed to provide information, sources, supporting documentation and overall guidance for representatives of agencies, government, and buildings that are considering the implementation of submetering. Experienced professionals in the technical, legal, regulatory, analytical, financial, and other aspects of submetering were retained to develop this manual. This manual is intended for information purposes only and is presented as the best information available at the time of publishing.
Guidance for Electric Metering in Federal Buildings
February 3, 2006
US Department of Energy
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
FEMP
Federal Energy Management Program
www.eere.energy.gov/femp
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005), Section 103, requires all federal agencies to install metering and advanced metering where found to be cost-effective, according to guidelines developed by the Department of Energy (DOE), in consultation with a number of interest groups. DOE has met with representatives from the metering industry, the utility industry, energy services industry, energy efficiency industry, energy efficiency advocacy organizations, national laboratories, universities, and federal facility managers to develop the guidelines set forth in this document.
There were several areas in the language of Section 103 that required some level of clarification prior to finalizing these guidelines, as follows:
• Section 103 applies to ALL electric metering, standard and advanced, at all federal buildings and subsystems, based on cost-effectiveness and practicability.
• The definition of “buildings,” for the purposes of Section 103, should be considered the same as for annual energy reporting, and will also include industrial or process applications.
• Maximum extent practicable" includes:
- installation of metering and advanced metering wherever feasible;
- the capability of providing useful data and information that leads to improved energy management practices or operations and maintenance improvements resulting in energy and/or energy-related cost savings;
- the sensible application of metering technology; and
- cost-effectiveness, which is based on a 10-year simple payback, assuming annual savings of at least 2%, or higher depending on the use of the metered data to implement energy savings and other cost savings measures.
Submetering of building energy and water usage
Analysis and recommendations of the subcommittee on buildings technology research and development
National Science and Technology Council Committee on technology
Subcommittee on buildings technology research and development
October 2011
About this Document
This report presents the BTRD’s guidance and recommendations on the benefits and complexities in the use of submetering technologies for new and existing buildings. Proven demonstrations of new building technologies are essential to high-performance and sustainable building designs and operational practices that positively impact the effective stewardship of our Nation’s resources. A promising avenue for advancement of these goals involves the deployment of advanced building instrumentation and submetering for real-time measurement of energy and water usage. To this end, the Subcommittee has developed this report documenting the current state of submetering, relevant case studies, preliminary findings relating to submetering system costs and return on investment, and references to relevant publications for continual and accurate measurement of resource consumption, focused design and retrofit strategies, improved building management procedures, and changes in human behaviors that lead to significant reductions in energy and water usage.
