Why Comparing Year-to-Year Utility Bills May Understate Your Energy Savings
If you simply compare bills from year to year, you won't be capturing energy savings, but rather will be at the mercy of the weather. Hot summers mean more air conditioning energy usage. Cold winters mean more heating energy usage. If one year is hot, and the next is cool, how are you going to accurately gage your energy savings?
Here is an example: Suppose you install a lighting retrofit in your facility. And ever since the job was completed, your facility has been experiencing a heat wave. Where are your energy savings going to be? They are going to get gobbled up by the increased air conditioning load. By simply comparing year to year energy usage, you might not see any savings at all. How is your supervisor going to like that? He probably won't.
If you are going to show energy and cost savings, you are better off doing it right. Then you can get the rewards you deserve for a job well done.
What about changes in Occupancy, Schedule, or Production?
Well, just as weather can unfairly change your energy savings numbers so can changes in Occupancy, Schedules or Production. The same story holds true. If you want to keep accurate track of your utility savings, you need to take these into account.
So how do you get accurate energy savings numbers?
To accurately determine your energy savings, it is best to remove the effects of weather, schedule or other variables from the energy savings equation. Once you do this, weather fluctuations will no longer affect your energy savings numbers.
So how is it done? Well, it is easy if you have the right tools. Metrix 4 Utility Accounting System is the tool. Metrix has been in use by smart energy managers since 1995 to get a fair measure of their energy savings.
Metrix automatically adjusts the energy savings equation for heating degree days, cooling degree days and up to three variables of your own choosing. Metrix uses a multiple variable statistical model that establishes Baseline Usage which then can be compared to your current utility bills.
Fortunately, Metrix does the heavy lifting. You don't have to be a statistician to use or understand it.
Every year Billions of dollars in savings are tracked using Metrix.
Metrix uses what FEMP Guidelines and the International Measurement and Verification Protocol call the Option C (Whole Building) approach to determining energy savings.
Who uses Metrix?
Metrix has been used by largest and most successful ESCOs since 1995 to determine energy savings from their performance contracts including Johnson Controls, Honeywell, Siemens, Chevron Energy Services, Noresco, Novar Controls, Vestar, Ameresco, Carrier, Trane, MCW and others.
Metrix is also popular among:
