Protocols & Datasets

Selecting Approaches

There are two documents that are most often cited as standards for energy efficiency evaluation - the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol for project M&V; and the California Energy Efficiency Evaluation Protocols for program evaluation. However, several states also maintain their own protocols and/ or required approaches for measuring specific energy efficiency programs. Many utilities report referencing several of these protocol or guideline documents when formulating evaluation plans or seeking information on typical results. In some cases, evaluation practices are mandated, but for most public power utilities the scope of the evaluation and the approaches used are determined based on the utility's goals and available resources.

Using Secondary Data

As a starting point, many utility program planners and evaluators use secondary data, such as estimates of measure life, incremental cost, and annual savings, which can be found in many of the protocol documents in this section. Typically, some collection of primary data on critical or uncertain points will be needed, but relying in part on secondary data for common or well-documented measures can significantly reduce evaluation costs.