Big Data & Effective Utility Programs results from large scale use of benchmarking in affordable housing Edward Connelly President, New Ecology, Inc. Founder, Wegowise, Inc. Boston, MA
Who Are New Ecology and Wegowise? New Ecology is a non-profit organization whose mission is to catalyze sustainable development in low income and underserved communities. We work in the following areas: New construction Moderate Rehab Energy Efficiency Efficiency R&D Consulting Outreach and Education Data Analysis
Our Impact Pioneered or Advanced: Cost Benefit Analysis of Green Affordable Housing Portfolio Approach to Greening and Energy Management Integrated Design Process LEED and Green Communities Certifications for Affordable Projects Green Charrettes Large Scale Benchmarking Data Analysis of Multifamily Performance and Application Asset Manager Training Controls Analysis Low Cost Remote Monitoring Advanced HVAC Design Lectured, Presented, Facilitated Charrettes or Trained in 25 States, Canada and Turkey
Who Are New Ecology and Wegowise? Energy Data Company Founded by NEI, Boston Community Capital and CTO to solve the data problem in multifamily affordable housing Largest database of its kind
As of August 19, 2013 Tracking: 252,338units 15,828buildings 360,000,000Square feet
What Does Wegowise Do? Building Info Raw Utility Data
Key Features of Wegowise Automatically tracks a building s Water, Electricity, Gas, and Oil consumptions and costs Links these usages to the building s construction and system characteristics Normalizes comparisons within your portfolio or against benchmarks Comprehensive analytics from portfolio down to meter level Tracks a building s upgrades to verify saving Shares information among professional and personal networks Exports data and Portfolio Manager integration No hardware required in the buildings
Basic Wegowise View
Programs Using Data
Applicants receive a free year of WegoPro, which includes ability to track retrofits. Scores are channeled through to the Inventory. LEAN Benchmarking Inventory Benchmarking 75% of multifamily affordable housing in MA (10,147 buildings) over a three-year period. Ends June 2013. Utility Companies receive spreadsheets with 839 new benchmarks each month, and an annual report with usage medians specific to MAaffordable housing Participating property owners receive a free year of a WegoPro Account LEAN Funding Program Grant-based funding for cost-effective measures. Applicant puts building into WegoWise. The building s heating energy score is shared with the program administrator. Scores: Above 10 BTU/HDD/Cond. SqFt automatically qualify for an energy audit Ranging from 7 9 are handled on a case-by-case basis Less than 6 do not qualify for an energy audit Utility companies will fund any measure the audit deems cost-effective Buildings identified as poor performers are channeled through to the funding program.
8Things We ve Learned
Saving (Btu/sqft) 1. Pre-retrofit Usage is the Most Reliable Predictor of Energy Savings A Deutsche Bank study released January 2012 looked into trends in pre- and postretrofit building performance and the reliability of savings projections using a sample of 231 multi-family buildings. 25000 20000 WZN UPGRADES Correlation: 0.68 Only pre-retrofit fuel usage intensity was a statistically significant predictor of post-retrofit results. 15000 10000 What was not? Building age Building size Number of units High-rise vs Low-rise Total square footage Heating system type Fuel type Study involved Steven Winter Associates, Michael Blasnick & Associates. Buildings were a variety of vintage, heating systems, utility data spanned a 9 year range (lots of weather varieties and data was weather normalized). www.db.com/usa/img/dblc_recognizing_the_benefits_of_e nergy_efficiency_01_12.pdf 5000 0-5000 -10000 0 50000 100000 150000 Pre Usage (Btu/sqft)
2. Local Benchmarks Drive Program Decisions
3. Screening Applicants for Usage Targets Utility Funding to Buildings That Benefit the Most
3. Screening Applicants Applicants Prequalification Maximizes potential savings Potential savings Upgrade buildings Focused audits M&V Driven by real data accurate, reliable Applicant Continuous customer engagement
Using Screens To Market to Owners
4. We Can Estimate Real Energy Savings Potential
5. M&V is Quick, Easy and Actionable
5. M&V is Quick, Easy and Actionable
Heating Energy (Btu/sqft/HDD) Heating Plant Upgrades & Weatherization Heating - BTU/SF/HDD (before) Heating - BTU/SF/HDD (after) 16.00 14.00 12.00 Before Ave, 11.33 10.00 8.00 After Ave, 7.77 6.00 4.00 2.00 0.00 Heating Energy Average (Btu/sqft/HDD) Average of Percentage (%) Before 11.33 --- After 7.77 --- Saving 3.56 30%
6. Data Shows How EE Programs Can Go Beyond the Basics 30,041 btu/br/day 10,231 btu/br/day
Oct-09 Nov-09 Dec-09 Jan-10 Feb-10 Mar-10 Apr-10 May-10 Jun-10 Jul-10 Aug-10 Sep-10 Oct-10 Nov-10 Dec-10 Jan-11 Feb-11 Mar-11 Apr-11 May-11 Jun-11 Jul-11 Aug-11 Sep-11 Oct-11 Nov-11 Dec-11 Jan-12 Feb-12 Mar-12 Apr-12 May-12 Jun-12 Jul-12 Aug-12 Sep-12 Oct-12 Nov-12 Dec-12 6. Data Shows How EE Programs Can Go Beyond the Basics 14 12 10 8 6 4 Heating Before: 6.70 Btu/sqft/HDD Heating After: 4.13 Btu/sqft/HDD 2 0 Heating Before (Btu/sqft/HDD) Heating After (Btu/sqft/HDD)
7. Data Can Drive Policy Decisions
8. The Data Helps Spin Off New Programs
Thanks! Ed Connelly connelly@newecology.org 617 557-1700 x 22