Hey folks, Phil Zito here and welcome to back. In this post, we are going to go through energy management for BAS professionals, we're going to go through our four-step process related to energy management, and then by the end of this post, you should have a list of ideas that you can implement with your customers or within your own facilities in order to better manage your energy.

This is the first of two articles that discuss what are the green rating programs for buildings.

When I say green what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Do you think buildings? If so why not?

In case you haven't heard, there's been a push around creating Green, sustainable, net-zero buildings. The "Green Building" craze that has come about over the past ten years and only now are the green rating programs for buildings starting to catch on.  Therefore I can't really fault you if you're not completely up to speed.

Do a quick search on building and energy websites and what comes up within the first page? You have some stuff from the DOE (Department of Energy) and other government entities but chances are you will only find one of the top 5 building and energy websites during your search. This means that decision makers, consultants, and designers are missing out on key information that directly impact the efficiency and effectiveness of their building management and energy programs.

In the previous article of the Energy Efficiency Where to Begin series, I began to discuss how to identify the key information you need to plan, create, and implement an Energy Management Program. In this article I will explain the last two points you need to identify and will summarize the identify step. 

Energy Efficiency Where to Begin? Identify Part 1

Overview

In the previous article of the Energy Efficiency Where to Begin series. I identified the 50,000 foot view of energy management and the overarching themes of an effective energy management program. In this article we begin to take a detailed look at an effective energy management system.

In this article I will discuss the fundamentals of energy efficiency and "where to begin". I have been blessed, truly blessed, to have a role where I literally travel the United States and Canada meeting with companies around their need to reduce energy consumption. The consistent theme seems to be inconsistency. Now stop and think about what I just said there. The industry, in regards to Energy Efficiency is fragmented.

In my earlier post M&V Overview I discussed that I would be creating posts centered around each of the M&V approaches. In this post I will be writing an in depth review of Option C Measurement and Verification (M&V). You can expect to learn the following from this post. The layout of this post is going to be very similar to the other M&V posts as it is my goal to give you an in-depth review of the four M&V methods to aid you in selecting the right approach.

Measurement and Verification Option B

In my earlier post M&V Overview, I discussed that I would be creating posts centered around each of the M&V approaches. In this post, I will be writing an in depth review of Option A Measurement and Verification (M&V). You can expect to learn the following from this post. The layout of this post is going to be very similar to the other M&V posts, as it is my goal to give you an in-depth review of the four M&V methods to aid you in selecting the appropriate approach:

The Definition

According to the Berkley Laboratory Measurement and Verification (M&V) is:

“M&V is the process of using measurement to reliably determine actual savings created within an individual facility by an energy management, energy conservation or energy efficiency project or program. As savings cannot be directly measured, the savings can be determined by comparing measured use before and after implementation of a project, making appropriate adjustments for changes in conditions.”