Field Notes Fall 2020
Posted by Dana Rider | Date September 22, 2020
This month we report on:
This post complements our Field Notes newsletter, which features quarterly updates on CEE's research projects. Sign up for Field Notes to get this information in your inbox.
Pay for Performance: A tool to incentivize ongoing energy efficiency
Background
Whole-building pay for performance is an incentive mechanism that compensates building owners for energy performance over time, rather than up-front rebates estimated energy savings from improved design or equipment choices. While pay-for-performance pilots and programs are increasingly common on the coasts, this model has yet to be applied in Minnesota. CEE undertook a CARD-funded study in 2018 to determine if a pay-for-performance incentive model would be of interest to commercial customers in Minnesota and to better understand the factors that would affect cost effectiveness in our market. Researchers conducted a variety of local and national interviews and assessed the benefits of the model as well as policy and technical implementation challenges.
Update
The project has been completed and the final paper is in the process of approval and dissemination. Some of the study’s major findings included the following:
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Meter-Verified Savings: More utilities and utility commissions are looking at the value of meter-based energy and demand savings as a basis for tracking and improving incentives.
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More Complex Buildings: Buildings are becoming more connected and intelligent, and the opportunity for interoperable equipment, controls, operational settings, scheduling, and behavior is becoming blurrier.
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Building Performance Targets: There is a small but growing trend of building operators benchmarking their energy performance and setting targets to help lower bills, meet corporate goals, or gain recognition.
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Savings Cutting Across Measure Types: More and more whole-building energy efficiency programs are being deployed across the country. These programs allow customers, as well as program providers, technology-agnostic, flexible means for achieving deeper energy performance goals.
The final report is forthcoming in the winter of 2020–2021. It will be published on CEE’s website as well as in the Division of Energy Resources CARD report archive.
This project is supported by a grant from the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources, through the Conservation Applied Research and Development (CARD) program, which is funded by Minnesota ratepayers.
Commercial boiler control tune-ups
Background
With the increasing dominance of high-efficiency condensing boilers in commercial buildings, expanding the scope of boiler tune-ups to include control optimization provides an important opportunity to update CIP programs and increase savings per participant. This project is working to quantify actual savings achieved through such control adjustments for condensing boilers. As of their most recent update in June 2019, researchers had selected 16 sites for field testing (including multifamily buildings and schools) and begun monitoring them, with control tune-ups planned to start in 2020 and continue through the winter.
Update
Researchers outlined a pilot setup where boiler controls are tuned up with attention paid to the specifications of different makes and models, as well as initial training implemented for contractors. Considerable savings have been realized in Minnesota based on locally tailored tools and approaches, as well as a high level of contractor engagement and support. Researchers have observed preliminary savings of 13% in six multifamily buildings — higher than the preliminary savings observed for schools. That difference was anticipated by the research team, though due to COVID-19 impacts on schools it is not expected that the school estimates will be as reliable as those for multifamily buildings. The project team was able to reduce supply water distribution temperatures at 13 of 16 sites, and short cycling was addressed at 11 sites. There has been a high level of initial support for contractors, with callbacks for fine-tuning adjustments at only three of 16 sites. So far, costs have averaged $725 per site.
This project is supported by a grant from the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources, through the Conservation Applied Research and Development (CARD) program, which is funded by Minnesota ratepayers.
Air source heat pump installation in single-family and multifamily homes
Background
Air source heat pumps employ a refrigeration cycle involving a compressor, condenser, and evaporator to absorb heat from outside air and release it inside a home or building. As the technology has been refined in recent years for variable capacity, it has emerged as a legitimate residential option in cold climates like Minnesota’s. CEE researchers are conducting two CARD-funded studies of heat pumps over the next three years, one in a multifamily setting and one in a single-family setting. The studies are measuring performance, energy savings, and customer acceptance, as well as establishing installation protocols. As of their most recent update in December 2019, researchers had interviewed stakeholders to identify barriers to adoption of the technology and begun to recruit monitoring sites for the projects.
Update
Five single-family sites have already been set up for baseline monitoring of the existing systems, with one more scheduled in September 2020 and the possibility of adding two more. Two of the sites have existing one- and two-stage heat pumps. The project team plans to install high-efficiency, variable capacity heat pumps in all of the baseline sites by the end of the first quarter of 2021. For multifamily buildings, researchers have begun baseline monitoring eight systems at two sites, with post-installation monitoring set to begin in late 2020 for one and in early 2021 for the other. Some site selection efforts have been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but researchers are already working on install logistics for three other multifamily properties.
These projects are supported by a grant from the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources, through the Conservation Applied Research and Development (CARD) program, which is funded by Minnesota ratepayers.