The US Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced the release of the third edition of the “International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol” (IPMVP), a new industry standard for verifying the energy savings due to energy efficiency, water efficiency, and renewable energy projects in commercial and industrial facilities.
The protocol may be used by FMs to assess and improve the energy efficiency of buildings. According to DOE studies based on earlier editions of the protocol, those facilities that followed strict protocol guidelines for energy measurement and verification before and after retrofits had energy savings fifty percent higher than those with little or no measurement and verification.
Estimates indicate that if all cost-effective energy efficiency improvements were made to US public and commercial buildings according to the protocol, within a decade more than $10 billion in energy and water costs would be saved annually, 100,000 permanent jobs would be created, and greenhouse gas emissions would be significantly reduced.
The new IPMVP edition is expected to increase investor confidence in renewable energy by describing measurement and verification options to quantify the benefits of projects involving wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal energy.
