Active Efficiency in Action
The best way to understand the value of Active Efficiency is to see it in action. There are many examples that demonstrate the potential of Active Efficiency. Between the economic, social, and environmental benefits, the hard work that goes into making these examples successful is something to be celebrated.
Valuation & Metrics
Determining the value of energy efficiency and demand flexibility is critical for assessing cost-effectiveness, ensuring policy support, and designing appropriate program incentives and compensation. Standardized methodologies will help meet these needs for valuation. The frameworks highlighted in this section are forging a path toward improved valuation of energy efficiency and demand flexibility, which can inform the metrics used to design and implement performance-based utility programs.
See the Performance-Based Utility Program’s Guiding Principles
GridOptimal Initiative
The GridOptimal Initiative by the New Buildings Institute and the U.S. Green Building Council has developed metrics for demand flexibility that can be used for utility programs, building codes, policies, facilities management, and performance evaluation. The eight metrics include a building’s Grid Peak Contribution (i.e., the degree to which building demand contributes to load on the grid during peak hours), Short-term Demand Flexibility (i.e., the building’s ability to reduce demand for one hour), and Resiliency (i.e., ability to “island” from the grid and/or provide energy for critical loads for 4-24 hours).
National Standard Practice Manual for Benefit-Cost Analysis of Distributed Energy Resources (NSPM for DERs)
The April 2020 National Standard Practice Manual for Benefit-Cost Analysis of Distributed Energy Resources (NSPM for DERs) provides a framework for aligning cost-effectiveness testing approaches with state policy goals. The manual also provides flexibility to change the methodology for cost-benefit tests as policy needs evolve or vary across jurisdictions.