One of the most significant challenges to effectively managing energy is accurately determining an energy management system's impact on energy use and cost. Energy use is often dictated by a large number of dynamic, interrelated factors. That makes it unclear whether changes in consumption are the result of implemented energy efficiency measures, changes in other factors affecting your energy use (like the weather), or some combination of both.
So, how do you separate the effects of your energy management system from other factors? To do so, you need an energy baseline.
Energy Baselines, Defined:
An energy baseline is a reference tool. It allows you to compare energy performance before and after a change is made to your site or system. The baseline establishes the “before” by capturing a site or system's total energy use before making improvements. It accounts for energy affecting factors like temperature or production volume. The baseline is accomplished by modeling the site’s performance before changes, typically employing a statistical technique called linear regression.
The baseline serves three fundamental purposes:
1. It allows you to zero in on what’s contributing to good or evil energy performance by providing an apples-to-apples comparison of energy use between two different periods.
2. It can forecast energy use and cos through manipulation of the energy affecting factors.
3. It can be used for monitoring and verify savings from energy efficiency projects.
Baselines can be established using nothing more than utility bills, data on the energy affecting factors during the selected billing periods, and Excel.
However, this requires know-how and the effort of collecting the relevant data each time compared to baseline is performed.
Source: Article - Michael John, Implementation August 19, 2015
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