Estimation Of Energy Savings Resulting From The Bestpractices Program Fiscal Year 2002

Within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has a vision of a future with clean, abundant, reliable, and affordable energy. Within EERE, the Industrial Technologies Program (ITP), formerly the Office of Industrial Technologies, works in partnership with industry to increase energy efficiency, improve environmental performance, and boost productivity. The BestPractices (BP) Program, within ITP, works directly with industries to encourage energy efficiency. The purpose of the BP Program is to improve energy utilization and management practices in the industrial sector. The program targets distinct technology areas, including pumps, process heating, steam, compressed air, motors, and insulation. This targeting is accomplished with a variety of delivery channels, such as computer software, printed publications, Internet-based resources, technical training, technical assessments, and other technical assistance. A team of program evaluators from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) was tasked to evaluate the fiscal year 2002 (FY02) energy savings of the program. The ORNL assessment enumerates levels of program activity for technology areas across delivery channels. In addition, several mechanisms that target multiple technology areas--e.g., Plant-wide Assessments (PWAs), the ''Energy Matters'' newsletter, and special events--are also evaluated for their impacts. When possible, the assessment relies on published reports and the Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) database for estimates of energy savings that result from particular actions. Data were also provided by ORNL, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and Project Performance Corporation (PPC), the ITP Clearinghouse at Washington State University, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Energetics Inc., and the Industrial Technologies Program Office. The estimated energy savings in FY02 resulting from activities of the BP Program are almost 81.9 trillion Btu (0.0819 Quad), which is about 0.25% of the 32.5 Quads of energy consumed during FY02 by the industrial sector in the United States. The technology area with the largest estimated savings is steam, with 32% of the total energy savings. The delivery mechanism with the largest savings is that of software systems distribution, encompassing 44% of the total savings. Training results in an energy savings of 33%. Energy savings from PWAs and PWA replications equal 10%. Sources of overestimation of energy savings might derive from (1) a possible overlap of energy savings resulting from separate events (delivery channels) occurring in conjunction with one another (e.g., a training event and CTA at the same plant), and (2) a possible issue with the use of the average CTA value to assess savings for training and software distribution. Any overestimation attributable to these sources probably is outweighed by underestimations caused by the exclusion of savings resulting from general awareness workshops, data not submitted to the ITP Tracking Database, omission of savings attributable to web downloads of publications, use of BP products by participants over multiple years, and the continued utilization of equipment installed or replaced in previous years. Next steps in improving these energy savings estimates include continuing to enhance the design of the ITP Tracking Database and to improve reporting of program activities for the distribution of products and services; obtaining more detailed information on implementation rates and savings estimates for software training, tools, and assessments; continuing attempts to quantify savings based on Qualified Specialist activities; defining a methodology for assessing savings based on web downloads of publications; establishing a protocol for evaluating savings from other BP-sponsored events and activities; and continuing to refine the estimation methodology and reduction factors.