May 20, 2025

Featured Article: Estimating Building End-use Energy Consumption Using CBECS, RECS, and CEUS Data

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Article Abstract

Estimating energy and cost savings associated with replacing existing equipment in commercial and multifamily buildings with new high efficiency equipment can be a daunting task. While dynamic building simulation modeling may be the preferred technical approach, the expense of using this data intensive, expensive and time-consuming method to support existing equipment replacements in small- to medium-size buildings (SMBs) is often cost prohibitive. As such, for SMB retrofits with limited budgets the energy professional is confronted with the challenge of finding a more cost-effective and less resource intensive approach.

This paper discusses one such approach that focuses on developing good building end-use energy consumption data from which energy savings may be reasonably estimated. The approach relies on collecting a whole building’s actual energy consumption data, determining the energy consumption of the building’s end-uses by adjusting energy consumption data collected via publicly available government surveys on similar buildings and combining this with conventional energy savings algorithms.

Currently in use by Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) and other energy efficiency programs in the U.S., this approach has proven to provide a technically sound, reasonable energy cost savings estimate in a timely and cost-effective manner for SMB retrofits.

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* This article was originally published in the Association of Energy Engineers International Journal of Energy Management Volume 7, Issue 2, 2025. To learn more about AEE, visit www.aeecenter.org