Energy Conservation Through Demand-Side Management (DSM): A Methodology to Characterize Energy Use Among commercial Market Segments

Abstract

Managing energy demand can be beneficial for both the energy consumer and the energy supplier. By reducing energy use, the consumer reduces operating costs and improves production efficiency and competitiveness. Similarly, the supplier may reduce the need for costly capacity expansion and wholesale power purchasing, especially if energy reductions occur during peak loading conditions. Energy reductions may also lessen global climate change and reduce many other consequences of fossil-fuel energy use. The following research highlights a methodology to characterize energy use and optimize a DSM program for different types of commercial buildings. Utilizing publicly available records, such as utility billing data and property tax records, the diverse commercial building market was characterized. The commercial building types were matched to relevant submarkets of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). These sources were combined to prioritize building type submarket energy use intensity (kWh/sf/yr), load factor and many other energy use characteristics for each market segment. From this information, lower tier performers in each NAICS submarket can be identified and appropriate DSM alternatives selected specific to each.