North American SEM Collaborative: Negative Savings Focus Group

Historical data suggests that SEM participation nearly universally does not cause an increase in facility energy intensity. However, when non-routine events are not identified nor accurately captured, the energy model shows an increase in energy use. Utilities and implementers report this information in inconsistent ways (sometimes zeroing them out and sometimes including the negative savings at the customer or portfolio level). This focus group work conducted by the North American SEM Collaborative sought to understand how negative savings is normally handled among a variety of SEM program practitioners.

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