Audit Costs for the 1986 Texas Energy Cost Containment Program

Direct program costs for detailed audits of 13.5 million square feet of institutional building space in the 1986 Texas Energy Cost Containment Program were $0.047/SF. The building area was 63 percent simple (offices, schools, and universities) and 37 percent complex (medical buildings and power plants). Allowing for the influence of one large facility which received less-extensive treatment due to previous work, thorough audits were obtained for an average cost of$0.050/SF. Large medical buildings (greater than about 170,000 square feet) were audited for $0.050/SF or less, and program costs for survey audits of 17.2 million square feet were$0.0028/SF. The effect on audit costs of complexity of recommended modifications, amount of savings determined, amount of implementation costs, building size, and building complexity are discussed. Primary effects on audit costs are size and complexity of buildings. Program guidelines limited consideration of projects with greater than a four year payback

LoanSTAR Energy Auditing: Update and Changes

Annual savings identified by detailed LoanSTAR audits during the period January, 1989 -December, 1991 are $13.7 million with an investment cost of$46.1 million. These savings represent retrofit projects in state-owned buildings, local government-owned facilities, and independent school districts, accounting for 80%, 16%, and 4% of the investment cost, respectively. A summary of retrofit projects by type is presented and modifications to chillers and chilled water systems account for 26% of the savings and 32% of the cost, followed by lighting retrofits which account for 24% of the savings and 24% of the cost. The Governor's Energy Office has implemented changes to simplify the audit process by eliminating some calculations. Independent calculations and maintenance and operating procedures calculations are no longer required, and some retrofit projects may depend on standard paybacks to identify cost savings

Energy and Demand Savings from Implementation Costs in Industrial Facilities

The twenty-five most frequently suggested energy saving assessment recommendations in the Industrial Assessment Center program national database were examined using linear regression techniques to correlate between energy savings and demand reduction, and implementation costs. Poor overall correlations indicate that direct prediction of savings from implementation costs is generally unfeasible, with a limited number of exceptions. Correlations for the twenty-five most frequently suggested Texas A&M University recommendations were better than those for the national dataset. The value of this procedure to speed assessments seems not worthwhile considering the poor correlations and the value of the calculations it would replace

LoanSTAR After 11 Years: A Report on the Successes and Lessons Learned from the LoanSTAR Program

The Texas LoanSTAR program, which began in 1988, has produced over $110 million savings from energy conservation projects applied to state and local government buildings. One of the key features of LoanSTAR has been the monitoring and verification of the savings. Nationally, LoanSTAR has served as a showcase for other states to follow. LoanSTAR M&V methods have become the foundation for the the USDOE's NEMVP, IPMVP and ASHRAE's Guideline 14P. However, underneath the success of the LoanSTAR program are many lessons that have been learned that are not as highly publicized. This paper will present an overview of 11 years of measured savings from the LoanSTAR program, including the cost effectiveness of the LoanSTAR loans, trends in LoanSTAR funding, lessons learned about how to reduce the cost of a revolving loan program while maintaining quality control, and a discussion of the LoanSTAR emissions reductions

Program Overview: The Texas LoanSTAR Program; 1989-October 1999, A 10-Year Experience

The Texas LoanSTAR (Loans to Save Taxes and Resources) program was conceived as a $98.6 million capital retrofit program for building energy efficiency. The funding source is petroleum violation escrow funds (PVE) from the Federal government. LoanSTAR is administered by the Texas State Energy Conservation Office of the Comptroller's Office, under the guidance of Dub Taylor, Director, and is the largest revolving loan fund administered by a state for conservation purposes. LoanSTAR was conceived in 1988 and began in 1989. This paper summarizes the program dollar savings and environmental impact from its inception through October 1999

Audit Costs for the 1986 Texas Energy Cost Containment Program

Direct program costs for detailed audits of 13.5 million square feet of institutional building space in the 1986 Texas Energy Cost Containment Program were $0.047/SF. The building area was 63 percent simple (offices, schools, and universities) and 37 percent complex (medical buildings and power plants). Allowing for the influence of one large facility which received less-extensive treatment due to previous work, thorough audits were obtained for an average cost of$0.050/SF. Large medical buildings (greater than about 170,000 square feet) were audited for $0.050/SF or less, and program costs for survey audits of 17.2 million square feet were$0.0028/SF. The effect on audit costs of complexity of recommended modifications, amount of savings determined, amount of implementation costs, building size, and building complexity are discussed. Primary effects on audit costs are size and complexity of buildings. Program guidelines limited consideration of projects with greater than a four year payback

LoanSTAR Energy Conservation Audits: January 1989 - August 1990

Fourteen audit reports, covering seventy buildings and Texas' Governor's mansion, have been accepted as a part of the Texas LoanSTAR Program. Task 1 (the first of five) is responsible for audit reviews and assignments. One hundred forty-five energy cost reduction measures (ECRMs) and maintenance and operation recommendations (M&Os) have been identified which can result in significant amounts of electrical energy, demand and natural gas savings. Costs savings are $1,882,000/yr and the investment cost is$5,566,000 for an overall simple payback of 3.0 years. The ECRMs and M&Os have been categorized as well as the types of buildings involved. The cost for auditing the 5.2 million square feet was $0.054 per square foot. Problems associated with audit reports are also discussed

Building Energy Use and Conservation in Cycle VIII of the Texas Institutional Conservation Program

Sixty-two technical assistance (energy audit) reports by twelve different consulting firms representing fifteen independent school districts, nine hospitals, and five colleges have been reviewed to assess energy use characteristics and recommended energy saving measures. Such measures include both maintenance and operation (H&O) measures (generally regarded as "low-cost, no-cost") and energy conservation (ECH) measures (generally more expensive and requiring outside skills). Implementation cost, annual savings of energy and costs, and paybacks were reported for all M&Os and ECHs. Measures were broken down by the consulting firms according to energy use characteristics and categories, and it was determined that average costs for electricity and gas, before implementation of M&Os and ECHs, were $0.0596/KWH and$4.85/MMBTU respectively. The total implementation cost and projected annual savings for the M&Os are $73,000 and$223,000 respectively, yielding a four-month payback. The corresponding results for implementation of ECHs are $2,232,000 and$555,000, resulting in a four-year payback. Also, some obvious problems in the preparation of technical assistance reports along with the general background and implementation of the Institutional Conservation Program in Texas, resulting from the National Energy Act of 1978, are discussed