The US Department of Energy`s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy [EE] has for more than a decade focused its efforts on research to develop new technologies for improving the efficiency of energy use and increasing the role of renewable energy; success has usually been measured in terms of energy saved or displaced. Estimates of future energy savings remain an important factor in program planning and prioritization. A variety of internal and external factors are now radically changing the planning process, and in turn the composition and thrust of the EE program. The Energy Policy Act of 1992, the Framework Convention on Climate Change (and the Administration`s Climate Change Action Plan), and concerns for the future of the economy (especially employment and international competitiveness) are increasing emphasis on technology deployment and near-term results. The Reinventing Government Initiative, the Government Performance and Results Act, and the Executive Order on Environmental Justice are all forcing Federal programs to demonstrate that they are producing desired results in a cost-effective manner. The application of Total Quality Management principles has increased the scope and importance of producing quantified measures of benefit. EE has established a process for estimating the benefits of DOE`s energy efficiency and renewable energy programs called `Quality Metrics` (QM). The ``metrics`` are: Energy; Environment; Employment; Risk; Equity; Economics. This paper describes the approach taken by EE`s Office of Building Technologies to prepare estimates of program benefits in terms of these metrics, presents the estimates, discusses their implications, and explores possible improvements to the QM process as it is currently configured
