EnergyIQ: How To Use This Tool

This web-based tool allows users to benchmark existing or design-stage buildings against a wide array of energy-related metrics for other buildings.

Note: The current version of this tool is not a full release. Functionality is limited, with unavailable features set in a grey font.

QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

This tool includes only three (interactive) web pages. The first page is the Benchmarking environment, in which you select from among various filters, the kinds of indicators and metrics that are to be benchmarked, graphical views, etc. The second page is Actions, which gives qualitative indications of which energy-efficiency opportunities are likely to be relevant to your building. Ancillary "pop-up" windows (such as this one) provide background information and help you administer your account. The third page, MyIQ, is an area for managing your account and comparing results across a portfolio of buildings.

1. Review screenshot (see below) with explanation of functionality.

2. Select choices from the series of "filters" in the right-hand column. These include building types, vintages, sizes, locations, and "peer group" of buildings being benchmarked. Then select energy types ("Energy") or building characteristics ("Features"), as well as metrics ("Indicators") and chart types ("Views").

3. Click the "Click to Plot" icon to render the initial benchmarking view, or first adjust any of the inputs as desired.

4. Adjust inputs to continue visually browsing through different energy options, features, indicators, and views. After selecting options that interest you, you can re-render.

5. At any time, enter the indicated information in the "Compare Your Building" pane to superimpose your building's performance onto the current chart. All fields require a value (enter "0" if the field does not apply to you). Once all fields are completed, click the "Apply your building info" button to re-draw.

6. Click the "Actions" button to see a set of recommended energy-efficiency upgrades. [This is currently a static mockup, but will ultimately be dynamically linked to your particular building description]

7. Click the "MyIQ" option to manage a portfolio of buildings, track your benchmarks over time, etc. [This is currently a static mockup]

MORE DETAILS

We recommend using the tool as follows:

1. First, before attempting to enter any data for your own building, select the “Go” option from the homepage and take some time to browse the results for other buildings. You can specify five major categories of variables to “filter” the results: Building type, location, age, size, and peer group. The "Peer Group" option allows you to limit the database of other buildings against which to benchmark your own building (e.g. you can select the CEUS survey for California-only buildings), and to include or exclude the results of other people who have used the tool. Many graphical and tabular “views” are available, ranging from whole-building energy use (or costs or emissions) to energy at the end-use level (lighting, cooling, etc.). In addition, you can view benchmarks for various “components” (e.g. types of heating equipment) or “operations” (e.g. occupancy schedules). At the moment, only the CEUS peer group is available, but there will soon be a national sample.
   
   
2. Find specific views that interest you. Each view will be associated with a short list of questions (located in the lower left-hand corner of the page) that you can answer in order to have your building added to the chart. You will only need to enter information that is necessary for the types of analysis you want to see. This saves you time and produces useful results as fast as possible. You can save the building for future use, or allow the information to expire when you leave a given menu. We offer some tips on how to collect data and ensure its quality.
   
   
3. You can then proceed to the “Actions” area. Based on the information you have provided, this page will present various opportunities for saving energy that are likely to apply to your building. Each opportunity is qualified in terms of the likely "fit" to your building, degree of energy savings, and cost-effectiveness. You will be prompted for information we need in order to provide more recommendations. The more information you provide, the more detailed and meaningful recommendations we can offer. This area of the tool provides qualitative recommendations and is not intended to substitute for a full-fledged simulation or energy audit.
   
   
4. Once you’ve generated a list of actions, you can explore the “Decision Support” area for helpful information on how to refine or implement them. This area includes information on best practices, utility rebate programs, case studies, useful readings, other benchmarking tools, and more.
   
   
5. You can save your project and assign it a unique name. In the “My IQ” area, you can define additional projects, combine projects for further analysis (e.g. looking at a whole campus of buildings), add multiple years of actual energy data, set targets or goals for savings, and vary assumptions that might be important to you (e.g. energy prices or carbon emissions rates). Projects could be individual locations or business units.
   
   
6. The “Export” option will enable you to export an Excel spreadsheet containing the data or a .jpg file with the graphics for your projects. The “Import” option will enable you to upload building description information from other sources or from a companion spreadsheet template to this tool.