As the energy efficiency industry evolves, more complex efficiency projects, such as chilled-water system upgrades, are being implemented. This is due to both the completion of simpler efficiency projects at many sites and the large room for efficiency improvements in chilled-water systems that are custom designed for each application and site. Efficiency projects not only benefit the owner but also benefit the electrical grid and society as a whole. As such, electrical utilities see benefits in incentivizing and claiming these energy efficiency projects when customers are willing to go through the utility's measurement and verification (M&V) process. M&V needs to be performed by a third party to determine the verified savings from a project. The verified savings are used by the electrical utility to provide a cash incentive to the customer and also to inform the owner about the actual economics of the project. M& V on a chilled-water system can get complicated and be resource intensive, depending on the adopted methodology. This paper discusses several available methodologies and their limitations. A simplified methodology is then proposed, detailed, and applied to two case studies, one on a chilled- water plant serving space-cooling loads and another on a chilled-water system serving industrial process loads. The simplified methodology allows the M&V evaluator to meter the system within a reduced amount of time, account for variation in system load, observe an improvement in system efficiency, and quantify the annual energy savings of the system. This results in a streamlined M&V process with reduced costs and improved annual energy savings estimates, which leads to more cost-effective utility efficiency programs that are beneficial to society as a whole.
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