State Energy Office Data Management: The Preliminary Energy Audit of the Institutional Buildings Grants Program

摘要

This report reviews state energy office (SEO) activities related to data collection, verification, and analysis for the preliminary energy audit portion of the Institutional Buildings Grant Program (IBGP). A preliminary energy audit (PEA), a collection of basic data on the characteristics of buildings and their energy use, was performed. Individual building energy use data were collected in the PEA program for thousands of institutions in each state. Such detailed data are potentially valuable in a number of ways: program management, program evaluation, policy analysis, and energy model development. However, such data must be consistently collected, carefully verified, and fully documented to fill these needs. Our examination of the SEO data management processes for the PEA showed problems in all these areas. Many SEOs lacked the time and staff to design a form adequately. This, in turn, influenced the clarity of and simplicity of the questionnaire, the ease of question interpretation, and, finally, the quality of responses. Confusion over the meaning of the federal regulations compounded these problems. Once the PEA data were collected, SEOs encountered problems in storing, verifying, and analyzing the data. Almost half the states did not computerize their PEA data and instead attempted manual control of a data set containing hundreds of thousands of data elements. Data verification and analysis in these states have been limited. Even among those SEOs with computerized data files, the computer and staff time necessary for adequate verification and analysis of the PEA data has rarely been available. Cross-comparison among states was facilitated by development of a procedure to rank PEA processes. It appears that the most important determinant of a good PEA process is the presence of a highly motivated, well-trained staff. (ERA citation 06:002514)