# Presentation: 106486

## Utility Analysis and Site Selection

## Are the HUD Incentives My Best Option?

- Function of many factors - evaluate:
- Long-term capital equipment replacement needs
- Exceed available HUD capital funding?
- Timeline
- Level of need
- Level of resident occupancy, comfort, and cooperation
- Maintenance staffing and costs
**REMEMBER - **maintenance savings may be real, but can’t be used to determine cost-effectiveness of the project under HUD rules.
- Management staffing
- Consistent use of the facility

## Are the HUD Incentives My Best Option?

- Can an Efficiency Program Self-Fund?
- High Consumption?
- High Rates?
- Can you “buy-down” the project using Modernization Funds for non-energy/water components?
- Investigating these questions can save you from going down dead end path
**REMEMBER - You must be able to re-pay a loan from savings!**

## Utility Analysis

- Do this **before** issuing RFP!
- Tracking **consumption **makes this easier
- Software to help
- Reports to help with HUD reporting requirements
- Graphics to visualize information
- Units of consumption, not just dollars
- By apartment, building, meter
- ESCo will want this data
- Aids in management and maintenance as well

## Utility Analysis

- Use your currently available data
- Work with your utility to fill in gaps
- Need tenant releases to get data on actual bills that are tenant paid
- PUT THIS IN YOUR LEASE!
- Provides means of ensuring allowances make tenant whole and conservation program savings aren’t borne on the back of the residents.
- Directs measures and sites for consideration

## Utility Analysis

- Resources for crunching the numbers
- Consultants
- Past audits
- In-House staff
- Tracking software
- ESCOs???
- You want this determination before issuing RFP
- Much of the work on HAs end - gathering data
- Beware of obligating yourself at this stage of the game - fee-for-service only?

## Benchmarking

- How do your Sites Compare to Others?
- Rough estimate
- Weather Normalize
- Heating Degree Days
- Takes out climate as factor
- Normalize for Square Footage

## Benchmarking

- Common Measures
- $/square foot
- Btu/square foot/heating degree day
- Gallons/day/resident
- Btu/s.f./HDD normalizes for weather and for size of building
- Still need to account for rates
- 6 cents/kwh vs. 12 cents/kwh -> two times the pot of savings for a given amount of consumption.

## Benchmarking

- Can help you ID best candidates within your portfolio
- Phased RFP
- May leave some out altogether
- Don’t waste your time and the ESCo’s by pursuing sites that won’t yield a cost-effective, self-funding conservation program

## Evolution of Selected Sites through Performance Contracts

- Developments are identified by the PHA in the RFP
- Phased, with option to expand
- Based on utility analysis, building use and capital needs
- Measures are screened and proposed by ESCOs in the audit
- 2 phase audit report
- Proposed measures are evaluated by the PHA
- Measure design & installation is performed by ESCO under an ESA

## Site Selection for RFP

- ID your desires and needs
- Look at the realities of:
- level of consumption
- level of rates
- cost of capital
- occupancy rate
- long-range plans for the site
- other available funds
**BE FLEXIBLE - **Be open to the ESCOs suggestions during the bidding and audit processes

## Where to Look for Savings

- In the Midwest, New England, and other heating climates, typical PHA Candidate Developments for Energy Performance Contracts have high historic utility consumption or cost patterns for
- Heating
- Domestic hot water production
- Common area lighting & electric loads
- Domestic water use

## Where to Look for Savings

- In the cooling climates, typical PHA Candidate Developments for Energy Performance Contracts have high historic utility consumption or cost patterns for
- Domestic hot water production
- Common area lighting & electric loads
- Domestic water use
- Cooling Savings
- Normalizing for Cooling Degree Days not allowed by HUD
- Issue - who pays the bill?  Can HA recover cooling savings?
- 24 CFR 965.506(e)

## Information to Provide in an RFP

- See “Sample Technical Section for RFP” in “Resource Guide”
- Include, by building, meter or complex:
- Utility monthly use and cost over three years
- Name of facility
- Number of dwelling units
- Occupancy levels
- Family or elderly residence
- Rough description of construction and systems

## Best Candidate Types

- Master metered for all utilities, multiple buildings
- Can do tenant paid, with waiver
- Adds complications to savings calculations
- Has not received modernization in over 10 years

## Basic Site Types to Include

- 1940s vintage with central space heating/domestic hot water plants
- All-electric high/mid-rises in climates with annual 5000+ HDDs and $0.08+ kWh
- Newer vintage townhouse style, individual heat and DHW can be done
- “1 year old buildings with 100 year old problems”
- Base choice on results of utility analysis and rough estimate of cost of measure!

## Basic Site Types NOT to Include

- Scattered sites – single detached houses or duplexes in clusters of one to one dozen
- Challenge is in getting consistent performance and documented savings at all houses

## Other Factors to Consider

- Scheduled heating/cooling/DHW/distribution system replacement
- Mechanical systems with high maintenance, operational costs
- Necessary window replacements
- Virtually never are cost-effective from energy-savings standpoint alone!
- Equipment measures and/or appliances scheduled for replacement in PHA's Five Year CGP Plan

## Other Factors to Consider

- Developments expected to remain under PHA management for at least the next decade
- Developments and measures with a rich savings stream supported by relatively low cost investments
- “Bundling” opportunities for maximum leverage of capital improvements
- Developments with central laundries:
- Other criteria articulated by PHA personnel

## Audit Phase

- Monthly utility use histories and account numbers; **actual copies of bills important**
- Previously implemented energy-related modernization plans and dates of implementation
- Previously completed energy audits and surveys
- Capital needs assessment reports

## Audit Phase 

- Require ESCO to:
- 1.  Develop baseline for each utility, per HUD requirements
- 2.  Perform end use disaggregation of utilties
- 3.  Normalize data
- 4.  Establish savings projections in relation to base years
- 5.  Evaluate “in-pocket” savings vs. HUD savings

## Before Any Measures May Be Formally Screened by the ESCO, the ESCO Must:

-   Evaluate the quality of the data
-   “Clean” it
-   Analyze it by “End Use”
- “End Use Disaggregation” must be performed by an energy engineer or conservation professional.

## Energy and/or Water Baseline Consumption

- The “Baseline” is the ESCO’s assessment of the pre-retrofit utility consumption and cost.
- It must be approved by HUD.
- Based on Rolling Base, and/or
- Reviewed Utility Allowances
- It provides the basis for:
-  ESCO savings projections and measure screening
-   Calculation and payment for actual savings achieved

## Water Data for A Client Housing Authority

- Four developments
- 	1.  Riverview – family development, 180 dwelling units in 	45 quads, walk-ups
- 	2.  O’Brien Towers – elderly development, 275 dwelling 	units in one mid-rise building (six stories)
- 	3.  Pagnano Towers – elderly development, 156 dwelling 	units in one high-rise building (15 stories)
- 	4.  Drohan Apartments – elderly development, 40 units in 	one low-rise building (three stories)

## Utility Data in PHA’s RFP included Energy Consumption and Costs, by Site, per Month

- In Audit Phase, ESCo retrieved data directly from the utilities
- 	Computer printouts containing monthly use and cost 		information
- 	Paid data entry clerks to put utility information in Excel 		files
**	**They were able to analyze the utility data and form the 	            BASELINE

## Quincy Water Measures

- Riverview – none
- O’Brien – New water closets, new faucet aerators, & showerheads
- Pagnano – New water closets, repair leaks, new faucet aerators, & showerheads
- Drohan – New water closets, new faucet aerators, & showerheads

## Re-Cap of Steps for Utility Analysis

-   Gather **readily** **available** utility data on consumption and     cost on site-by-site basis
- 3 years is best, and will be needed for the ESCo to establish baseline for HUD
- Determine if gaps exist and impacts of these gaps
- Work to gather remaining data if appropriate
- Look at changes in occupancy, use or equipment during the period you’re evaluating

## Re-Cap of Steps for Utility Analysis

-   Understand how your PHA is processing the utility bills     and reporting the usage to HUD
- make changes in tracking procedures if needed
-   Tabulate your gathered** **utility data in total and on      site-by-site basis:
-   Calculate portfolio-wide average
-   Calculate averages for each development
-   Compare the developments with the portfolio average and other benchmarks
- This will help you to identify the outliers: family sites, elderly sites, high-rise vs. walk-ups