Retrotec USACE - Manual (Page 44)

22 ENERGY & PROCESS ASSESSMENT PROTOCOL
of the program. On the other hand, if there is no information available about
the results, it will be diffi cult to justify the existence of the program in the
long run. A monitoring system in this sense can be a vital element of the
program.
The planning and development of a monitoring system is a long pro-
cess and should therefore be started at an early stage of the program. The
data available for monitoring is mainly the data found in the energy assess-
ment reports. The more heterogeneous the reporting is, the more laborious
or diffi cult the monitoring becomes; therefore, guidelines for reporting at
every level are needed, and good report templates and summary tables are
recommended.
Monitoring of the energy assessment scheme is necessary to prove it has
been effective. The fi nancier will want to know exactly what comes out of the
money and resources allocated to the activity.
Monitoring and evaluation are essential elements in an energy auditing ac-
tivity to provide information about the impact of the activity. There are differ-
ent types of monitoring, and each type will produce information that is useful
for certain purposes. It is essential to design the monitoring system at the same
time as the other characteristics of the program. The monitoring system must
be up and running from day one of the program in order to produce the de-
sired effect.
Before establishing a monitoring system, it is important to carefully con-
sider what kind of data should be collected, that is, what kind of data is needed
to compile the information for the public authorities spending public money
on the program. To a large extent, their demands will determine the data
needed.
Even if the aim is to run a very limited energy assessment program with a
small budget, it is necessary to take into account future developments. There-
fore, a simple database should always be established where essential infor-
mation about the sites and the assessments can be saved and used to make
energy statistics. Furthermore, the database should be fl exible and allow for
extensions.
A good monitoring system will produce reliable data for clients, auditors,
administrators, and media. The data can also be used in preparing annual re-
ports on the energy assessment scheme and for budgeting.
The data from the monitoring system could include:
Audited buildings and volumes ■
Saving potentials in assessment reports ■
Implemented savings measures ■
Typical savings measures ■
The monitoring data can also be used for benchmarking energy use such as
the identifi cation of typical saving measures in a certain building type.