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Preliminary assessment of the Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Offer program using IPMVP guidelines

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  • Kaiser, Mark J.
  • Pulsipher, Allan G.

Abstract

The Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Offer (HERO) is a residential energy conservation program established in 1999 to provide rebates for qualified applicants to build new homes that are more energy efficient or improve the energy efficiency of existing homes. Energy conservation programs require careful evaluation because of the high cost to implement the measures and the expectation that they will reduce energy use. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that residential energy conservation measures in a hot and humid climate can be evaluated using the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP), a best practice methodology commonly used in industrial and commercial performance-based contracts, but rarely, if ever, applied to residential programs. Using a random sample of 60 HERO participants, we were able to construct statistically significant electricity consumption baseline models for 90% of households. We determined that more than half of the sample participants consumed more electricity after their efficiency improvement, with an average net household savings of 172Â kWh/yr, about 1% pre-retrofit consumption. A description of the baseline model construction, preliminary program evaluation, and recommendations are provided. All program conclusions are considered preliminary until a larger and more comprehensive study is conducted.

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  • Kaiser, Mark J. & Pulsipher, Allan G., 2010. "Preliminary assessment of the Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Offer program using IPMVP guidelines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 691-702, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:87:y:2010:i:2:p:691-702
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ye, Xianming & Xia, Xiaohua, 2016. "Optimal metering plan for measurement and verification on a lighting case study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 580-592.
    3. Miriam Berretta & Joshua Furgeson & Yue (Nicole) Wu & Collins Zamawe & Ian Hamilton & John Eyers, 2021. "Residential energy efficiency interventions: A meta‐analysis of effectiveness studies," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), December.
    4. Ke, Ming-Tsun & Yeh, Chia-Hung & Su, Cheng-Jie, 2017. "Cloud computing platform for real-time measurement and verification of energy performance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 497-507.
    5. Llovera, Jordi & Potau, Xavi & Medrano, Marc & Cabeza, Luisa F., 2011. "Design and performance of energy-efficient solar residential house in Andorra," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(4), pages 1343-1353, April.
    6. Xia, Xiaohua & Zhang, Jiangfeng, 2013. "Mathematical description for the measurement and verification of energy efficiency improvement," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 247-256.
    7. Olinga, Zadok & Xia, Xiaohua & Ye, Xianming, 2017. "A cost-effective approach to handle measurement and verification uncertainties of energy savings," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 1600-1609.

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