Evaluating Energy Efficiency: An Actuarial Approach
In this video, Paul Mathew, of the Environmental Energy Technologies Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, describes how the U.S. Department of Energy is developing the Buildings Performance Database (BPD) to provide investors with actuarial data for the energy savings from building energy efficiency projects. The database of information includes more than 50,000 buildings.
Just as actuarial data enables car insurance companies to price policies using a set of basic driver attributes, the BPD supports energy savings estimates based on building characteristics and data on measured energy usage.
The approach cuts transaction costs, especially important for small buildings, and simplifies analyses of large building portfolios.
![]() |
Paul Mathew |
October 2012
Reference:
DOE Buildings Performance Database: Fueling Investment in Energy Efficiency.