TOOLBOX
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Successful integrated energy management
involves detailed planning to make sure your municipality meets its
regulatory requirements while maximizing the payback on energy
efficiency and generation projects. LAS Energy Services Division staff
routinely updates the following tools to help you do just that.
Please make use of the resources contained on this page and let us know
about any new ones you think we should add.
AMO/LAS Energy Workshop Materials
Billing
Cash Flow Analysis
Spreadsheet
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Simple excel
sheet enables user to construct simple life cycle cost
analysis for an energy project of their choice.
Case
Studies
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Commission for Environmental
Cooperation
This site provides a snapshot of a
CEC-sponsored study on best practices with respect to energy use and
supply in North American municipalities. The research began with a
detailed scan of municipal energy initiatives in Canada, Mexico, and the
United States, covering renewable energy generation, energy efficiency
and energy-related procurement.
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Combined Heat and Power
Resources Combined heat and power (CHP or cogeneration) systems
produce both electricity and useful heat using a combustible fuel. The
recovered "waste" heat from the power generation can be provided to a
heating and/or cooling load (e.g. via an absorption chiller). This link
contains the RETScreen Software Combined Heat & Power (Cogeneration)
Model that can be used to evaluate the energy production and savings,
costs, emission reductions, financial viability and risk for
central-grid, isolated-grid and off-grid cogeneration (CHP)
projects.
Directory of Energy Efficiency and
Alternative Energy Programs in
Canada This engine can search for
all government and utility run programs by sector in Ontario or any
other province.
Energy
Planning
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Energy Planning
Matrix
- LAS Energy Planning Tool (EPT)
The Energy Planning Tool (EPT) is designed to help municipalities
develop, store, and update their energy plans as required under the
Green Energy Act. The EPT is compatible with the Energy Management Tool
(EMT) and other ongoing energy management applications. Municipalities
will be able to access the EPT from an individually tailored and secure
website for a very minimal annual hosting fee (approximately
$200).
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Self-Assessment Matrices A series of matrices from Natural Resources
Canada to support and guide planning for
investment in energy-saving opportunities.
Energy Savings Opportunities
Guidebook (Natural Resources
Canada) A Start to Finish guide about spotting energy efficiency
opportunities including simple methods for identifying savings
opportunities, along with a checklist of opportunities. A criteria
is provided for the assessment of the benefits associated with a savings
opportunity.
ENERGY STAR® Savings
Calculator
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The Canadian ENERGY STAR Simple Savings
Calculator is an interactive software tool designed
to show volume buyers or procurement officials the direct economic and
environmental benefits of purchasing an energy-efficient product. It can
compare the costs of purchasing multiple energy-efficient products with
those of conventional product. Using local utility rates, projected
savings can be calculated from reduced energy consumption and
maintenance costs.
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U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency Energy
Star @ work - Find out how you can save energy and fight global warming
by making many of the same green choices at work that you make at
home.
Federal Buildings Initiative Audit
Standards Guidelines The report summarizes energy audits by
levels: namely yardstick, screening, walkthrough and engineering. A
description of each is provided along with sample terms of reference for
requesting an audit, sample forms and graphs, approximate costs and time
to completion. The report also summarizes the auditing requirements for
Natural Resources Canada’s (NRCan’s) Federal Buildings
Initiative (FBI), specifically for energy performance contracting. The
report may be taken as a guideline document for energy auditing with
NRCan’s FBI and Energy Innovators programs.
Financing Materials
Guide This straightforward guidebook walks the user through the
pros and cons of contracting versus doing a program yourself with brief
discussion of financing options that include self-financing, loans,
energy performance contracts.
Green Energy
Act This Act designates certain goods,
service and technologies for energy conservation and contains the
requirement for energy plans for municipalities and the broader public
sector.
Hiring an
Energy Auditor
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An energy audit, also
called a feasibility study or technical assistance report, is often
necessary to identify technically viable and cost effective energy
projects that will reduce energy use and operating costs in your
facility. The following manuals are meant of offer tips on what to look
for in selecting an auditor and developing contracts. LAS encourages
capacity building at the local level so while we realize some
municipalities will hire Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) we advise them
to very carefully develop a contract that not only includes verification
and performance measures but also knowledge transfer to local
staff.
Local Improvement Charges AMO and LAS supports
enabling municipalities to utilize local improvement charges (LICS) to
incent renewable and energy efficient work in the residential,
institutional, and commercial sectors within a boundary defined by the
interested municipality. The following research reports examine the
current possibilities of using LICs and how to get around existing
barriers.
Municipal Building
Retrofit Program
Marketing Your Facility
Department Promoting the
achievements of facility staff is crucial to obtaining lasting success
within the municipality. This article from the November 2009
edition of Buildings magazine has some great tips for promoting
the good work of facility managers to senior management.
Municipal
Lighting
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Lighting Design Lab -
Information and resources related
to facility and outdoor lighting options for municipalities
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Municipal policy options guide
for accelerating deployment of advanced lighting
technologies produced by the Canadian Urban
Institute. The guide outlines a number of policy options for cities
including: planning tools for requiring energy efficient outdoor
lighting as part of new developments or redevelopments; regulatory
reforms to permit the use of adaptive lighting controls; and strategies
to finance the high up-front capital costs of advanced lighting
upgrades.
Municipal Recycling Facilities
(MRF) Energy Audits
Natural Resources Canada’s Search
for a Contractor Directory
Natural Resources Canada Technical Fact
Sheets The
Office of Energy Efficiency has produced a number of helpful fact sheets
as part of the Energy Innovators Initiative. These double-sided 8.5 x 11
sheets provide specifications on a range of technologies including HVAC
systems, lighting, motors, and digital controls to name a
few.
Newsletters
Online Conversion Tool
Enables users to convert any
unit of energy in seconds.
Recommissioning
Tool The Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE)'s
Building Optimization Processes webpage provides a
step-by-step chart of the various phases and activities of commissioning
and recommissioning. The tool
also provides a glossary of terms for these and other building
optimization approaches.
Recommissioning
Guide This Recommissioning Guide for Building
Owners and Managers illustrates how building
owners and managers can successfully use recommissioning as a
cost-effective method to reduce expenses and increase revenue. This
guide was created to address the opportunities that owners and managers
have to significantly increase the benefits of recommissioning in their
buildings.
RETScreen
International This free software can be used to evaluate the
energy production and savings, life-cycle costs, emission reductions,
financial viability and risk for various types of energy efficient and
renewable energy technologies (RETs). It also includes product, cost and
climate databases, and a detailed online user manual.Available
free-of-charge in English and French plus several other
languages.
Self-Assessment
Matrix The
assessment process of your organization or facility can be simplified by
using matrices focused on Energy
Management, Technical Capacity, Monitoring and Targeting, plus
Awareness and Information. After completing the high-level assessment,
detailed matrices provide further assistance in assessing the energy
performance of a specific system or piece of equipment including
Air-Conditioning Systems, Small Power Equipment, Lighting, Hot Water,
Building Energy Management Systems, Building Fabric, Boilers, plus Space
Heating.
Solar
Resources
Streetlights
Sustainable Communities Toolkit In 2006, the
Canadian Green Building Council developed the Municipal Green Building
Toolkit to help the broader network of public sector owners understand
how they too can address climate change and infrastructure challenges
through the development of green building policies and programs. This
revised 248 page Sustainable Communities Toolkit,
like its predecessor, is a work in progress. The resource reflects the
transition currently underway in the green building community;
broadening thinking from a building scale to a community scale.
Water/ Wastewater Retrofit RFP
Resource Although water and wastewater treatment
facilities provide an invaluable service to their communities, they are
also the largest energy consumers in many cities and towns.The Energy Efficiency RFP
Guidance provides information and tools to help
cities and towns gain access to the energy savings potential in their
water and wastewater treatment facilities. It includes ready-to-use
language to request consideration of measures including high speed
blowers, sensors and process controls, variable frequency drives,
nutrient removal processes, and more.
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