Measurement & Verification (M&V)

UtilityCap are International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP) professionals and are certified to conduct M&V.

Measurement & Verification is crucial to what YOU do; it is how YOU measure the performance of a Cost Avoidance Program & savings. 

 (M&V) is the term given to the process for quantifying savings delivered by a Cost Avoidance Program.

M&V demonstrates how much energy the Cost Avoidance Program & Energy savings measure has avoided using, rather than the total cost saved. The latter can be affected by many factors, such as energy prices. The Measurement and Verification process enables the energy savings delivered by the Cost Avoidance Program & Energy savings measure to be isolated and fairly evaluated.

Various protocols for good practice in Measurement and Verification exist, including the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP), which defines common terminology and the key steps in implementing a robust M&V process.

A key part of the M&V process is the development of an ‘M&V Plan’, which defines how the savings analysis will be conducted before the Cost Avoidance Program & Energy savings measure is implemented. This provides a degree of objectivity that is absent if the savings are simply evaluated after implementation.

Energy Audits

An energy audit conducted to the Australian Standard by a qualified UtilityCap energy consultant can reduce your businesses' energy use, save money, improve productivity and provide opportunities to innovate.

Australian Standard energy audits fall into one of three categories:

Type 1 audits (basic energy audits)

Provide a basic overview of your company’s energy consumption, and a broad estimate of energy savings available from opportunities with relatively short payback periods.  These audits are useful for smaller businesses, or to evaluate the broad potential to save energy at larger sites, if energy efficiency has not yet been assessed.

Type 2 audits (detailed energy audits)

Provide a more rigorous analysis of your company’s energy consumption. These audits will quantify potential energy savings based on detailed data and analysis of the specific equipment and operating conditions applying to each site. This level of audit also includes financial evaluation of opportunities (based on agreed financial criteria), which will help business owners prioritise the opportunities shown in the audit. For these audits, installation of additional measurement equipment is not generally required.

Type 3 audits (precision subsystem audits)

Are useful for larger businesses with specialist equipment, or companies with major production facilities. These audits focus on a major subsystem, such as boilers or compressed air systems, and involve taking additional measurements to quantify opportunities to a higher level of accuracy than less complex audits.