CES flashcards
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31 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Energy Use Intensity
- Annual energy consumed per unit of floor area, expressed in kBtu/ft² or kWh/m². It normalizes consumption so buildings of different sizes can be benchmarked against peers of the same type.
- Load Factor
- Average load divided by peak load over a defined period. A low value means demand is spiky, so demand-charge savings from peak shaving are likely to be large.
- Power Factor Correction
- Adding capacitors to offset inductive reactive power, raising the kW-to-kVA ratio. It reduces kVA demand charges and releases capacity but does not lower kWh consumption.
- Simple Payback Period
- Installed project cost divided by annual energy cost savings, expressed in years. It is easy to compute but ignores the time value of money and savings after payback.
- Affinity Laws
- For fans and pumps, flow varies with speed, pressure with the square of speed, and power with the cube. Modest speed reductions therefore yield large power savings.
- Heating Degree Day
- The sum over a period of daily mean temperature deficits below a base, commonly 18.3 °C. It quantifies weather severity for normalizing heating energy use.
- IPMVP Option C
- A measurement and verification approach using whole-facility utility meter data. It suits multi-measure retrofits where individual end-use metering is impractical or uneconomic.
- Demand Charge
- A tariff component billed per kW of maximum interval demand in the billing period. It targets capacity cost and is reduced by peak shaving, not by total kWh reduction alone.
- Functional Performance Test
- A commissioning test that operates a system through its modes of operation to confirm it meets design intent. It goes beyond verifying that equipment is installed correctly.
- Retro-commissioning
- Applying the commissioning process to an existing building without major capital investment. It typically finds tuning and control faults that yield several percent in energy savings.
- Owner's Project Requirements
- A written document stating the owner's functional needs, performance targets, and constraints for a project. It anchors design review and commissioning test planning.
- Monitoring-Based Commissioning
- Ongoing use of trend data and fault detection diagnostics to sustain and extend commissioning savings. It replaces one-time tuning with persistent performance tracking.
- Energy Performance Contract
- An agreement where an energy service company implements improvements and guarantees a level of savings. Verified savings fund the project and back the guarantee.
- Shared Savings Contract
- An energy services model where the provider is paid a negotiated share of measured savings. The client bears less fixed cost but shares the upside.
- Sequence of Operations
- A document describing how equipment and controls respond to conditions and modes. Commissioning tests are written against it, and vague sequences are common findings.
- Commissioning Authority
- An independent party leading the commissioning process, from design review through functional testing and acceptance. Independence from the design and construction team is a core principle.
- Measurement and Verification Plan
- A project document defining boundaries, baseline, metering approach, and adjustment methods for verifying savings. It follows an IPMVP option and is agreed before implementation.
- Triple Bottom Line
- A decision framework weighing economic, environmental, and social performance together. It broadens project appraisal beyond financial return to include community and ecological effects.
- Scope 2 Emissions
- Indirect greenhouse gas emissions from purchased electricity, heat, or steam. They are reported using either location-based or market-based grid emission factors.
- Embodied Carbon
- Greenhouse gas emissions associated with extracting, manufacturing, transporting, and disposing of building materials. It is distinct from emissions from operating the building.
- Life-Cycle Assessment
- A structured method to quantify environmental impacts across a product's life. Its stages are goal and scope, inventory, impact assessment, and interpretation.
- Renewable Energy Credit
- A tradable certificate representing the environmental attributes of one megawatt-hour of renewable generation. Bundling with electricity or buying it separately changes the claim.
- Circular Economy
- A resource strategy that keeps materials in use through reuse, repair, remanufacture, and recycling. It prioritizes waste prevention over disposal at end of life.
- Net-Zero Energy Building
- A building that produces, typically on site, as much renewable energy as it consumes over a year. Boundaries and export credit rules must be defined explicitly.
- Science-Based Target
- An emissions reduction goal aligned with climate science, such as limiting warming to 1.5 °C. It is validated against a recognized methodology rather than chosen arbitrarily.
- Time-of-Use Rate
- A tariff pricing electricity differently by time period, with higher on-peak and lower off-peak rates. Shifting flexible loads to cheaper periods reduces the bill.
- Billed Demand Ratchet
- A clause billing demand as the greater of current-month peak or a percentage of a prior high month. It penalizes seasonal peaks long after they occur.
- Demand Response
- A program paying customers to reduce load during grid events or high prices. Credited reduction is measured against an agreed baseline of normal consumption.
- Net Metering
- A billing arrangement crediting customer generation exported to the grid against consumption. Compensation rate and annual true-up rules vary by jurisdiction.
- Utility Bill Audit
- A systematic check of meter multipliers, rate schedule fit, power factor penalties, ratchets, and rider application. Errors found often produce refunds or tariff changes.
- Interval Data
- Metered consumption recorded in fixed increments, commonly 15 or 30 minutes. It reveals load shapes and the peaks that set demand charges.