2011
Northern Illinois utility supplier Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) received the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA)'s 2011 Inspiring Efficiency Impact Award for its groundbreaking retro-commissioning program. In three years, ComEd's program has gone from a small niche pilot to one of the largest, if not the largest, programs of its kind in the country. ComEd's retro-commissioning program seeks to reduce energy consumption in large buildings and systems by optimizing use of existing equipment rather than encouraging capital investment. The program pays the fee for a retro-commissioning service provider to conduct studies to identify no- and low-cost operational strategies to optimize the performance of a commercial or industrial building's HVAC, lighting and other systems. When possible it also seeks to educate building staff to ensure that energy savings are sustained going forward. The program serves a wide range of customer segments and building types, from large office high-rises to hospitals, schools and industrial buildings. This program is one of the most cost-effective in the ComEd portfolio, and has been able to help customers significantly reduce energy waste and operating costs. So far, the program has helped participating customers reduce their energy consumption by an average of 7 percent. Additionally, the money saved on utility bills has allowed customers to recover their initial investment ($10,000 to $20,000 depending on project size) within approximately seven months.
DocumentIEA-2011_award-release_comed.pdf (83.54 KB)