THE STATUS AND PROMISE OF ADVANCED M&V

This report by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) examines "M&V 2.0," or advanced measurement and verification of energy efficiency savings. It defines M&V 2.0 as the combination of automated analytics and increased data granularity (such as hourly interval data) to provide near-real-time savings estimates. The document outlines the benefits for various stakeholders, the current landscape of available tools, the challenges regarding data access and standardization, and the necessary steps for the industry to fully realize the potential of these advanced methods.

• Advanced M&V, or M&V 2.0, is characterized by two primary features: the use of automated analytics to provide near-real-time savings estimates and increased data granularity regarding frequency, volume, or end-use detail.
• M&V 2.0 offers distinct benefits to different stakeholders: program administrators can adjust designs and budgets more quickly; third-party evaluators can provide earlier and more granular results; regulators can improve cost-effectiveness oversight; and grid planners can obtain locational and temporal confirmation of efficiency impacts.
• Current M&V 2.0 tools are primarily proprietary and most prevalent for commercial buildings, often integrated into broader energy management and information systems (EMIS). They are categorized by sector focus, primary design intent, degree of automation, M&V method, and transparency.
• A significant limitation of current M&V 2.0 offerings is their focus on existing conditions baselines, which makes them not universally applicable for all program savings types, as many jurisdictions require standard-practice code baselines.
• The widespread adoption of M&V 2.0 is hindered by challenges in data access, confidentiality, and formatting. While initiatives like Green Button and HP-XML have made progress, the industry still requires standardized data formats and secure, automated access to utility billing and interval data.
• Several standardization efforts are underway, including the CalTRACK protocol in California for residential whole-house upgrades, the U.S. Department of Energy's Uniform Methods Project (UMP), and joint work by ACCA and BPI to create a residential savings quantification protocol.
• To fully realize the promise of M&V 2.0, the report identifies critical needs: conducting more public pilots, establishing practitioner workflows for integrating automation, creating collective acceptance criteria for accuracy and confidence, and expanding the ability to treat baselines other than existing conditions.

APA

FRANCONI, E., GEE, M., GOLDBERG, M., GRANDERSON, J., GUITERMAN, T., LI, M., & SMITH, B. (2017). THE STATUS AND PROMISE OF ADVANCED M&V. RMI. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/03/Advanced_M_and_V_Report_March2017_RMI.pdf

Chicago

FRANCONI, ELLEN, MATT GEE, MIRIAM GOLDBERG, JESSICA GRANDERSON, TIM GUITERMAN, MICHAEL LI, and BRIAN SMITH. THE STATUS AND PROMISE OF ADVANCED M&V. RMI, 2017. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/03/Advanced_M_and_V_Report_March2017_RMI.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{franconi2017status, author = {FRANCONI, ELLEN and GEE, MATT and GOLDBERG, MIRIAM and GRANDERSON, JESSICA and GUITERMAN, TIM and LI, MICHAEL and SMITH, BRIAN}, title = {{THE STATUS AND PROMISE OF ADVANCED M\&V}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2017}, month = mar, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/03/Advanced_M_and_V_Report_March2017_RMI.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }