GS Credit: Access to Energy Usage Data – Above Green

(1-4 points)

Applicable to: Cities & Utilities, Campuses

INTENT

To encourage conservation and investments in home energy systems by giving customers energy usage feedback.

REQUIREMENTS

All Projects

Have in place equipment and programs that provide metered users with secure access to demand and usage interval data.

OPTION 1. Effective data-sharing practices (1–2 points)

Design or subscribe to an online platform that gives users secure access to individual energy usage data that can be downloaded in standard file formats. The platform must have at least the following features and content (1 point):

User authentication for secure access
Annual energy usage data for at least three previous years
Energy usage data by month or a shorter interval
Energy usage data for the above interval for at least one previous year
Energy usage data in standardized machine-readable format
Infographics showing variations in energy consumption and electricity bills over one year
Infographics showing historical trends in annual energy consumption and electricity bills
Infographics comparing energy consumption and electricity bills for defined intervals from different years

Adopt at least one of the following advanced functionalities (1 point):

The platform gives users options to estimate the financial and environmental benefits of energy conservation and high-efficiency electric appliances.
The platform enables users to authorize third parties to access their energy consumption data directly from the cities or utility web portal. The third parties can access the online platform and also access energy usage data authorized by the user.

AND/OR

OPTION 2. Energy usage feedback quality (1–2 points)

Improve the energy conservation behavior of customers by providing near-real-time data for micro-level applications. Information on customers’ energy consumption is categorized in two levels.

Energy usage feedback, Level 1 (1 point):

Provide account-level daily energy usage data for residential customers.
Provide building-level daily energy usage data for commercial and industrial customers.

Energy usage feedback, Level 2 (2 points):

Provide account-level near-real-time energy usage data to residential customers.
Provide building-level hourly (or more frequent) energy usage data for commercial and industrial customers.

The strategies for both levels assume that customers have remotely readable meters. For this credit, at least 25% of residential customers and 50% of commercial and industrial customers must have remotely readable meters.