Best Practices Toolkit: Energy Performance Contracting for Higher Education

The American Colleges and Universities Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) and the William J. Clinton Foundation’s Climate Initiative (CCI) have partnered to dramatically increase the number of energy efficiency retrofit projects in U.S colleges and universities using Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) as one vehicle for implementation. EPC is a contractual and financing mechanism through which building owners can undertake comprehensive energy efficiency retrofits with minimal financial exposure and risk.

The ACUPCC and CCI, with the assistance of many industry experts (see below), have created a best practices toolkit as a comprehensive resource for signatories interested in learning about and conducting an EPC. It includes an EPC overview, highlights critical issues, provides in-depth financing information, contains sample documents, and details industry and state resources. The toolkit also describes CCI’s Energy Efficiency Building Retrofit Program (EEBRP), which brings together private sector financial institutions, energy services companies (ESCOs), and product manufacturers to lower project costs and reduce risks in EPC projects. This toolkit is intended to support a project team throughout the EPC process, from early stage opportunity assessment to contract negotiation, implementation, and beyond.

Toolkit Contents

• Executive Summary
• An Introduction to EPC - This section provides an overview of ESCOs and EPC as a mechanism for achieving energy efficiency building retrofits. We encourage all users to start with this document.
• CCI’s Energy Efficiency Building Retrofit Program - This section describes CCI’s EEBRP, ESCO commitment, EPC best practice terms and conditions, CCI’s Purchasing Alliance and partnership with financial institutions.
• The Case for Investing in Improved Energy Performance on Campus - This section provides background on climate change and discusses climate change and the campus, the financial implications of business as usual, operational and maintenance issues, higher education’s leadership, and the importance of energy efficiency in climate neutrality planning.
• Critical Issues in Developing and Undertaking an Energy Performance Contract - This section includes a step-by-step overview of the five major development stages in the EPC project development process, including critical issues and recommendations. The appendix provides information on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star’s online tool, the Portfolio Manager.
• The Performance Guarantee - A key element of an EPC, this section discusses the guaranteed savings, and how and by whom they are calculated. It also covers a number of post-implementation issues that may affect the performance guarantee.
• Measurement & Verification and the IPMVP - This section discusses on the International Performance Monitoring and Verification Protocol (IPMVP), an internationally recognized M&V standard. It describes how to monitor energy savings after a project is complete and the associated costs.
• EPC Financing Options - This section offers a detailed overview of the various financing options for EPC-based energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, EPC’s impact on credit rating, and a matrix of the options’ distinguishing features
• Sample Documents – In addition to sample template documents, this section contains links to external documents and resources for reference.
  • Concept stage questionnaire for schools considering EPC.
  • Sample oral interview questions for ESCOs.
  • Sample RFQ incorporating CCI Best Practices.
• Additional Resources - This includes information on external organizations, bibliography, sample guides, documents, toolkits, and state EPC resources for individual state procurement and statutes. Public institutions should familiarize themselves with this information at the very beginning of the process as it may well affect the way in which they conduct their procurement.

Toolkit Contributors

Edited by Andrea Putman, Second Nature and the Clinton Climate Initiative.