Evaluation methodology to assess the theoretical energy impact and the actual energy performance for the 27 communities of the European CONCERTO initiative

Olivier Pol and Doris Österreicher, arsenal research, Business Field Sustainable Energy Systems, Austria

Keywords

sustainable communities, renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, evaluation, theoretical impact, energy performance assessment, indicators, baseline

Abstract

The European CONCERTO initiative aims at supporting communities for the implementation of combined actions towards energy efficiency and use of renewable energy sources. In a first phase, 27 European communities are involved in the programme. An evaluation methodology is elaborated to assess the impact of the CONCERTO initiative and the energy performance of the CONCERTO communities. Given the specificity of the initiative, a combination of ex-ante and ex-post evaluation is foreseen.

The ex-ante evaluation consists of assessing the theoretical impact of the CONCERTO initiative with a set of indicators prepared by DG-TREN. This requires the definition of baseline scenarios and system boundaries for the representation of energy flows. The baseline scenarios are defined at national or regional level, so that common values for energy consumption of buildings may be determined in accordance with national or regional standards. The system boundaries are set considering the projects’ characteristics.

The ex-post evaluation consists of assessing the actual energy performance of the individual communities. After buildings and plants have been built or refurbished, available metering will be used to assess the actual energy consumption and production from renewable energy sources and to compare it with the figures proposed initially by the communities. Given the limited budget available for metering, the ex-post evaluation will only partially cover the energy flows of the communities. Therefore recommendations regarding monitoring of future CONCERTO communities are formulated.