Improving energy conservation retrofits with measured savings

In 1988, the Governor's Energy Office (GEO) of Texas established a $98.6-million state-wide program called LoanSTAR (Loan to Save Texas and Resources). The LoanSTAR program uses a revolving loan financing mechanism to fund energy-conserving retrofits in state, public school and local government buildings. A unique feature of LoanSTAR is the Monitoring and Analysis Program (MAP) that has been established to measure and report the energy savings from the retrofits. MAP is a quality assurance measure to ensure that agencies purchasing retrofits receive real savings from the retrofits. This article provides a brief overview of MAP and discusses the measured savings of a VAV retrofit in a large engineering center located in central Texas. This center is one of the first agencies to participate in the LoanSTAR program.