Why are CBECS figures different from the commercial data in the Annual Energy Review or Monthly Energy Review?
Both the “Annual Energy Review” (AER) and “Monthly Energy Review” (MER) contain data described as “commercial sector consumption.” Although this may sound like the same information contained in the CBECS, it is not entirely comparable. The AER and MER data are sales or delivery data provided by energy suppliers, whereas CBECS data are end user consumption figures collected directly from the building respondent or from their energy supplier, specifically about the energy used in that building. The energy supply data is divided into broad sectoral categories, one of which is commercial, but the suppliers’ definition of commercial is likely to differ from the CBECS definition. Suppliers tend to assign categories to their customers based on their rate class or the amount of energy supplied, and not necessarily to the actual type of activity occurring in the building. For example, a small non-energy-intensive assembly plant might be designated as a commercial customer while a large energy-i
Related Questions
- The energy rating systems use Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) data. What if updates to CBECS data cause my energy rating to drop below 50?
- Why are data for commercial and non-commercial purposes distributed by different entities at different prices?
- Why are there three different annual review forms?
