Six Strategies to Accelerate the Adoption of SEM

Strategic Energy Management is a holistic approach to managing the energy use in (but not limited to) commercial and industrial (C&I) facilities, some of the hardest to reach building types.

Even given the fact that SEM has been proven reduce energy usage and that C&I buildings are important to target on the path to decarbonization, the question remains: How can we accelerate the adoption of SEM?

To explore this topic, NEEP convened the SEM Market Transformation Research and Strategy Advisory Committee. Currently, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP) serves  the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region including Delaware, the District of Columbia, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and West Virginia. In Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut operate utility (or program administrator) run SEM programs. 

From these conversations and further research, they've identified six strategies to accelerate the adoption of SEM – whether that be through enhanced utility program design, bundling with other programs, or something entirely different: 

• Incentivizing the Adoption of Energy Management Systems with Federal Tax Rebates
• Mandatory SEM adoption to take advantage of EE incentives
• SEM as a Pathway for Achieving Building Performance Standards
• Mandatory Commitment to Continuous and Sustained Improvements in Energy
• Education and Workforce Development
• Energy Management Systems as Part of Investors’ Assessment Checklist

Read the full report from NEEP >>