Abbreviations and terms

Abbreviations

DHW Domestic hot water
EPBD Energy Performance of Buildings Directive
EPC Energy Performance Contracting
ESCO Energy Service Company
ESD Energy Service Directive
MQC Model Quality Control
TPF Third Party Financing

Terms

Community heat and power scheme
A community heat and power scheme involves the provision of thermal and/or electrical energy to a group of buildings. This may include housing provided by local authorities, registered social landlords or private developers, LA Buildings, such as the town hall, or other large energy-consuming infrastructure such as hospitals or universities. Typically, a scheme will include centralised energy efficient electricity generation plant, with the bi-product heat generated from that process being converted into hot water for distribution via a community heating network to the buildings supplied by the scheme.

Delivery Contracting
In contrast to EPC, “Delivery Contracting” (DC, also known as Supply Contracting or Energy Supply Contracting) is focused on the supply of a set of energy services (such as heating, lighting, motive power, etc.) mainly via outsourcing the energy supply. Chauffage, one of the most common contract types in Europe besides EPC, is a form of Delivery Contracting. In a chauffage arrangement the fee for the services is normally calculated based on the client’s existing energy bill minus a certain level of (monetary) savings. Alternatively, the customer may pay a rate, for instance, per square meter (EC DO JRC 2005). The ESCO (or ESPC) may also take over the purchase of fuel and electricity.

Energy Performance Contracting
A contractual arrangement between the beneficiary and the provider (normally an ESCO) of an energy efficiency improvement measure, where investments in that measure are paid for in relation to a contractually agreed level of energy efficiency improvement; an (innovative) financing technique that uses in principle cost savings from reduced energy consumption to repay the cost of installing energy conservation measures

Energy Services
The term ‘Energy Services’ can cover a wide range of approaches that come together to form the supply of a service or amenity to customers e.g. warmth, cooling, domestic hot water, light and/or power, as opposed to simply the supply of fuel. In this way responsibility for expertise, capital, procurement and maintenance of, for example, heating plant can be transferred from the customer to an energy company. One particularly useful way of providing Energy Services is through a community heat and power scheme.

Energy Service Company
A natural or legal person that delivers energy services and/or other energy efficiency improvement measures in a user’s facility or premises, and accepts some degree of financial risk in so doing. The payment for the services delivered is based (either wholly or in part) on the achievement of energy efficiency improvements and on the meeting of the other agreed performance criteria.

Energy Service Provider Companies
In contrast to an ESCO, “Energy Service Provider Companies” (ESPCs) are natural or legal persons that provide a service for a fixed fee or as added value to the supply of equipment or energy. Often the fuel cost of energy services is recovered in the fee, and the ESPC does not assume any (technical or financial) risk in case of underperformance. ESPCs are paid a fee for their advice/service rather than being paid based on the results of their recommendations. Principally, projects implemented by ESPCs are related to primary energy conversion equipment (boilers, CHP5).

In such projects the ESPC is unlikely to guarantee a reduction in the delivered energy consumption because it may have no control or on-going responsibility over the efficiency of secondary conversion equipment (such as radiators, motors, drives) and over the demand for final energy services (such as space heating, motive power and light)

Occupant Communication Plan
To motivate occupants, facilitate their collaboration and commitment to play an active role in improving their living environment.

MQC / Quality and process control
A summary of the total production process including specifications, design, construction, hand-over and operation. It focuses on avoiding failures on all strategic aspects and moments in the process.

SWOT
A strategic planning method used to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats involved in a project or in a business venture.

Third Party Financing
A contractual arrangement involving a third party in addition to the energy supplier and the beneficiary of the energy efficiency improvement measure that provides the capital for that measure and charges the beneficiary a fee equivalent to a part of the energy savings achieved as a result of the energy efficiency improvement measure. That third party may or may not be an ESCO.