International Energy Efficiency Protocol (IEEFP): EVO’s "Grass Roots" Solution to Financing Energy Savings Projects

The Efficiency Valuation Organization (EVO) has developed the International Energy Efficiency Protocol (IEEFP) which provides guidelines for Local Financing Institutions (LFI) around the world to evaluate and finance energy efficiency and savings-based renewable projects (Energy Savings Projects). The IEEFP is a long-term "grass roots" solution to financing Energy Savings Projects. It is envisioned that the IEEFP will ultimately become the global "blue print" for educating and training LFIs around the world on the special intricacies and benefits of financing Energy Savings Projects.

The IEEFP’s objective is to create a better understanding by LFIs and other global stakeholders on how Energy Savings Projects generate savings from existing operating expenses of end-use consumers, and how this equates to new cash flow and increased credit capacity for end-use consumers to repay Energy Savings Project loans. At the core of the IEEFP is the need to measure and verify energy savings created by the Energy Savings Projects to ensure sustainability of the reduced energy costs and the resulting available cash flow to repay the LFIs.

Recognizing the importance of such a standardized financing protocol, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) awarded EVO a contract in September 2005 to fund a portion of EVO's initial development of the IEEFP in two of its member economies - Mexico and Thailand. The initial effort encompassed research and development of "Best Practices" currently used by the LFIs in each economy to finance Energy Savings Projects. The results from these first two APEC economies fed into a larger effort for EVO to develop an "umbrella" protocol, first published in 2009, which outlines approaches and methods that, with minor modification, can be leveraged to enhance approaches to financing Energy Savings Projects in all APEC economies and elsewhere in the world.

The first translation of the IEEFP is now available to the general public. Thanks to Celemin Eficiente, the IEEFP has been translated in Spanish.

EVO has established an "IEEFP Repository " to assemble actual case studies that demonstrate various aspects of implemented energy efficiency projects including technologies, best practices, savings and costs, M&V, financing, implementation and other agreements, guidelines and other tools which can help bridge the global knowledge gap between funding sources and their financing of energy efficiency projects. It is expected that materials for the IEEFP Repository will be provided to EVO on an on-going basis by energy efficiency stakeholders around the world and posted on the EVO web site for access by EVO Subscribers.