Top-down methods
Top-down evaluation refers to methods relying on statistical indicators defined by sector and/or type of end-use from national averages. The use of top-down methods to evaluate energy savings means that “the amount of energy savings or energy efficiency progress are calculated using national or aggregated sectoral levels of energy savings as the starting point” (ESD).
Top-down methods rely on “energy efficiency indicators”, also called “top-down indicators”. For example, the ODYSSEE project developed top-down indicators at the EU level and for most Member States for the last 15 years.
Top-down means starting from global data like national statistics for energy consumption or sales of equipment, and then going down to more disaggregated data when necessary and correlating the realised energy savings with energy efficiency improvement (EEI) measures.
The ESD refers explicitly to ODYSSEE indicators to measure energy savings through top-down methods. However, ODYSSEE indicators only provide measurement of the development of specific or unit energy consumption, or the diffusion of energy-effcient technologies within a sector or type of end-use, without indicating its origin. That is why the existing indicators must be adapted to the requirement of the monitoring of the Directive and cleaned from factors not linked to energy services or other EEI measures.
The following reports dealing with top-down evaluation were produced within Work Package 5 of the EMEEES project:
- WP 5 final summary report: Top-down evaluation methods of energy savings,
plus Annex to the report: ODYSSEE and ODEX indicators overview
- WP 5 report on top-down methods case studies