Using SAS® and JMP® to Monitor Energy Conservation Efforts
John Mills and Sarah Thornton, Progress Energy
Progress Energy’s Free Customized Home Energy Check is an option for customers to receive a free detailed breakdown of their home energy usage, energy saving tips specific to their home, and recommendations for low and no cost changes to improve their home’s energy efficiency. The problem with which our group was faced was determining how much, if any savings the company was receiving by supplying customers with this useful tool. The key concept is HVAC load. More efficient homes have a flatter curve. (Temperature has less effect on a well insulated home.) We were able to use JMP to explore different regression options easily, and to visibly see our regression begin to predict customer savings with improved accuracy. Using these estimates, we could attempt to predict if customers were implementing advice given at the energy audit, thus improving the efficiency of their homes.
