Case Study: Smart Buildings Center achieves automated, low-cost measurement & verification of energy efficiency with Verdigris Technologies

Automating the Measurement & Verification of Energy Efficiency

The Smart Buildings Center (SBC), a project of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Council (NEEC), partnered with Paladino and Company and Unico Properties to address a common barrier for Pacific Northwest building owners: verifying ROI from energy-efficiency upgrades. Traditional calibrated energy modeling and sub‑metering are accurate but costly and episodic, and owners struggle to isolate savings amid changing weather, occupancy and equipment behavior.

SBC piloted two lower‑cost automated M&V solutions—DeltaMeter (cloud software that creates a virtual baseline from bills and interval data) and Verdigris (hardware CTs plus machine‑learning analytics for circuit‑level, near‑real‑time monitoring)—across eight commercial buildings. Both tools produced monthly reports and dashboard insights that enabled persistence tracking, with most annual predictions within ~5% of actual use, at a fraction of traditional costs; tradeoffs included short demo duration, BAS data gaps, and Verdigris’ onsite installation needs. Verdict: Verdigris is best for granular, real‑time and equipment monitoring, while DeltaMeter suits portfolio-level monthly M&V and efficiency recommendations.

Smart Buildings Center