Energy Management: The Economics of Saving Energy
A free 10-lesson course on the economics of saving energy: what a saved kWh is worth, baselines and M&V, payback, NPV, life-cycle cost, cash-flow models and risk, worked on one office tower project.
Start the courseWhat a saving is worth
- 1
Why Saving Energy Is Really About Money (and Carbon)
Energy management economics starts here: every kilowatt-hour you save is a ringgit kept and a kilogram of carbon avoided. See why efficiency is the first fuel.
- 2
From Kilowatt-Hours to Ringgit and Tonnes of CO₂
A reusable six-step method to turn any energy efficiency measure into annual ringgit saved and tonnes of CO₂ avoided, with two fully worked Malaysian cases.
Proving a saving
- 3
Before You Claim Savings: Baseline and Load Profile
An energy baseline records how much energy a building uses, when and why, before a change. Build one from twelve bills, half-hourly data, schedules and drivers such as weather, then state each saving as a range, worked through for an example office tower.
- 4
How to Prove Energy Savings: A Simple M&V Plan
A lower bill does not prove a saving, and a higher one does not disprove it. Prove energy savings with a measurement and verification (M&V) plan: fixed periods, a measurement boundary, routine and non-routine adjustments, and a named evidence owner, worked through for an example office tower.
Investment tools
- 5
Simple Payback and ROI: The Quick Screening Tools
Simple payback and ROI are the fastest yardsticks for an energy project. Learn what each one really tells you, the worked maths, and their honest blind spots.
- 6
The Time Value of Money: NPV and IRR Explained Simply
Why a ringgit next year is worth less than one today, and how NPV and IRR turn that idea into go/no-go decisions on energy-efficiency projects. Worked in full.
- 7
Life-Cycle Costing: The Cheapest to Buy Is Often the Costliest to Own
Sticker price is a rounding error over 15 years. Learn life cycle costing for equipment — LCC, NPV, EAC and the CAPEX trap that hides the real lifetime bill.
- 8
Building an Energy Project Cash-Flow Model
Build the year-by-year cash-flow model behind payback, NPV and IRR: capex, savings, running costs, replacement and salvage, with escalation, carbon kept out of the cash, and a 10-year office tower example.
Risk and decision
- 9
Sensitivity and Risk: Stress-Testing the Business Case
One NPV hides its assumptions; a range shows them. Stress-test the office tower model with one-at-a-time sensitivity, a tornado diagram, scenarios and risk mitigations, then use a decision matrix to choose between projects.
- 10
Making the Case: A Full Energy Project Appraisal, Start to Finish
A full energy efficiency business case for one office tower measure set: savings at the marginal rate, life-cycle cost, NPV, payback, IRR, sensitivity, cost per tonne and the M&V plan, on one page.
Optional side readings
Background and history. Not needed to finish the course.