The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) contracted with Ecotope to review the alliance’s current heat pump water heater benefit/cost model. Study objectives included 1) A review of the methodology used to estimate a specific manufacturer’s annual unit shipments to the region, and; 2) An assessment of NEEA’s naturally occurring market baseline logic, originally developed in 2014.
Findings indicate the importance of continued monitoring of distributor pathways and distributor survey data over time. And, to ensure robust monitoring of the distributor market, report findings recommend NEEA averages the 2019 share proportions across manufacturers instead of relying on 2019 distributor share for this specific manufacturer. Regarding the second review objective, the report findings indicate the current savings accounting approach is viable with the addition of new construction savings and advanced tier efficiencies to the baseline model. Lastly, findings suggest a potential revision to NEEA’s current baseline to account for large tank electric resistance water heater product availability beyond 2015. By revising beyond 2015, this will encompass products manufactured after the recent federal equipment efficiency requirements became effective.
