Energy Performance Contracting Projects Research Articles

Research on the Driving Factors for the Application of Energy Performance Contracting in Public Institutions

Building energy efficiency in public institutions is crucial for achieving energy conservation and emissions reduction goals. The application of energy performance contracting (EPC) can effectively reduce energy consumption in these buildings and promote the development of the energy-saving service industry. However, there is a lack of initiative among public institutions to adopt EPC. This study aims to investigate the factors that drive the intention and behavior of public institutions to apply EPC and enhance their proactive engagement in building energy efficiency retrofitting. By considering the current status of EPC application in public institutions and drawing on relevant decision-making and behavioral theories, this paper identifies the key factors that drive the intention and behavior of public institutions, and constructs a theoretical model of the intentional and behavioral driving factors. In the empirical testing phase, research data are collected through online questionnaires. Structural equation modeling is employed to validate and analyze the extent of the driving factors and their interrelationships. The key findings are that (1) perceived usefulness, trust, and perceived risk significantly drive the behavior intention of public institutions to apply EPC; (2) perceived behavioral control and perceived ease of use significantly positively drive the behavior of public institutions, with behavior intention being the most influential factor; and (3) policy system and organizational support play a significant moderating role in the process from intention to behavior. Based on these findings, this paper proposes the critical tasks and suggests countermeasures for stakeholders in EPC projects.

Managing minority opinions in risk evaluation by a delegation mechanism-based large-scale group decision-making with overlapping communities

Energy performance contracting (EPC) mechanism is a good choice for conducting energy-saving renovation projects of public buildings. Furthermore, risk analysis is critical to smoothly implement these EPC projects. Therefore, this paper intends to set up a large-scale group decision-making (LGDM) framework based on delegation mechanism to rank risk factors of EPC projects. Firstly, some risk factors and evaluation criteria are identified. Meanwhile, the assessment is expressed as picture fuzzy numbers (PFNs) to handle conflicting opinions and refusals. Then, a novel bidirectional projection measure that considers both distance and included angle is defined, which can better describe the difference between two PFNs. Next, this paper uses a suitable algorithm to cluster experts and presents a delegation mechanism to allocate trust weights of external experts to internal experts. Then, a new method to protect minority opinions is presented. In addition, we use preference risk coefficient to integrate the uncertainty of decision information in consensus-reaching process (CRP), which reduces the risk of LGDM. We come up with an extended MULTIMOORA method to make full use of three parts of MULTIMOORA method. Moreover, the proposed framework is successfully implemented in a case study and some risk mitigation measures and management implications are presented.

Energy Performance Contracting Initiative in Malaysian Public Hospitals

Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) has integrated sustainability program in the management of its assets particularly hospital buildings in line with the national sustainability goals and the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals. The fundamental sustainability change is significant since 2015 in the public healthcare sector where green business practice is more appreciable through formation of policy and sustainability related programme. Public hospital in Malaysia are very high energy consumers, therefore various energy projects have been implemented through Energy Performance Contracting (EPC). EPC projects in MOH is intended to deliver energy expenditure savings as well as to offset hospital building carbon footprint. EPC practice in government hospitals have managed to offset about 15.7 ktonne carbon emission in 2019 or about 16% of Government building national emission reduction target. Energy project such as energy efficient chiller retrofit, LED lighting retrofit and solar thermal hot water are some of the EPC initiatives by MOH in public hospitals. The energy projects not only serve to meet the overall Hospital Facility Management Contract sustainability goals but also to complement the green building target for Malaysian Healthcare building by 2025. The aim of this paper is to review the development of the EPC projects in public healthcare sector and its impact on government energy spending as well as to the climate.

Financing mode of energy performance contracting projects with carbon emissions reduction potential and carbon emissions ratings

This paper focuses on energy performance contracting (EPC) projects that can potentially reduce carbon emissions. Based on the reasons for financing difficulties in China's EPC projects, the paper delineates opportunities for the energy-saving service industry as well as the ownership of carbon emissions. According to the transaction cost and resource dependence theories, this paper constructs a financing mode for EPC projects based on the total amount of control and quota trading. Financing mode is divided into two types according to the carbon emissions objectives noted by emissions demanders: self-use and non-self-use. Each financing mode is then categorized as either pre- or post-transaction given the differences in carbon emissions trading periods, and their characteristics are compared. Regarding carbon emissions ratings, a parabolic fuzzy number is used to describe how carbon emissions trading prices fluctuate and how the risk-neutral probability and weighted interval of European call option prices are obtained. The option price interval is then converted into a certain value by defuzzification. The financing mode this paper designs not only improves the possibility of EPC projects' financing and profitability, but also expands energy service companies' scope in choosing projects. This paper's carbon emissions rating method enables participants' understanding of the magnitude of uncertainty, obtains more accurate market price forecasts, and helps investors choose their acceptable confidence levels to guide investment strategies.

Linkages between policy and business innovation in the development of China's energy performance contracting market

China has a large and growing energy performance contracting (EPC) market. In 2017, the EPC investment was 111 billion CNY, making China the largest EPC market globally. EPC has played a significant role in driving energy efficiency improvement. This paper evaluates four key factors driving the EPC market and their interactions: incentive policies, China's Five-Year Plans, and business innovations in diversifying contract models and strengthening measurement and verification (M&V). We use multiple data sources: detailed information from 21 pilot projects, industry-wide surveys, and policy information. Our study indicates that supportive policies were important for the initial market development; after introducing government incentives in 2010, ESCO employees doubled within a year and the annual total energy savings from EPC projects increased from 11 million tce in 2010 to 34 million tce in 2015. As the market was established and continued to grow, the private sector undertook the initiative to address the issues that were left out of policies. By diversifying contract models and taking robust M&V practices, EPC stakeholders were able to overcome certain market barriers and enabled the sustainable growth of the market. Future EPC policies could incorporate business innovations to ensure long-term development of China's EPC market.

Cracking the Achilles’ heel of energy performance contracting projects: the credit risk identification method for clients

ABSTRACTA credit risk identification model is established to examine the credit status of Energy performance contracting (EPC) project clients (i.e., energy-using companies) in China based on rough set theory. The model is verified with data from 120 listed companies at different times. Study shows that lack of credit is one of the main obstacles to the implementation of EPC projects, and information asymmetry is the main reason for this lack of credit among potential clients in China. The credit risk identification method based on rough set theory can make up for the shortcomings of existing EPC projects in terms of credit risk identification, including redundant information and indicators, and unclear decision rules. Credit risk identification indicators of clients are dynamic. The research results can help energy service companies (ESCOs) determine the credit status of clients, facilitate cooperation between ESCOs and clients, and help explain the various dynamics of clients’ credit risk identification indicators over time.

Trust and the intent to cooperate in energy performance contracting for public buildings in China

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the key factors in generating trust, and the effects of trust on the intention to cooperate in energy performance contracting (EPC), from the perspective of energy saving companies (ESCOs).Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire survey was undertaken to collect the data from the experienced project managers in ESCOs. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results revealed that competence, integrity, communication, reciprocity and contract had positive effects on calculative trust and relational trust. Both calculative trust and relational trust, in turn, were found to have positive effects on the intention to cooperate.Research limitations/implicationsThe conclusions are derived from the Chinese cultural background and may apply to a certain geographical scope. In addition, this study focused on the perspective of ESCOs but did not consider that of facility owners.Practical implicationsThis research would supply guidance for facility owners or users to cultivate trust from ESCOs and achieve cooperation in EPC.Originality/valueMost of the existing studies have focused on the perspective of facility owners while few have attempted to investigate the perspective of ESCOs. This study contributes to the knowledge body relating to EPC by investigating the relationship between trust and the intention to cooperate from the perspective of ESCOs. In addition, most EPC studies recognized trust as a condition for the successful execution of EPC projects but failed to consider the role of trust in setting up the cooperation relationship prior to project execution.

How to allocate energy-saving benefit for guaranteed savings EPC projects? A case of China

From the perspective of stakeholders, this paper uses Shapley value method to get the initial allocation solution to energy-saving benefit of guaranteed savings energy performance contracting (EPC) project, and uses AHP to determine the risk evaluation indicators and the weight of stakeholders. The fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method is used to determine the risk coefficients of stakeholders and normalize them. The initial allocation of energy-saving benefit is corrected by using the normalized risk coefficients to get the final allocation solution to the energy-saving benefit. The study shows that (1) It is reasonable to use the Shapley value method for the allocation of energy-saving benefit of stakeholders in guaranteed savings EPC projects; (2) In the process of forming a cooperative alliance among stakeholders of guaranteed savings EPC projects, all parties have synergistic risks; (3) The level of energy-saving benefits of the cooperative alliance has been improved. (4) The allocation of energy-saving benefit based on risk coefficient is more in line with the actual situation. The research results can provide a more realistic allocation solution to energy-saving benefits of such projects, and contribute to the smooth implementation of guaranteed savings EPC projects that occupy the mainstream position in China’s energy-saving service industry.

A Bibliometric Analysis of Energy Performance Contracting Research from 2008 to 2018

Increasing research interests in energy performance contracting (EPC) has resulted in a large number of publications over the past decade. However, very limited attempts have been made to map the global research in this area. To identify the state of the field and trends in EPC research, the VOSviewer software package was used to conduct a series of content analyses and examine global patterns among publications, including the distribution of core authors and institutions, high-frequency categories and keywords, journal and author contributions, highly cited papers, etc. Based on a systematical and deeply qualitative analysis on the 127 identified papers, five mainstream research topics in EPC were summarized, covering implementations of EPC, mechanisms for effective EPC projects, stakeholder behaviors and decisions in EPC projects, energy service company (ESCO) in EPC projects, and risk management in EPC. In addition, six main research gaps in EPC were identified, including lack of effective measurement and verification of energy savings, limited studies on EPC projects in the residential sector, ineffective mechanisms to ensure post-EPC energy-saving, limited research on the dual relationships among EPC project stakeholders, how to improve the energy users’ (EU) attitudes/cognitions toward ESCO/EPC, and lack of effective mechanisms to prevent risks in EPC projects. Furthermore, based on the current EPC research topics and research gaps in EPC, six potential research directions in EPC in future were also explored, which are how to develop effective methods for measuring and verifying energy efficiency?, EPC diffusion issues in the residential sector, effective mechanisms to ensure post-EPC energy-saving, effects of cooperative and competitive relationships between EU and ESCO on the performance of EPC projects, how to improve the EU’s attitudes/cognitions toward ESCO/EPC, and how to deal with risks in EPC projects. The outcomes would be useful for understanding the latest development of global EPC research and guiding future research in the subject.

Optimal scheme in energy performance contracting under uncertainty: A real option perspective

Energy performance contracting (EPC) was developed and had ever been believed as an effective energy-saving method. Despite that a variety of schemes, Guaranteed Saving, Shared Saving, and First-Out schemes, are created to be applied in various conditions, it has not been widely adopted as expected, due to the complexity of its profit allocation, high uncertainty and investment-assessing deficiency. In order to promote the wide applications of EPC projects, Real option analysis (ROA) is applied in this paper with the attempt of seeking the optimal scheme, which could be feasible and profitable for both stakeholders. ROA is studied to be an effective tool capable of considering the uncertainty and the managerial flexibility, and of assessing the investment value. A ROA-enabled methodology is proposed and expected to (1) identify feasible options for both the energy service company and the owner, (2) evaluate the investment value using the binomial tree pricing model, (3) develop new metrics for the optimal EPC scheme, and finally (4) single out the optimal scheme that is feasible and attractive for both sides. A real EPC project is studied to test the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed approach. The Shared Saving scheme is identified as the optimal scheme for the EPC project, striking a more ideal profit difference between participants than the other two schemes. This demonstrates the capability and effectiveness of the proposed approach in optimizing the scheme into a new balance. The sensitivity of the sharing proportion on the optimal EPC scheme is discussed, and it is found that the sharing proportion of realized energy cost savings by the energy service company is positively correlated with the total investment value. The novelty of this research lies in (a) the incorporation of contractual flexibility by means of the real option into the EPC project for optimal design, and (b) new metrics for the selection of the optimal EPC scheme. The proposed model and suggestions based on the case study are supposed to help decision-makers optimize the scheme under different scenarios. A feasible and attractive EPC scheme can further prompt wide application of energy-saving projects, which in turn contributes to the improvement of energy-consuming efficiency and then to realize the environmental sustainability.

Promoting Energy Performance Contracting for Achieving Urban Sustainability: What is the Research Trend?

The increasing demand for applying energy performance contracting (EPC) for urban energy conservation has resulted in a significant amount of publications over the past decade. This study tries to identify future research trends in the subject of EPC through analyzing 127 journal papers published from 2008 to 2018. Based on the analysis and discussion of the EPC research, several main research trends were identified. The research results reveal an increasing research interest in EPC over the period. The findings imply that case study is the major research method and descriptive analysis and statistical analysis are primarily used for data analysis. In addition, EPC research in the past decade focused on five major research topics, which are ‘implementation of EPC projects’, ‘EPC mechanism and business models’, ‘decision-making in EPC projects’, ‘Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) in EPC projects’, and ‘risk management in EPC projects’. Based on the five research topics, future research trends and directions in EPC were identified as well. The findings of this study can be informative and valuable for guiding future research in EPC, and are particularly helpful for researchers who are keen to open a new window of investigating EPC issues worldwide.

Risk assessment of urban rooftop distributed PV in energy performance contracting (EPC) projects: An extended HFLTS-DEMATEL fuzzy synthetic evaluation analysis

Promoted by the policy, urban rooftop distributed photovoltaic (URDPV) has developed rapidly in China. Besides, the government is gradually applying energy performance contracting (EPC) mode to this field making use of urban rooftop resources and energy service companies’ (ECOs’) technological advantages, but there are still obstacles to further development. One of the main reasons that restrict the further development of EPC-URDPV projects in China is the lack of effective risk assessment method. This paper aims to identify the critical risk factors (CRFs) for such projects, and propose a comprehensive risk assessment framework. Firstly, 11 CRFs are identified based on the literature review and 4-dimensional risk analysis to composed the risk assessment index system. Secondly, the weights of CRFs are determined by the intuitionistic fuzzy-decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (IF-DEMATEL) method. It is worth noting that this paper uses the hesitant fuzzy linguistic term sets (HFLTS) to obtain evaluation information to ensure the completeness and fuzziness of experts’ viewpoints. Then, an extended HFLTS-DEMATEL fuzzy synthetic evaluation method is used to conduct risk assessment. The evaluation results show that the risk levels of EPC-URDPV projects in most study areas are at “Medium” and “Relatively Low” state. The risk level of projects in Shanghai and Fujian is “Relatively High”. Sensitivity analysis results show the stability and reliability of the model. After considering the causes of risk and relevant stakeholders, a risk response is proposed. This study can enrich the methods in the field of risk assessment and provide insightful references to PV investors, decision makers.

Research on value and factors of the guarantee payment in the energy performance contracting in China

Mistrust of the Energy Using Organisation (EUO) in Energy Services Company (ESCO) is a key factor that hinders the development of Energy Performance Contracting Projects (EPCPs) in China, especially the EPCP is the shared savings type. A payment guarantee that is able to hedge the credit risk of the EUO is the rational choice for the ESCO. Considering an EPCP payment guarantee with a limit on the total amount that is essentially a multi-period European put option portfolio with multiple uncertain exercise prices that the guarantor sells to the ESCO, this paper constructs a valuation formula of an EPCP payment guarantee, in which the exercise price follows the geometric Brownian motion with a Poisson jump, and analyses the effects of the factors on the value of the payment guarantee. The results revealed the following. First, the value of the payment guarantee is affected by the total guaranteed amount, uncertainty in ESCO’s revenue, and uncertainty in EUO’s net cash flow, and consideration of the impact of unexpected shocks on the exercise price can avoid overrating the value. Second, the value of the payment guarantee for each period within the scope of the full guarantee increases with an increase in the ESCO’s initial revenue flow, proportion of the revenue sharing and expected revenue growth rate, and it decreases with an increase in the risk-adjusted discount rate and EUO’s initial net cash flow; the value of the payment guarantee for each period within the scope of the full guarantee first decreases and subsequently increases with an increase in the risk-level of ESCO’s revenue and the EUO’s net cash flow. Third, the results of the Sobol’s sensitivity analysis indicate that, within the scope of the full guarantee, the ESCO’s initial revenue flow, proportion of the revenue sharing, the risk-adjusted discount rate and EUO’s initial net cash flow play relatively important roles in changing the EPCP payment guarantee and its exercise prices. According to the above conclusions, the payment guarantee contract can provide the ESCO with a basis for decision-making in the formulation of a strategy to safeguard energy conservation revenues in accordance with the relationships embodied by the value of the payment guarantee. Finally, the policy recommendations about relieving the mistrust between EUOs and ESCOs are provided.

Performance risks of lighting retrofit in Energy Performance Contracting projects

In Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) projects, Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) often provide guarantees on the energy savings of proposed retrofit measures based on a simplified engineering method. In order to assess the risk of saving shortfalls, there is a need to develop an evaluation method based on the probabilistic approach. This study focuses on a proposed probabilistic approach to evaluate the performance risks of common lighting retrofit measures such as replacement of existing lighting, installation of daylight-linked lighting controls and occupancy-based controls. The proposed approach considers the variations in the influential factors affecting energy performance, including daylight availability, occupancy rates, lamp conditions and lighting use patterns. Empirical data is used to develop the probability distribution functions of those influential factors. A hypothetical 40-storey office building with typical design features (such as regularly shaped open plan) in Hong Kong was modeled using EnergyPlus to demonstrate the application of this probabilistic approach. The results indicate that the variations in actual energy savings can be substantial in lighting retrofit projects, ranging from 1,267,000 kWh (43% of pre-retrofit consumption) to 1,927,000 kWh (65% ditto) with 90% statistical significance, posing risk on the achievement of guarantee savings in an EPC project setting.

A multi-criteria decision-making framework for risk ranking of energy performance contracting project under picture fuzzy environment

Abstract Identifying the priority of risks as regards energy performance contracting (EPC) projects is one of the main issues faced by energy service companies. Considering the complexity and uncertainty of EPC mechanism, this study attempts to formulate a hybrid fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making framework with picture fuzzy information to rank the risk factors of EPC projects. The proposed framework not only considers the interrelationship among criteria but also considers the decision-maker's bounded rationality and behavioural psychology. First, to effectively express the uncertainty and fuzziness of risk and environment, risk evaluation is expressed as picture fuzzy numbers. Subsequently, the new distances of picture fuzzy sets are proposed to fully use picture fuzzy information. Meanwhile, considering the interrelationship among criteria, an optimisation model based on the maximizing deviation method and Bonferroni mean distance of picture fuzzy sets is established to determine the weight vector of criteria with incomplete weight information. Furthermore, a prospect theory-based multi-attributive border approximation area comparison (MABAC) method is proposed to rank the risks and identify the priority of risks by reflecting the decision-maker's bounded rationality and behaviour psychology. In addition, the proposed framework is successfully implemented in a case study of a hotel's energy efficiency retrofit. Results show that the proposed framework is an effective and practical decision tool for risk ranking problems under picture fuzzy environment. Finally, the detailed risk mitigation, energy-saving performance and implications are presented to provide a reference and suggestion for other projects.

Renewable energy performance contracting in the tertiary sector Standardization to overcome barriers in Greece

The European Union targets for 27% renewable energy share by 2030. At the same time, all new buildings should be nearly zero energy buildings from 2020 onwards. A major obstacle to these objectives is a combination of current economic stagnation and limited investors' confidence, which leads to low investment proportion. Despite many renewable energy technologies are already at a competitive level, the implementation rate in buildings is still low. In this paper, we focus on advances in efficient mechanisms to overcome non-technical barriers to the increase of renewable energy applications in buildings, such as Energy Performance Contracting (EPC). Tertiary sector holds a huge untapped potential for such applications, especially in Southern Europe. The Trust-EPC-South European initiative, implemented in six southern EU countries with a mix of beginner and intermediate energy service markets, aims at encouraging the financing of sustainable energy solutions in the tertiary sector, by creating a framework for standardization, assessment and benchmarking, thus improving trust and confidence in the financing parties. This paper presents three case studies in Greece, a Mediterranean family resort hotel, a resort and spa hotel and an office building. The installation of renewable energy measures, including photovoltaic systems, solar thermal systems and heat pumps, was examined and their EPC potential was rated, by using the described standardization and benchmarking methodology. Their economic savings range from 3 to 23% on yearly energy costs, at a discounted payback of 3–6 years, depending on the measure. A sensitivity analysis shows the impact of the variation of technical and economic parameters on the EPC projects feasibility. The standardization practice applied is expected to support the project actors in securing appropriate financing and eventually proceed with the renewable energy installations through the EPC.

A system dynamics approach to analyse the impact of energy efficiency policy on ESCO ventures in European Union countries: a case study of Portugal

The development of a competitive and sustainable market for energy performance contracting (EPC) projects supplied by energy service companies (ESCO) may contribute to realising the existent potential of energy savings. Nevertheless, in different countries, like Portugal, this market is still immature and remains far below its promised potential. Different from the existent research that assumes factors operate independently and focusses on how to remove barriers to the adoption of EPC, this study provides insights into how delayed impacts from interdependent policies affect the business processes of an energy service business venture. To understand the relationships beneath the dynamics of those small and developing ESCO markets in the European Union (EU), a system dynamics model of an ESCO venture was developed. The model simulation provides a powerful tool to improve understanding and accelerate learning of the policies that critically impact venture performance. The base case simulation shows an unattractive market value added (MVA) and a high probability of a firm’s failure. The demand simulation is quite sensitive to the word-of-mouth (WOM) parameter, and simultaneous initiatives to positively intensify it with incentive public policies such as low interest rate and demonstration projects significantly increased the MVA, reduced the probability of the firm’s failure, and consequently increased the widespread adoption of EPC.

Managing energy efficiency of buildings in China: A survey of energy performance contracting (EPC) in building sector

This paper reports on a nationwide field survey of managing energy efficiency of buildings under energy performance contracting (EPC) in Chinese building sector. The survey aims at getting insight of Chinese experiences of EPC and survey yielded information on profile, specificity and risk specifications of EPC in Chinese building sector. The key findings are that the existing EPC projects are mainly driven by policies and majority of first parties in EPC are owners of public buildings. The contract specificity is worryingly low, with underspecification prominent in the contract sections of renewal and change of the planned solutions, dispute resolution and compensation for personal and property damage. Insufficient risk specification was a major cause of contract failure and disputing. High risks are observed in not enough feasibility study, delay in completion, operational risks, delay in payment and uninsured loss. Most post EPC projects would be worryingly unsuccessful, given to the facts that many of them have not established their energy team, have no further investment and have no effective maintenance. The Chinese existing emission trading scheme (ETS) offers a vital opportunity for upscaling EPC in building sector and policy framing is needed for linking EPC projects and ETS.

Energy Performance Contracting and Application in Energy Conservation of Industrial Boilers

Development of energy performance contracting (EPC) was introduced in this paper. The basic models generally include energy conservation benefit payment, energy conservation benefit sharing, and energy conservation amount guarantee, etc. The essence of EPC is that energy service companies (ESCO) share the energy conservation benefits with customers. Recent progress on the critical success factors of EPC projects and the analysis methods was briefly introduced. Taking the pulverized coal industrial boiler as an example, application of EPC in energy conservation of industrial boilers was described.

Benchmarking Framework to Encourage Energy Efficiency Investments in South Europe. The Trust EPC South Approach

The Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) market is still embryonic in South Europe since there are still many barriers: difficult access to financing, limited investors’ confidence in EPC models, scarcity of flagship projects, lack of certification schemes and financing mechanisms, especially for the tertiary sector (hospitality, tourism, healthcare), which presents a huge potential for Energy Efficiency (EE). The Trust EPC South project, funded by Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, aims to scale up investments in EE solutions in the private tertiary sector in South Europe, by delivering a robust investment standardization and benchmarking framework and a pipeline of bankable EPC projects in 6 countries (Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Croatia and Greece); its results will eventually be extended to the Balkan. Tailored capacity building activities will allow an easier access to third-party financing, thus unlocking the large tertiary sector EE and Renewable Energy market potential.Initially, national market analyses took place (EPC providers, beneficiaries-clients, and financial institutions) to identify the market potential. National Discussion Platforms were set up to develop the national roadmaps addressing mechanisms for mitigation of policy, legal, and especially financial barriers. An investment standardization and benchmarking framework, built upon an established real estate assessment tool (Green Rating™), is actually setting up in order to build trust amongst all parts of the EPC value chain. The methodology will be upgraded including a financial assessment model.