Industry trends have shown that well-designed submetering systems can provide energy savings at varying levels of action. With unstable utility prices in addition to the shift toward environmentally sustainable facilities, sophisticated collection of more granular usage data continues to grow as a critical component of resource management. The table below outlines the range of possible savings from metering, which can used to gauge potential resource savings in your building.

Metering Saving Ranges - Metering Best Practices Guide (DOE)
Action	Observed Savings	Effect
Bill Allocation Only	2.5% to 5%	Improved occupant awareness.
Building Tune-Up	5% to 15%	Improved awareness and identification of simple O&M improvement and managing demand loads.
Continuous Commissioning	15% to 45%	Improved awareness, identification of simple O&M improvements, project accomplishment, and continuous management attention.

The table demonstrates that integrated submeter plans yield the most benefits. Based on the level of action taken, reducing overall resource consumption through efficiencies gained by submeters can provide long-term financial benefits. Additionally, market data trends have shown that there are additional benefits to installing and maintaining a submeter program. Studies have shown that commercial buildings with lower energy usage and the capability to track tenant usage data are more desired, easier to rent, and have a higher market value as compared to buildings without tenant level metering.¹

¹ Wiley, J.A., Benefield, J.D., and Johnson, K.H. (2010). Green Design and the Market for Commercial Office Space. The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, 41(2), pp 228-243.

Submetering systems are distinct among building retrofit investments in that they themselves do not reduce resource consumption. Their role in enabling the optimization of resource use can generate a variety of both direct and indirect benefits such as bill verification and reduced carbon dioxide emissions from resource reduction, respectfully. This makes it more difficult to quantify the lifecycle cost of submetering financially.

Still, evaluating the feasibility and impact of a submetering investment requires a lifecycle cost approach to accurately assess the long-term economic costs and benefits of implementation. Energy Policy Act of 2005 requires that Federal buildings be metered to the maximum extent practicable and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 calls for the value and effectiveness of any energy-related investment be evaluated against its cost effectiveness.

GSA published a helpful guide on how to calculate cost-effective solutions in the building context for submetering. Read it to learn more about making the business case for submetering investments.

A submetering system enhances building performance and resource use of existing building systems (see System Bundling).

Meter costs can be grouped into three main categories: equipment costs, labor costs, and recurring costs. Since submetering systems can vary greatly depending on the functionality of the system, the building type, and the building’s condition, these categories are intended to provide a broad summary of the costs associated with implementing and maintaining a submetering system.

• Equipment costs include the cost of the hardware and software needs for data collection and analysis, as well as any additional supporting materials needed for installation.
• Labor costs include the cost for a team to install the submetering technology within a building, connecting the submetering system with new or existing building systems, testing, and inspection.
• Recurring costs include the ongoing operations and maintenance of the submetering program as well as the energy management software and information technology changes/upgrades.  Meter calibration and staff training costs also need to be considered since they can result in significant recurring costs if not carefully planned into projects.

Please refer to chapter 3.5 of the Metering Best Practices Guide to learn more about meter costs.