Emerging Opportunities: Energy as a Service

This is the third in a series of technical briefs exploring emerging opportunities for energy efficiency in residential and commercial buildings. This brief explores energy as a service (EaaS), a model that enables commercial customers to undertake energy and water efficiency projects with no upfront capital outlay. In an EaaS project, the provider owns the equipment and the customer is responsible for a service fee, typically based on the energy saved. This brief describes the structure of EaaS agreements, program approaches, challenges and benefits, and energy savings potential. We conclude with recommendations to accelerate the use of this model.