E4TheFuture supports the National Standard Practice Manual and related resources.
The National Standard Practice ManualTM is a product of the National Energy Screening Project (NESPTM), a multi-year project guided by an Advisory Committee and coordinated and funded primarily by E4TheFuture. A focus on energy equity has emerged, as jurisdictions increasingly center equity in their distributed energy resource (DER) programs, affirming the importance of equity in decision-making tools and understanding how BCAs (benefit-cost analyses) address equity.
The NSPM provides a comprehensive framework for cost-effectiveness assessment of DERs. The manual provides a set of policy-neutral, non-biased, and economically-sound principles, concepts, and methodologies to support single- and multi-DER benefit-cost analysis (BCA) for: energy efficiency (EE), demand response (DR), distributed generation (DG), distributed storage (DS), and (building and vehicle) electrification. It is used by jurisdictions to help inform which resources to acquire to meet their specific policy goals and objectives.
The National Standard Practice Manual for Benefit-Cost Analysis of Distributed Energy Resources (NSPM) has a companion guide, the Methods, Tools and Resources Handbook for Quantifying DER Impacts for Benefit-cost Analysis.
NESP partners with the Assoc. of Energy Service Professionals (AESP) to offer trainings on conducting benefit-cost analyses (using the NSPM) and on distributional equity analyses (using the 2024 US DEA guide which includes complementary new stakeholder engagement guidance). Attendees can earn the NSPM CertifiedTM credential, and/or Continuing Education Units (CEUs) or Professional Development Hours (PDHs).
The NESP also develops a range of supporting materials on the NSPM, including case studies and template tools. NESP developed the Database of Screening Practices (DSP) which provides a comparison of current cost-effectiveness practices across the United States.
