HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-06-02-SLC.rpt (Energy Inventory) r
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Prepared for
Sustainable Lexington
By Peregrine Energy Group
June 2, 2020
DRAFT
PEREGRINE
ENERGY GROUP
Table Of Contents
ExecutiveSummary.....................................................................................................................1
Buildinginventory................................................................................................................................1
Energyconsumption............................................................................................................................1
Carbon dioxide emissions.....................................................................................................................1
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
BuildingInventory.......................................................................................................................2
Residential...........................................................................................................................................2
Non-Residential ...................................................................................................................................4
EnergyConsumption...................................................................................................................5
Electricity.............................................................................................................................................5
NaturalGas..........................................................................................................................................8
HeatingOil...........................................................................................................................................9
Carbon dioxide emissions..........................................................................................................10
Carbon dioxide emissions by fuel and sector......................................................................................10
CO2emissions factors........................................................................................................................11
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................11
References................................................................................................................................12
Executive Summary
Bu.aiEII d i in g i in v e in t o ry
To be added
Eineirgy coinsu.airnptioin
To be added
Carboin dioxide eirnissioins
To be added
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Introduction
This is an update to the Energy Inventory prepared for Sustainable Lexington in 2017 as an input to the Town's
Getting to Net Zero Roadmap(2017 Energy Inventory)'. The inventory provides information about the town's
buildings,energy use,and carbon dioxide emissions.
Note:This is a first draft of the report. Issues to address further in subsequent drafts are noted in italics.
BuildingInventory
Information about the town's buildings is found in the Property Database maintained by the town Assessor.
Note: As with the 2017 Energy Inventory, this draft report uses the version of the Lexington Property Database that
is available through the state's online Oliver system. However, the version of the database that is currently
available through Oliver is missing some of the key fields that were used in the 2017 Energy Inventory. Most
significantly, the currently-available database provides the buildings'total square footage but not the living square
footage, the more commonly-used metric for a building's size. Total square footage is often 25%or more higher
than living square footage. We hope to obtain a more complete version of the database for use in preparing the
final report.
The Property Database confirms that Lexington is primarily a residential community,with residential buildings
accounting for 95%of the properties and 81%of the building square footage in town.2
Table 1.Properties by customer sector
%of
Sector Properties Properties %of Area
............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Residential 10,449 95% 81%
Non-residential 557 5% 19%
Total 11,006
Reside int ia
Among residential properties,single-family homes dominate,accounting for 87%of the properties and 89%of the
square footage.
Table 2.Residential properties by type
%of Area %of Area Avg.Area
Style Properties Properties (SgFt) (SgFt) (SgFt)
Single Family 9,040 87% 89%
Condominium 1,095 10% 5%
Two-Family 158 2% 2%
Housing Authority 89 1% 1%
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Other 43 <1% 1%
Three-Family 11 <1% <1%
MF>8 units 10 <1% 3%
Congregate Housing 2 <1% <1%
M F 4—8 1 <1% <1%
Total 10,499
Two features of the residential building stock may be particularly significant for Lexington's efforts to reduce its
greenhouse gas emissions:
- While historic properties and new homes stand out,far more of the town's existing homes were built in the
1950s and 1960s than any other decades.Construction from that era is less energy efficient than modern
construction.
- Since the 1970s,the average new home has been getting larger every decade. In fact,the average size of
homes built in the 2010s is nearly twice the town average.Although more energy efficient than older homes,
the size of these homes will cause them to use more energy, particularly for heating.
Figure 1 below illustrates construction of single-family homes over time and shows changes in both the number of
buildings and the average size of those buildings.
Note: This figure is from the 2017 Energy Inventory. It will be updated for the final draft if o more compete version
of the Property Database is available.
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Figure 1.Single-family home construction by decade.The blue bars show the number of homes built.The orange
circles show the average size of those homes.
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NoIC'ri-Res II deIC'rit,IIa
Three building types account for 60%of the non-residential square footage:office buildings(31%),manufacturing
(20%) and municipal (14%).
Table 3.Non-residential properties by type
%of Area %of Avg.Year
Style Area(SgFt) (SgFt) Properties Properties Built
..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Office Buildings 31% 271 49%
Manufacturing 20% 19 3%
Municipal 14% 38 7%
Retail 8% 100 18%
Other 8% 58 10%
Religious 6% 37 7%
Assisted Living 5% 3 1%
Hotel 2% 3 1%
Private Education 2% 13 2%
Nursing Home 1% 3 1%
R&D 1% 2 <1%
Restaurant <1% 10 2%
Total 557
While building size is not an exact indicator of energy use,the distribution of square footage across building types
suggests that the bulk of Lexington's non-residential energy use is in office,manufacturing,and municipal
buildings. Other building types,such as retail, religious,and restaurants,are likely small contributors.
Looking at non-residential buildings by year built shows that the great majority of the buildings were constructed
from the 1960s through the 1980s.
Figure 2 below illustrates non-residential construction over time and shows changes in both the number of
buildings and the average size of those buildings.
Note: This figure is from the 2017 Energy Inventory. It will be updated for the final draft if a more compete version
of the Property Database is available.
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Figure 2.Non-residential buildings 6ydecade.The blue bars show the number ofbuildings constructed.The
orange circles show the average size ofthose buildings.
Energy Consumption
Buildings in Lexington are fueled by three primary sources:electricity, natural gas,and heating oil.
Electricity
Lexington used nearly 442,257 megawatt-hours of electricity in 2018.' Non-residential electricity use dominated,
accounting for 75Y6ofthe total.As shown in Table 4 below, Lexington's non-residential/residential split resembles
that in economic centers such as Cambridge and Burlington more than bedroom communities such asWinchester
and Lincoln.
Table 4.Electricity use bvmunicipality and sector
Municipality Non-Residential Residential
Cambridge 87% 13%
Burlington uz% 18%
Lexington 75u osu
Acton su% 42%
Winchester »o% 61%
Lincoln 36% 64%
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As shown in Figure 3 below,electricity use in Massachusetts increased significantly from 1960 to 2000. Lexington-
specific electricity use data is not available for this period, but it is reasonable to assume that electricity use in
town followed a similar pattern.
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Figure 3.Massachusetts electricity use.'The orange bars show the electricity use for the year.The percentages
show the percent change from 10 years earlier.
However,over the 9-year period from 2009 to 2018,electricity use declined slightly both in Lexington (2.5%) and
Massachusetts as a whole(2%).This decline is due to a number of factors. Energy efficiency has increased,due in
part to the extensive energy efficiency programs operated by Massachusetts utilities. In addition,and as discussed
in more detail below,the number of behind-the-meter solar installations in town has increased. Because the
electricity generated by these systems is consumed on-site,that generation appears in the data as a reduction in
use.
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Figure 4.Lexington and Massachusetts electricity use.'Lexington electricity use for 2014 is not available.
Over the last several years, many new solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have been installed in Lexington. Figure 5
below shows the number of systems installed by year and the cumulative electricity production of those systems.
The 611 systems produce approximately 12,608 VIWh per year,which is just under 3%of the amount of electricity
consumed by the town.
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Figure 5.Solar PV systems in Lexington.'
Note: The actual number of PV systems in town may be higher. The list of systems used for this draft, which came
from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center,needs to be compared to other sources.
In 2017, Lexington launched a community electricity aggregation program. The program provides 100%renewable
electricity to residents and businesses in town. Currently,the program serves 88%of the residents in town and
supplies 80%of the electricity used by Lexington residents and 10%of the electricity used by Lexington businesses.
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Figure 6.Electricity accounts and sales by supply type. The blue bars show accounts and electricity sales supplied
by Lexington's Community Choice program;the orange bars show accounts and sales supplied by others!
N@tur@I G@5
According to National Grid, Lexington used 14.6 million therms of natural gas in 2018.' Natural gas use was evenly
sp|itbetmeenresidentia| andnon'residentia| users,asp|itthatisinbetmeenthatofoommeroia|oenteoand
bedroom communities.
Table 7.Natural gas use bvtown and sector
Town Non-Residential Residential
Cambridge 91% o%
Burlington so% 31%
Lexington sn% sn%
Acton 42% su%
Lincoln 36% 64%
Winchester zs% 75%
0vertheseven'yearperiodfrom2O11to2O18, natura| useinoreasedinbothLexin8ton (16.6Y6)andMasmohusetts
asawhole(14.7Y6).
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Lexington and Massachusetts Natii,jra� Gas (Jse
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Figure 7. Lexington and Massachusetts natural gas use.9 The 2013 Lexington number is unexpectedly
low and may reflect a data error.
In Lexington,the overall increase was driven by a large increase (19.6%) in residential natural gas use,which was
likely largely due to a shift in residential heating from oil to natural gas. For Massachusetts as a whole,the increase
was driven by a large increase in commercial natural gas use.
IleadIrrlg OliII
Unlike electricity and natural gas,there is no reported data regarding the use of home heating oil in Lexington.
There is no regulated utility that serves all customers and provides aggregated use data. Instead, heating oil is
provided by numerous private companies that do not report their sales publicly.
In order to estimate heating oil use,we looked at the number of oil heated homes in Lexington. Even this number
is not definite. We used the results of the surveys conducted by the American Community Survey,part of the US
Census.These surveys are conducted annually, but reported as five-year averages.
Figure 8 below shows the decline in homes using heating oil and the corresponding rise in the number of homes
heated by natural gas.
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Electricity 11111111111 Heating Oil 11111111111 Natural gas 1111111111 Others 11111111111 Propane
Figure 8. Home heating fuel."
Tnbeodded Calculation o/annual heating oil consumption bosedon#o/homes ondovenzgeconsumption.
Note: The estimate will reflect only residential heating oil use. We have no reliable way to estimate non-residentiol
use. However,non-residentiol oil use is becoming increasingly uncommon. It isentirely possible that there isnone/n
Lexington.
Carbon dioxide emissions
C@rboin dioxide erni55ioin5 by fu61 @ind sector
We applied the energy use to carbon dioxide(CO2)emission factors to calculate CO2 emissions by fuel and sector.
The emission factors are explained further inthe next section.
As shown in Figures 9 and 10 below,electricity and natural gas are both responsible for approximately 40%of
Lexington's CO2 emissions. Looking by sector as well as fuel, non-residential electricity use is the greatest
contributor toCO2emissions,at]6Y6the total.
Importantly,these figures include the impact of Lexington's Community Choice program,which is suppling carbon-
free e|eotrioitya000untin8forabout25Y6ofthetovvn'suse.
Note:For this draft, we used ploceholder emissions factors and a very rough estimoteforheating oil use. The totals
will chongecis w/erefine those numbers.
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C'02 Er nisslo ns by R,jel
Electricity
Natural gas � �� � � � ������ � � � �� �� � � � �� � � � �� � � � ���� � � � �� � � � �� � �� � � �� � ������ � ��� � � � �� ��41%
II�I�II�IIII�I�II�II�II�I�II�II�II�IIIII�II�III�I�I�II�II�II�II�I�III�II�I�I�III�IIII�II�I�II�II�II�I�II�II�II�II�I�II�II�II�I�IIII�II�II�I�II�II�IIIIII�I�III�II�I�I�III�I�III�I�II�II�II�I�II�IIII�II�II�I�II�II�II�I�III�I�III�I�I�II�III�IIII�II�II�II�I�IIIIII�II�II�II�II�II�I�II�II�II�II�I�II�II�II�II�IIIII�II�II�I�I�II�III�I�II�II�II�II�I�I�II�IIIIII�I�III�I�II�II�I�II�III�I�I�I�III�II�I�I�III�IIII�II�I�II�II�II�I�II�II�II�II�I�II�II�II�IIIII�I�III�I�I�II�III�I�II�II�II�II�I�I�III�IIII�I�III�I�II�II��II�II�II�II�I�III�II�I�I�IIIIII,II�I�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������>)���������������������i
Hcr,t,:at,ing call O VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO 21%
OM 20M 40M 60N/l 30lM 100M :120M 140M 1..,60M 1.80M
Figure 9.CO2 emissions by fuel
CO2 ErnII;;'sm~aIIoIISs by CU°,tOIrn°-.:"Cir S(.-.°(:to Ir aInd l:'n..ria'
Non rr,sidetntial Electricity 36%
Natural gas 20%
Residential Electricity 3%
Nat ra I gas 21%
Heating tail 21%
OM 20M 400 60M 801\4 10M 120M 140M 160M
CO2(lbs)
Figure 10.CO2 Emissions by sector and fuel
CO2 eirnissioins factors
Emission factors are used to determine the emissions associated with energy use.
Add discussion of emissions factors, and the changes in the electricity emissions factor over time.
Conclusion
To be added.
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References
1 Peregrine Energy Group.Energy Inventory prepared for the Lexington Getting to Net Zero Task Force.2017.
z The Property Database reports"properties"which includes condominiums. In some cases,the condominiums
represent a portion of a physical building,making the number properties reported higher than the number of
buildings.Conversely,in some cases the database lists a complex of buildings as a single property,thereby
understating the number of actual buildings.
s MassSave. (2020).Geographic Data. http://www.masssavedata.com/Public/GeographicSavings?view=C
4 US Energy Information Administration (EIA). (2018).Add citation.
5 Lexington data: MassSave; Eversource. Massachusetts Data: EIA
e Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. Add citation.
Lexington's Community Choice Program.
s MassSave.
9 Lexington data: MassSave; National Grid. Massachusetts Data: EIA.Add citation.
to US Census. Add citation.
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