RETScreen White Paper
Project Snapshot
Client: Oxford County
Sector: Municipal Government
Facilities Included: Wastewater Treatment Plants, Water Treatment Facilities, Multi-Unit Residential Buildings
How Oxford County Built a Foundation for Long-Term Energy Management with RETScreen
Oxford County is located in Southwestern Ontario and is a regional government serving eight communities and a population of approximately 140,000 people. The County is responsible for delivering a range of municipal services and managing public infrastructure that supports both urban centres and rural communities.
Since 2024, Aladaco Consulting Inc. has conducted facility energy audits for various County-owned wastewater treatment plants, water treatment facilities, and multi-unit residential facilities. As part of these audits, Aladaco developed facility-specific RETScreen models to support energy analysis and long-term energy management.
Client Overview
The audits were completed to help Oxford County better understand how energy is used across its facilities and identify opportunities to improve energy performance.
Managing a portfolio that includes wastewater treatment plants, water treatment facilities, and residential buildings requires a consistent approach to analyzing utility data, evaluating facility performance, and assessing future conservation opportunities.
RETScreen provided a structured platform for organizing utility data, developing energy baselines, examining correlations with weather and other relevant variables, modelling facility systems, and evaluating potential energy conservation measures.
The Challenge
Utility Data and Baseline Analysis
The audits were completed to help Oxford County better understand how energy is used across its facilities and identify opportunities to improve energy performance.
RETScreen was used to organize facility utility data and establish energy baselines for facilities within the audit scope. This included reviewing energy consumption data and assessing whether consumption was influenced by weather or other relevant variables.
The baseline analysis provided a reference point for evaluating potential improvements and understanding how energy use related to operating or environmental conditions.
Figure 1: Utility data organization in RETScreen
This screenshot shows how facility utility data was organized in RETScreen, including energy, weather, and other relevant data sources.
Figure 2: Baseline and forecasting analysis in RETScreen
This screenshot shows how RETScreen was used to compare predicted and actual consumption and support baseline analysis.
Developing Facility and Process Equipment Models
Aladaco used the RETScreen Energy Model Tool to model each facility and its process equipment. The models incorporated facility characteristics, equipment information, and building envelope characteristics to represent current operating conditions.
This modelling approach was important because Oxford County’s portfolio includes facilities with different operating profiles, including wastewater treatment plants, water treatment facilities, and multi-unit residential facilities. RETScreen allowed the analysis to reflect the specific characteristics of each site while maintaining a common modelling approach across the portfolio.
Figure 3: Facility energy model summary in RETScreen
This screenshot shows how RETScreen summarized facility energy use, model verification, savings, and end-use information.
Evaluating Energy Conservation Measures
Once the RETScreen models were developed, Aladaco used them to model potential energy conservation measures. The measures assessed included lighting retrofits, envelope upgrades, and decarbonization of heating equipment.
"Using RETScreen to evaluate these measures provided a consistent approach for comparing opportunities across facilities," explains Sean Pittman, Energy and Carbon Management Lead for Aladaco. "The models helped connect utility data, facility conditions, and equipment information to potential energy performance improvements."
Figure 4: Lighting measure analysis in RETScreen
This screenshot shows how RETScreen was used to review lighting-related energy conservation measures.
Ongoing Impact
Through the audit process, Oxford County received facility-specific RETScreen models that provide a practical way to organize facility energy information, understand baseline performance, and assess conservation opportunities.
The use of RETScreen helped create consistency across a diverse group of municipal facilities, from process-driven water and wastewater facilities to multi-unit residential buildings.
Oxford County is using RETScreen as one of its tools to track and monitor its energy consumption. The facility-specific RETScreen files support ongoing energy information management, including automated utility data uploads through API connections to Oxford County’s municipal utility bill management software.
“RETScreen gives Oxford County a clearer understanding of how energy is used across our facilities and where opportunities exist to improve performance. The models provide a consistent foundation for reviewing facility energy use and supporting future energy management decisions.” —Nathan Gerber, Coordinator of Energy Management, Oxford County
Aladaco helps municipalities, institutions, and facility owners use RETScreen to better understand energy consumption, establish performance baselines, evaluate conservation opportunities, and support long-term energy management planning.