What is baselining in energy management?

• A. Establishing a historical energy use baseline to compare against future performance and set targets.
• B. Setting future energy targets without data.
• C. Measuring only peak demand.
• D. Estimating energy costs.

Answer: (A)

Baselining in energy management means establishing a historical energy use baseline to compare against future performance and set targets. You gather energy data over a representative period—often a year or season—and normalize it for factors that affect consumption, like weather, occupancy, or production levels. This baseline serves as a reference point to measure improvements after energy efficiency measures are put in place. For example, if a building historically uses 2,000,000 kWh annually, and after upgrades it uses 1,800,000 kWh, the change is assessed relative to that baseline to determine savings. The other options don’t fit because they either set targets without data, focus only on a single metric like peak demand, or involve estimating costs rather than comparing actual energy use to a historical reference. Baselining gives you a data-backed starting point to track progress and prove energy savings.