Site energy refers to the total amount of energy consumed at a specific location, such as a building, facility, or campus. It incorporates all transmission, delivery, and production losses. Primary energy provides a complete assessment of the energy requirement to operate your property. Secondary Energy is a product created from a raw. The difference between site and source energy is a vital concept to understand when looking at the energy performance of buildings—failing to account for the difference will result in an apples-to-oranges comparison that does not give the true picture of a building's energy consumption.
Why is site energy important?
Looking at site energy can help you understand how the energy use for an individual building has changed over time. Site energy may be delivered to a building in one of two forms: primary or secondary energy. Primary energy is the raw fuel that is burned to create heat and electricity, such as natural gas or fuel oil used in onsite generation.
What is site energy?
You're probably already familiar with site energy, which is the amount of heat and electricity consumed by a building as reflected in your utility bills. Looking at site energy can help you understand how the energy use for an individual building has changed over time.
What is a site energy measurement?
For buildings that purchase raw fuel (such as natural gas) and convert it to power on-site, a site energy measurement would account for the losses that occur during this conversion, because site energy is based on the fuel that is purchased.
What is the difference between source energy and site energy?
Source energy is the amount of primary energy consumed in supplying secondary energy to a building. The power generation, transmission, and delivery of source energy to the site results in losses. As a result, source energy is nearly always less efficient than site energy.