Tool summary

Name of the tool
Ranking Criteria for Priority Assessment

Description of the tool
Ranking Criteria for Priority Assessment (RCPA) is a tool applied for the purposes of:

(i) Analysis, evaluation and definition of priority areas and target groups of Municipal Energy Efficiency Programme (MEEP) - ranking the target groups by: potential for producing energy, potential for consuming energy, technical state and exploitation conditions; integral ranking according to technical-economic potential for energy efficiency. The assessment is based on a "key number" software, elaborated by ENSI (Energy Saving International AS - consulting company, Norway) and adopted for Bulgarian particular climate conditions.

(ii) Estimation of alternative measures – rating the target groups according to "weight coefficient" by: energy consumption, municipality´s influence, motivation and commitment for participation in the Programme. The complex intervention into a limited number of selected sites is based on a combination of different measures, which provides for a maximum utilization of the energy-saving potential. The selection of sets of the most cost-effective measures ("cream skimming" method) usually leads to rapid and greatest energy savings. This is very appropriate in the cases when municipalities face grave financial difficulties for a short period of time. The combination of cost-effective measures with more expensive, however urgently needed ones, usually results in an acceptable average general level of effectiveness and ensures the long-term effect of the programme.

Two main approaches are applied by RCPA during the MEEP development:
(i) Expert approach – based on available database and expert assessment (local experts preferred) on current situation and possible actions to undertake;
(ii) System approach – multilevel and multicriteria analysis of compiled information.

The selection of the sites of the Programme impact, the assessment of the baseline status and the selection of measures for impact are based on expert approach. The reliability of this approach depends on the reliability of the available information, the qualification of the involved experts and the techniques applied. Sometimes the expert assessments may considerably influence the political will of municipal decision-makers. The expert approach is considered particularly appropriate for small municipalities where local expert evaluation could cover all aspects of the processes while keeping high sensitivity to the case peculiarities.

The assessment and decisions based on the system approach suppose complex analyses of a considerable amount of objective information. This approach is more reliable, however more time- and effort-consuming. It needs a more substantial preliminary work and presumes that experts, who apply it, have specific capacity and qualification. For the implementation of the system approach Municipalities need a lot of data about: national and regional registers, expert assessments, expenditure on energy consumption.

Specific topic
Development of Municipal Energy Efficiency Programme

Sector/s of use

Waste	Energy	Water	Transport	Green/Blue	Building & Land use
0	M	0	0	0	0

M - main sector, 1 - sub sector and 0 - n/a

Scale of applications

Component	Building	Neighbourhood	City	Region
0	0	0	1	0