A Guide to Efficiency-as-a-Service

Efficiency-as-a-service is a pay-for-performance, off-balance sheet financing solution that allows customers to implement energy and water efficiency projects with no upfront capital expenditure. Efficiency-as-a-service is gaining popularity because it overcomes market barriers that other mechanisms do not, and it limits customer performance risk while still providing an avenue for short-term energy and cost savings. The energy services agreement (ESA) is the most common type of arrangement, but other models such as lumens-as-a-service and energy subscription agreements are also in use. This toolkit provides resources and project case studies for building owners, operators, and occupants that may want to take advantage of efficiency-as-a-service to improve energy and water performance in their facilities.