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Energy loss matrix template

An energy loss matrix is a grid that puts a cost on every kind of energy waste on a site, so you can see which few cells hold most of the money. Down the side are seven loss types in plain words: idle consumption, over-consumption, poor settings and sequencing, unrecovered energy, leaks and transmission losses, inefficient technology and energy source choice. Across the top are the energy sources: electricity, gas, compressed air, steam and hot water, heating and cooling, and water. Each cell holds the yearly cost of that loss. The template has five landscape pages: the matrix, an action plan that turns the largest cells into actions with a saving, an idle-period shutdown checklist that works out the saving from load, hours and price, and a worked example of a made-up plastics plant in which two cells hold 55% of a $210,000 yearly loss. The Excel version adds totals, shares, a colour scale, an action plan whose cost is looked up from the matrix, a summary with a chart, and the shutdown checklist with its saving. It goes further than an energy use tracker, which records consumption but not the loss, and it uses the same cost logic as a loss tree.

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Page 1 of the energy loss matrix templateA grid with seven loss types down the side and six energy sources across, with an empty cell for the yearly cost of each, a total column and a total row.
Seven loss types by six sourcesTotals and sharesAction plan with savingsIdle-period shutdown checklistSummary and chartWorked example
Filled-in Energy loss matrix template: a plastics plant with a 210,000 dollar loss
The same sheet filled in with the worked example (page 4 of the PDF, illustrative numbers). Open full size (opens the picture in a new tab)

When to use it

When to use an energy loss matrix

  • When an energy bill is rising or has to be cut and nobody can say which losses matter most.
  • To start an energy saving programme with a ranked list of actions rather than a long list of ideas.
  • After an energy audit or a leak survey, to turn findings into costs and actions with owners.
  • To find the cheap wins: equipment left on at breaks, shift ends and weekends.
  • Not for tracking monthly consumption against a baseline (use an energy use tracker) or for a single leak survey (use a compressed air leak log).

How to fill it in

  1. 1

    Set the boundary and the energy sources

    Decide which site, area or line you are looking at and which sources are on the bill: electricity, gas, compressed air, steam and hot water, heating and cooling, water. Use one currency and one year.

  2. 2

    Cost each energy source

    Take the yearly cost of each source from bills or meters. Where there is no meter, estimate from equipment ratings and hours, and mark the cell as an estimate.

  3. 3

    Split each source by loss type

    For each source, estimate how much is lost as idle consumption, over-consumption, poor settings, unrecovered energy, leaks, inefficient technology or a poor choice of source. The cells for one source add up to its waste, not its whole bill.

  4. 4

    Find the largest cells

    Shade the two or three cells that hold the most money. A grid with a colour scale makes them stand out. These are the first actions, not the long tail.

  5. 5

    Write an action for each large cell

    Say what you will do, who owns it, when, and what share of the cost you expect to remove. Use the shutdown checklist for equipment that is idle at breaks, shift ends and weekends.

  6. 6

    Measure and update

    Count a saving only after the meter or the bill shows it. Update the matrix each quarter: a cell that has been fixed shrinks and a new one takes its place.

A filled-in example

Illustrative, not a benchmark

An example: a made-up plastics plant with an estimated yearly energy loss of $210,000. The costs are invented.

  • The largest loss type is leaks and transmission losses at $83,000, followed by idle consumption at $69,000. Together they are $152,000, or 72% of the loss.
  • The two largest cells are compressed air leaks at $76,000 and weekend heating and cooling at $39,500. Together they hold $115,500, which is 55% of the loss.
  • The actions are a quarterly leak survey and repair, a weekend set-back on the building controller, a weekend shutdown checklist for heaters and chillers, an efficient drive study and a heat recovery study.
  • The five actions would save about $95,900 a year, 46% of the loss, and four pieces of equipment on the weekend shutdown checklist add $13,552 of electricity saving from a switch-off.

A long list of ideas became two actions to start this month. The numbers, owners and equipment are invented to show how the matrix works.

Common mistakes

  • Costing only electricity

    Compressed air, steam, gas, heating and cooling and water often hide the largest losses. Put every source on the grid, even if some cells are estimates.

  • Mixing the loss types

    A leak is not over-consumption and an idle machine is not a poor setting. Keep the types separate, because each has a different fix.

  • Starting with the easiest cell

    Lighting is easy and small. Start with the cells that hold the most money, and take the cheap wins alongside them.

  • Counting a saving before it is measured

    A planned saving is a forecast. Check the meter or the bill after the action and record what was actually saved.

  • Making it a one-off

    Leaks come back and equipment is left on again. Update the matrix on a schedule and re-run the leak survey and the shutdown checks.

Download the template

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Run this template in LeanSuite

LeanSuite's Loss and Cost Management imports your loss data, shows a loss tree that puts a cost on each loss, and tracks the savings as you remove them.

See it in a 45-minute demo

FAQ

Energy loss matrix template: common questions

  1. An energy loss matrix is a grid with types of energy loss down one side and energy sources across the top, with the yearly cost of each loss in each cell. It shows which few cells hold most of the waste so you can act on them first.

  2. This template uses seven: idle consumption, over-consumption, poor settings and sequencing, unrecovered energy, leaks and transmission losses, inefficient technology and energy source choice. They are general categories in plain words. Rename or merge them to suit your site.

  3. An energy audit measures and surveys the site. The matrix is how you organise what the audit finds, by type and source with a cost on each, so the findings turn into a ranked list of actions with owners.

  4. Use equipment ratings, hours of use and the price of the energy, and mark the cell as an estimate. Then add a meter where the estimate suggests a large cell, because the next version of the matrix will be better for it.

  5. Often, because the fix is a switch-off, a timer or a set-back, not a purchase. Check first that nothing has to stay on for safety, quality or a restart that costs more than it saves. The shutdown checklist records who does what and when.

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