VT Census Case Studies : Arlington County: Building Energy Report Cards

Created and last modified by molfe on 02 Jan 2016

Brief Overall Description of the Dataset:

Arlington County’s building inventory totals over two million square feet of floor area. Energy used in these buildings account for most of the greenhouse gas emissions related to Arlington’s government operations.

Improvements in building energy efficiency helped the County reach its 2012 AIRE Goal of reducing emissions from government operations by ten percent (10%) from 2000 levels. The County even surpassed the goal, reducing emissions by twelve percent (12%).

The Building Energy Report Cards provides data on individual county buildings. Additionally, the County started displaying Energy Performance Labels (EPLs) in all County community centers, fire stations, libraries and offices.  Find the EPLs near the building entrance.

Link: http://freshaireva.us/2012/04/building-energy-report-cards/

Date Inventory Completed: 7/11/2015

Screening

  • Is the data collected opinion-based?
  • Is the data collection recurring (must be collected at least annually)?
  • Is there data available for 2013?
  • Is the data collected at the property or housing unit level?
  • Can we access the data by August 15th?

Purpose

  • What is the purpose of the organization collecting the data?

The Arlington Initiative to Rethink Energy (AIRE) helps the county use energy wisely.

  • Why is it collected and how does the organization use it?

To supports Arlington residents, businesses and government in working towards these goals.

  • Who else uses the data?

Residents, businesses and government

  • Who do they sell the data to?

Unknown

 

Method

  • What is the data collection method? 

Sensor

  • What is the type of data collected? 

Administrative

  • If designed, who created the questions?

  • What is the raw source of the collected data (prior to any aggregation)? 

Energy Usage


Description

  • What is the general topic of the data (1-2 words)?

Energy Usage

  • What are the earliest and latest dates for which data is available?

2007 and 2013

  • Is data collected and available periodically?

No

“The Building Energy Notes for each building will be updated as additional analyses are completed.”

  • How soon after a reference period ends can a data source be prepared and provided? 

Not stated


Selectivity

  • What is the universe (e.g., population) that the data represents?

County Buildings in Arlington County


Accessibility

  • How is the data accessed? 

Tables are available on website (must be web scraped)

  • Is it open data?

Yes

  • Any legal, regulatory, or administrative restrictions on accessing the data source?

None stated

  • Cost? - One time or annual or project based payment?

Free

 

Does this dataset appear to meet our needs for the Census study? Maybe

Full Inventory

Description

  • Features
    • What is the temporal nature of the data: longitudinal, time-series, or one time point?

Longitudinal

    • Geospatial? If Yes, at what level?

Building name (can match to address)


Metadata

  • Is there information available to assess the transparency and soundness of the methods to gather the data for our purposes?

No

  • Is there a description of each variable in the source along with their valid values?

No

  • Are there unique IDs for unique elements that can be used for linking data?

No

  • Is there a data dictionary or codebook?

No

 

Selectivity

  • What unit is represented at the record level of the data source?

County building

  • Does this universe match the stated intentions for the data collection? If not, what has been included or excluded and why?

Unknown

  • What is the sampling technique used (if applicable)? 

  • What was the coverage?

Unknown


Stability/Coherence

  • Were there any changes to the universe of data being captured (including geographical areas covered) and if so what were they?

Energy use information for 2013 has been added to the Report Cards.

  • Were there any changes in the data capture method and if so what were they? 

Unknown

  • Were there any changes in the sources of data and if so what were they? 

Unknown


Accuracy

  • Any known sources of error?

Unknown

  • Describe any quality control checks performed by the data’s owner.

Unknown

 

Accessibility

  • Any records or fields collected, but not included in data source, such as for confidentiality reasons)? 

Unknown

  • Is there a subset of variables and/or data that is must be obtained through a separate process? If yes, is there a separate legal, regulatory, or administrative restrictions on accessing the data source? Cost? - One time or annual or project based payment?

Unknown


Privacy and security

  • Was consent given by participant? If so, how was consent given?

Unknown

  • Are there legal limitations or restrictions on the use of the data? 

None stated

  • What confidentiality policies does the source have? 

None state

 

Research

  • What research has been done with this dataset? (e.g., impact of policies, predictors of student success)

“Because the weather in 2012 was so mild, the AIRE team is working on finding out how much this influence the changes in energy use in Arlington County’s buildings.”

  • Include any links to research if provided:
  • List any other data use notes provided by the supplier.

 

Gaps/Concerns

  • Feasibility - can all jurisdiction levels provide the data (if applicable)?
  • Data ownership - a lack of clarity in legal guidance stemming from a lack of clarity with who owns digital data?
  • Data collection authority - what data is reasonably private and what constitutes unwarranted intrusion?
  • Describe any other notes you have or any gaps/concerns you see with this dataset: