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Energy Use Data Handbook, 1990 to 2007
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Chapter 3 – Commercial/Institutional Sector
The Data Situation
Of all the sectors reviewed in this handbook, the commercial/institutional sector has the most significant limitations with regard to available data.
Aggregate data on commercial/institutional energy use are reported in Statistics Canada’s Report on Energy Supply-Demand in Canada (RESD) (Cat. No. 57-003-X) under the “public administration” and “commercial and other institutional” categories. Statistics Canada defines these categories as final consumers not reported in the other end-use sectors. Therefore, energy use data for the commercial/institutional sector essentially represent the residual energy use not accounted for in the residential, industrial, transportation and agriculture sectors.
More specifically, in the recent Energy Use Data Handbook publications, the Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE) reported some anomalies in petroleum products data for the commercial and institutional sector, in particular, a sharp increase in consumption of these products since 1999. Some heavy fuel oil, light fuel oil and kerosene may be erroneously attributed to the commercial sector. There is some evidence that fuel marketers (included in the commercial/institutional sector) are buying petroleum products from refineries and then re-selling them to other sectors (e.g. industrial, transportation). Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) is working with Statistics Canada to better understand the data trends and to improve the quality of the commercial/institutional data reported.
The OEE developed the Commercial/Institutional End-Use Model (CEUM) to assess Canadian energy use trends in this sector. The CEUM uses floor space estimates, by region and building type, and energy intensity by region, building type and end-use to allocate energy reported by Statistics Canada in the RESD to ten activity types and six end-uses. Floor space estimates are developed by Informetrica Limited for the OEE from average costs per unit of floor space, and investment flows for new construction. These estimates are categorized using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The CEUM used the 2006 Commercial and Institutional Consumption of Energy Survey (CICES) as source data for energy intensities. The CICES collected data for the reference year 2005 and was undertaken by Statistics Canada on behalf of the OEE.
The CICES included new information related to the penetration rate for air conditioners. This information was used to update the penetration rate for air conditioners in the model and to refine the space cooling energy intensity calculation.
The model also takes into account the influence of weather on commercial/institutional energy demand. It uses the number of heating degree-days in Monthly Values of Degree-Days below 18.0°C and the number of cooling degree-days in Monthly Values of Degree-Days above 18.0°C (both reports from Environment Canada).
The commercial/institutional price of heating oil and natural gas are weighted averages of regional prices taken from the Oil and Gas Policy and Regulatory Affairs Division of NRCan and Statistics Canada’s Energy Statistics Handbook (Cat. No. 57-601-X), respectively. The commercial/institutional price of electricity is a weighted average of the data found in Hydro-Québec’s Comparison of Electricity Prices in Major North American Cities.
