19 May 2014: The International Energy Agency (IEA) has published two manuals to help countries meet their energy efficiency goals by devising smart policies and effective indicators. The guidebooks offer policy makers, analysts and statisticians essential tools for designing relevant and rigorous indicators to set and track progress towards national energy efficiency targets.

The guidebooks follow the publication last year of IEA’s inaugural ‘Energy Efficiency Market Report,’ which found that many countries lack the data and indicators needed for effective energy efficiency policies.

The first manual, titled ‘Energy Efficiency Indicators: Fundamentals on Statistics,’ provides statisticians and energy analysts with technical resources and best practices for developing national-level energy efficiency indicators. The guide contains detailed instructions for collecting data for energy efficiency indicators in the residential, service, industry and transport sectors. It further describes principles and criteria for validating and disseminating that data in each sector, with examples of best practice drawn from existing organizations and initiatives.

The second manual, titled ‘Energy Efficiency Indicators: Essentials for Policy Making,’ advises experts and policy makers on prioritizing areas where indicators are most needed, and selecting and developing data and indicators most able to support policy making for energy efficiency. Like its companion, this guide contains separate sections for key sectors, as well as practices for harnessing energy efficiency indicators to make effective decisions, illustrated with examples from different countries around the world. [IEA Press Release] [Publication: Energy Efficiency Indicators: Essentials for Policy Making][Publication: Energy Efficiency Indicators: Fundamentals on Statistics] [IISD RS Story on IEA’s Energy Efficiency Market Report]