APPENDIX B
Panel Charge
The Energy Information Administration asked the National Research Council of the National Academies to conduct a comprehensive 30-month study of the Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) and Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS). The panel’s charge is to consider for these two surveys how to improve data quality, geographic coverage, timeliness of data releases, and relevance of the data for meeting user needs. The panel’s work will include a review of survey design, frequency, and scope options, survey practice and operations, and the role that auxiliary data could play in improving survey coverage and editing and imputation methods.
The panel was asked to issue a letter report by spring 2010 that comments on design and data collection options for the 2010 CBECS to enable it to support Department of Energy program information needs, reduce respondent burden, and increase the quality and timeliness of the data. The panel will issue a final report at the conclusion of a 24-month study that makes recommendations for the design and conduct of CBECS and RECS and the dissemination of CBECS and RECS data for the next decade and beyond, including consideration of the level of resources likely to be required in comparison with the current survey program.
