2018 CBECS Generic Clearance

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery” (OMB Control Number: 1905-0186)

2018 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) Questionnaire Pretesting

PURPOSE: The Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) is a national sample survey that collects information on the stock of U.S. commercial buildings, including their energy-related building characteristics and energy usage data (consumption and expenditures). The data are widely used throughout the government and the private sector for policy analysis and are made available to the public via data tables, public-use data files, and analysis articles.

EIA would like to update the building characteristics questions, which are administered in one of three ways to sampled buildings: on-site by trained interviewers, over the phone by a trained interviewer, or by self-administered web instrument, in preparation for the 2018 CBECS. Proposed changes include revising questions and response options to improve respondent clarity and data quality.

EIA’s survey methodologists and contractor staff from Westat would like to conduct in-person cognitive interviews. Respondents will be recruited from the general population of commercial buildings. The purpose of these efforts includes:

• Assessing the ability of respondents to accurately identify heating equipment and fuels used in their buildings

• Assessing the ability of respondents to accurately identify cooling equipment and fuels used in their buildings

• Assessing quality of respondent reported building size (i.e. square footage)

• Researching improvements to equipment questions and response sets

• Assessing quality of existing questions on data center spaces and their size

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

Building respondents will be the person responsible for energy use in commercial buildings. For in-person cognitive testing, respondents will be selected from select types of commercial buildings in the greater Washington DC metropolitan area.

Website and URL Address

U.S. Energy Information Administration - https://www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial/

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Field Testing [X] Cognitive Interviews

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software) [ ] Focus Groups

[ ] Pilot Surveys [ ] Other: ________

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name: Nanda Srinivasan, Director, Office of Survey Development and Statistical Integration

U.S. Energy Information Administration

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [ X ] No

2. If yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [X] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time (minutes)	Burden Hours
Private Sector (In-person)	30	60 minutes	30 hours
Totals	30		30 hours

ESTIMATE OF RESPONDENT BURDEN HOURS AND COST – The burden to participants is 30*$73.66=$2,290.80

FEDERAL COST: The estimated total annual cost to the Federal government: 60*$73.66 = $4,419.60

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [ ] Yes [X ] No

For in-person cognitive testing, respondents will be recruited from the local commercial building population in the Washington DC metropolitan area based on building activity. Recruiters are identifying buildings, based on Google searches or knowledge of the local area, and will call those buildings that fit targeted building activities. Targeted building activities include: hospitals (3 interviews), offices (4 interviews), education buildings (4 interviews), restaurants (2 interviews), lodging (4 interviews), and warehouses (3 interviews).

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[X] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ X] Yes [ ] No

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

Instructions for completing Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery”

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Provide the name of the collection that is the subject of the request. (e.g. Comment card for soliciting feedback on xxxx)

PURPOSE: Provide a brief description of the purpose of this collection and how it will be used. If this is part of a larger study or effort, please include this in your explanation.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Provide a brief description of the targeted group or groups for this collection of information. These groups must have experience with the program.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: Check one box. If you are requesting approval of other instruments under the generic, you must complete a form for each instrument.

CERTIFICATION: Please read the certification carefully. If you incorrectly certify, the collection will be returned as improperly submitted or it will be disapproved.

Personally Identifiable Information: Provide answers to the questions. Note: Agencies should only collect PII to the extent necessary, and they should only retain PII for the period of time that is necessary to achieve a specific objective.

Gifts or Payments: If you answer yes to the question, please describe the incentive and provide a justification for the amount.

BURDEN HOURS:

Category of Respondents: Identify who you expect the respondents to be in terms of the following categories: (1) Individuals or Households; (2) Private Sector; (3) State, local, or tribal governments; or (4) Federal Government. Only one type of respondent can be selected per row.

No. of Respondents: Provide an estimate of the Number of respondents.

Participation Time: Provide an estimate of the amount of time required for a respondent to participate (e.g. fill out a survey or participate in a focus group)

Burden: Provide the Annual burden hours: Multiply the Number of responses and the participation time and divide by 60.

FEDERAL COST: Provide an estimate of the annual cost to the Federal government.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents. Please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them. If the answer is yes, to the first question, you may provide the sampling plan in an attachment.

Administration of the Instrument: Identify how the information will be collected. More than one box may be checked. Indicate whether there will be interviewers (e.g. for surveys) or facilitators (e.g., for focus groups) used.

Submit all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

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