Tool for Rapid Assessment of City Energy (TRACE 2.0): A Manual for Experts and City Officials

TRACE was first developed in 2008 by the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) to help city officials quickly identify energy efficiency performance gaps and opportunities in a variety of public sectors including lighting, water and wastewater, buildings, transportation, solid waste, and power and heating. It guides users through the process of data collection and sector prioritization—considering key constraints such as technical capacity and finance—to generate specific, integrated recommendations cities can use to improve and expand their energy efficiency efforts. TRACE can help build this overall framework and initiate a process in a municipal government by using a set of standardized data to address a number of issues.

TRACE has now supported more than 80 cities’ efforts to develop long-term energy efficiency strategies and investment pipelines by increasing their understanding of the cross-sectoral energy challenges, helping direct funds for dedicated energy efficiency investments, and pointing to necessary legislative adjustments, as well as improving local administrators’ ability to identify, plan, and implement energy efficiency solutions across sectors.

The new TRACE 2.0 incorporates almost 100 built-in recommendations for energy interventions. Following requests from municipal officials for more detailed technical and financial assessment, this version provides simple customizable models for each intervention selected. Through the intervention “calculators,” users can now quickly calculate the costs and benefits related to each recommendation. This manual is a practical guide for city officials, and crucially, energy experts who will have the training and experience necessary to use the tool to its fullest capacity. TRACE 2.0 software and manual are available at https://esmap.org/TRACE.