Development of EPA’s AVoided Emissions and geneRation Tool (AVERT)

AVERT is a calculator tool that allows users to determine the projected air pollution reductions that result from replacing fossil-fuel-fired electric power generation with energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. Users enter information about EE/RE policies, programs, or projects that they would like to model, and AVERT uses actual historical hourly electricity generation data to determine where, when, and by how much emissions of particulate matter (PM_2.5), nitrogen oxides (NO_X), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), carbon dioxide (CO₂), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and ammonia (NH₃) will be reduced.

ERG has helped design, build, enhance, and disseminate AVERT since its inception. The original AVERT product consisted of an Excel tool with supporting files and a Matlab Statistical Module. To complement the Excel version, EPA sought a simplified product that would be accessible to a wider audience.

To create a more accessible product with an improved user experience, ERG envisioned, designed, and built a web-enabled version of EPA’s AVERT Main Module, which we launched in May 2018. AVERT made history as the first EPA modern web application completely designed and optimized for hosting in a cloud environment (cloud.gov). The web product works across all major devices and browsers, does not require any proprietary software to operate, eliminates the need to download and manage separate data files, offers a simplified stepwise process, and completes calculations in 75 to 80 percent less time than the original Excel version.