A review of energy performance contracting business models: Status and recommendation

Energy Performance Contracting Business Model (EPCBM), vital in designing the EPC mechanism, determines the kinds of contracts for EPC projects, which has a significant impact on project performance. The proper selection of EPCBMs has become more and more critical. This paper, with the method of literatures analysis, reviewed the four aspects in this field: (1)Different characteristics of EPCBMs. (2)Methods for EPCBMs' selection. (3)The impact of EPCBMs on EPC project performance. (4)Critical factors for the selection of EPCBMs. This paper concludes that EPCBMs have been discussed by scholars in recent years, who argued that proper EPCBMs helped improve the project performance. However, few scholars focused on the impact mechanism between EPCBMs and EPC project performance. Multivariate Statistical Analysis, Data Envelopment Analysis and Structural Equation Model (SEM) could be used in future researches to analyze the impact mechanism on how EPCBMs impact EPC project performance by controlling Critical Success Factors (CSFs). The selection of EPCBMs was regarded as a Black-Box in the known researches with less practical value at all. Influential indicators' analytical framework from the process perspective could be established in future researches, and SEM could be used to reduce the dimension of the established analytical framework.