By Sonny Masero, Chairman, Demand Logic
Getting good meter data has long been the holy grail for Energy Managers. It helps to identify high consumption buildings in property estates; it is a basis for the energy procurement strategy and tariff negotiations; and it is often the starting point for energy reduction programmes. The problem is that getting good quality and timely utility meter data is hard, and getting good quality and timely sub-meter data is costly. Even if an Energy Manager is lucky enough to get live half-hourly data they are reliant on the number of sub-meters to specifically identify what is causing high consumption, or pay for a one-off energy audit. Most energy managers, particularly with large property estates, have to rely on energy consumption data at the building level and often 3 months out of date. They cannot actually see what is behind the meter using the energy.
Energy companies know this is a problem which is why they are exploring different technology to help manage demand. There are a number of attempts underway to apply novel analytical techniques to high frequency meter data to disaggregate and identify the different energy loads. This could give you a good indication in your home that your washing machine or even your TV is on, but it still doesn't tell you whether there is an action you can take to reduce consumption and cost, apart from making a guess that you could turn it off or run it later.
In commercial buildings the picture is even more complex because rather than having, say, 10 items in your home consuming energy you have hundreds or thousands of pieces of equipment. Even if you have great sub-metering in an office, the ratio of meters to pieces of equipment could be 1 to 100. Trying to use meter data to reduce energy consumption on a day-to-day basis is close to impossible. I often see a corporate energy report produced once a month, often with utility meter data which is at least 3 months old. The Property Manager doesn't care then, how can they as they are dealing with problems today and they will have great difficulty putting their finger on why there was high consumption a month ago, let along 3 months. And in a multi-tenanted building it is easy to point the finger at someone else, like the Facility Manager employed by the tenant. This level of energy meter analysis is one of the reasons that so many free and low-cost saving are missed even in new or well-run building.
Times are changing. Similar to how mobile phones have leaped over wired telephones. Building systems data analytics, like Demand Logic, is leaping ahead of energy metering systems. This type of analytics opens a window to see very specifically which pieces of equipment in a building are wasting energy. A view behind the meters which provides instant utility to the Property & Facility Managers, and their Energy Management advisors.
The Heating, Ventilation & Air-Conditioning (HVAC) systems in an office buildings are responsible for 60%-70% of the overal energy consumption. The remaining parts being vertical transportation, IT & small power loads, lighting and catering. Reducing HVAC energy demands will have a significant impact on overal consumption. Together, the energy costs of running an office plus the Mechnical & Electrical maintenance services to run the HVAC equipment makes up almost 50% of the Service Charge cost to run a property, which is apportioned amongst the tenants. By using building systems data analytics it is not only possible to reduce energy consumption by between 10%-30% without capital expenditure it is also possible to deliver the HVAC maintenance much more effectively and efficiently. This means engineering maintenance time can be reduced by between 25%-50%, which can re-used more proactively or saved. It also means that Energy Management becomes integral to the day-to-day Facility Management so it is not seen as add-on exposed to budget cuts. The corollary benefit of using Demand Logic data analytics in this way to assess the condition of equipment is that you also improve tenant comfort, which results in a reduction in the number of reactive call-outs to hot/cold complaints made to the FM helpdesk.
“Demand Logic has provided us with enhanced building performance management capabilities and a platform to identify issues that are near impossible to identify on standard BMS software to improve energy efficiency and occupier comfort”
Alasdair Cockbain, Group Estates Manager, Mace
The building systems data can also be used by Demand Logic to calculate floor by floor heating and cooling consumption without installing expensive heat sub-meters. This provides a more accurate apportionment of energy usage to each tenant or business unit than the standard approach by floor area. More importantly, for tenant engagement the analysis means that a conversation with the tenant is not just that about high consumption, but more specifically about their HVAC equipment or occupancy patterns causing the problem. With this clearer picture and the opportunity to apportion costs in a more intelligent way there is more incentive to reduce tenant energy consumption which has a knock-on benefit to reducing landlord energy consumption as the HVAC systems are connected.
To find out more about how this approach to Energy Management is the future and can provide a ROI within 9 months, contact www.demandlogic.co.uk or drop my a line. It is complementary to traditional energy M&T software, but fundamentally different in approach.
