How SafePlug Smart Receptacles Can Save Money in Commercial Buildings

Transcription

1 How SafePlug Smart Receptacles Can Save Money in Commercial Buildings by Steve Montgomery, P.E. 2D2C, Inc. SafePlug smart receptacle system add the ability to accurately identify exactly what appliance is plugged in, when it gets plugged in and when it gets unplugged. This capability ensures accuracy of on- off control, such that critical equipment stays on and power hogs get turned off. How possible? Each SafePlug receptacle contains a RightPlug RFID tag reader. RightPlug tags can be affixed onto any appliance or equipment with a standard electrical plug. Each RightPlug tag contains a unique readable address, which can thus be associated with that piece of equipment. When the tagged appliance is plugged into a SafePlug receptacle, the smart receptacle wirelessly reports both its own address and the address of the inserted appliance. This unique architecture enables all the energy saving, productivity enhancement, equipment protection, maintenance reduction and fire prevention benefits described below. Energy Savings A study by New Buildings Institute (NBI) showed that energy consumption by plug- loads in commercial buildings has grown from 14% in 2004 to 28-48% of total energy consumed now. This plug- load consumption can be minimized by using energy efficient appliances and by turning off power when not needed. Smart receptacles can be automatically turned off by remote controlled, on a schedule or by sensing empty rooms to reduce the energy consumption of a building Disconnect equipment to stop phantom power loss Automatically turn off equipment during off- hours or when not used Replace energy inefficient equipment based on ROI Meet ASHRAE 90.1 requirements for plug- load control Refuse power to non- approved appliances Disconnect equipment to stop phantom power loss. SafePlug receptacles can automatically disconnect appliances from line power after hours or in empty rooms. Most modern equipment draws power even when turned off ( phantom or vampire power draw). Only by disconnecting the plug from the power can this energy be saved. Some equipment, such as large media display screens, can consume 100 Watts when turned off, wasting over $260 per year at $0.30 /kwhr (typical cost of electricity for commercial peak- energy consumption including hidden costs). Automatically turn off equipment during off- hours or when not used. SafePlug receptacles can be used with occupancy sensors or a time- of- day schedule to automatically shut off equipment at night and on weekends. This savings cannot be generalized without an inventory of actual usage. Diligence by all employees to shut off equipment when not in use would mitigate some of this need. However, some equipment should stay on 24/7, such as

2 life support, food refrigeration, and networking equipment. SafePlug receptacle will refuse to disconnect power to such equipment identified with patented Always On plug tags. Replace energy inefficient equipment based on ROI. SafePlug receptacle and load controllers can accurately measure actual energy consumption of equipment to compare against energy efficiency benchmarks or other similar equipment on the campus. Dust, dirt, and wear can reduce appliance efficiency. Furthermore, new energy efficiency standards often push manufacturers to improve their designs. SafePlug energy consumption measurements enable identification of quick- payback appliance and equipment replacement or maintenance opportunities. Meet ASHRAE 90.1 requirements for plug- load control. New green building code standards now require controlled receptacles, as well as high efficiency lighting and HVAC systems. Due to increased use of plug- loads in combination with energy efficient lighting and HVAC, plug loads now consume 28% to 48% of a building s total energy usage in commercial buildings. Reduction of plug load consumption is thus mandatory to meet this new building code. Only SafePlug plug- load control systems meet the ASHRAE requirements while protecting equipment from damage due to the controls themselves. Refuse power to non- approved appliances. SafePlug electrical controllers enable companies to only allow approved equipment to be used in their facilities. Operations management can provide power- access plug tags specific to their facility or campus. Only appliances or equipment with these plug- tags can receive power. Energy savings from this type of program can be substantial. For example, use of a 1500W space heater can consume an average of $210 per month at $0.30/kWhr (typical cost of electricity for commercial peak- energy consumption including hidden costs). Productivity Enhancement Track equipment location within a building or campus Identify over- and under- utilization of equipment Prevent use of unauthorized equipment Identify low activity levels Identify workspace inefficiencies Track equipment location within a building or campus. Some electronic equipment gets shared usage due to its high capital cost. Equipment tracking enables you to assign depreciation and maintenance costs by user or department. Automatic tracking also slashes the search time to find critical equipment. For example, tracking could save a life by instantly identifying the location of a defibrillator. SafePlug receptacle systems can instantly identify the room and wall location of all electrical equipment plugged in. Identify over- and under- utilization of equipment. Over- shared equipment results in expensive human resources sitting idle. This situation may justify purchase of additional equipment due to large human productivity paybacks. Under- utilized equipment means expensive assets are not fully used. Identification of under- utilized equipment can enable the sale of these unused assets and renting the equipment when needed. SafePlug receptacle systems can accurately show what equipment is used where and for how long. Prevent use of unauthorized equipment. Some equipment may require training before usage

3 for safety purposes, for proper operation, or to prevent damage to the equipment itself. SafePlug receptacles can lock out power to certain equipment until an authorization keyfob is first touched to the receptacle face before the equipment is plugged in. Once the equipment is unplugged, the SafePlug receptacles again will refuse to give power to unauthorized use of special equipment. This approach can also reserve use of certain SafePlug receptacles to approved equipment only. For example, to avoid production line down- time from tripped circuit breakers, only dedicated production line equipment can receive electricity from production line outlets protected by SafePlug receptacles. Identify low activity levels. Activities of manufacturing, maintenance and even office personnel can be identified by monitoring the power consumption of the key equipment they operate. The SafePlug smart receptacle system can uniquely identify each appliance, its location and its power consumption. This information can be stored in a central database for either granular or exception reporting. The granular reporting can show precisely what times of the day equipment was used. The exception reporting can report outstanding situations, such as when equipment is not used fewer minutes than average that day. In break rooms or cafeterias, SafePlug receptacles can detect use times of the refrigerator, tea kettles and coffee machines. Identify workspace inefficiencies. SafePlug receptacles can report activity by monitoring energy usage of each building appliance. SafePlug appliance activity monitoring can be compared to traffic flow patterns detected with occupancy sensors to identify workspace inefficiencies or abuse. Patterns can be accurately identified for use of break room, cafeterias, conference rooms, hallways, rest rooms, computers, and office space. Equipment Protection Surge absorption Isolation from bad power (high or low line voltage) Isolate equipment from power line during non- use to prevent lightning damage SafePlug receptacles contain extensive equipment protection features, including surge suppression and isolation from high and low power line voltages. Each SafePlug contains surge suppression and multiple SafePlug outlets can absorb larger surges than a single surge suppressor. SafePlug receptacles continuously monitor the line voltage for dips and swells. If the line voltage drops into a brown- out condition, the SafePlug receptacle disconnects equipment from the power line to prevent damage to the equipment. SafePlug keeps the power isolated until the line voltage returns to a normal range and stays there for at least 15 seconds. After such a condition, such as a black- out or brown- out recovery, SafePlug randomly turns on each load to prevent excess in- rush current which could blow breakers and fuses. In industrial areas (lots of motor startups) and areas with frequent lightning storms, this benefit of extending equipment life can pay for the SafePlug investment in days or weeks. Maintenance Reduction Reduce circuit breaker trips by limiting current at each receptacle Identify faulty appliances for repair or replacement

4 Predictive maintenance of motorized equipment Identify abuse of equipment Reduce circuit breaker trips. SafePlug can deny power to unauthorized equipment, such as 1500 Watt space heaters. Only equipment tagged with company- specific RFID tags will receive power. By eliminating high power, unauthorized equipment, Another unique feature, SafePlug receptacles can limit the total amount of current available at each receptacle. For example, a SafePlug receptacle can be set to limit current to 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A, 6A, 8A, 10A, 13A or 15A. In office environments, usually one 15A branch circuit feeds power to several workers. If the circuit breaker trips, several workers can lose power, computer data can be lost and productivity falls. If only the building operations manager has access to the circuit breaker panel, re- establishing power can take valuable work time. By limiting each receptacle s current, each occupant becomes responsible for balancing and limiting their own power consumption. If one worker consumes an excess, the SafePlug receptacle, not the circuit breaker, trips. Other workers are not disrupted. The overload trip can be reset at that worker s SafePlug receptacle rather than at the panel. Identify faulty appliances for repair or replacement. SafePlug receptacles act like circuit breakers matched to the safety limits of each appliance or equipment plugged in. If the appliance partially fails or overloads, SafePlug quickly detects the fault. If the fault condition continues, SafePlug turns off power to that appliance with 4 seconds of the fault appearing. If the overload was a simple operator fault (e.g. over- lamping a fixture, too many sheets of paper in the shredder), the fault can be cleared and power returned. If the fault persists, SafePlug will trip again after resetting and thus indicate that the equipment may be faulty and should be inspected, repaired or replaced. Predictive maintenance of motorized equipment. Motor failures can result in great expense due to loss of intended function. Constant speed AC motors are use in manufacturing production lines, dehumidifiers, air conditioners, refrigerators, fans, and fluid pumps. SafePlug load controllers can accurately monitor the current draw from these motors. Constant speed AC motors usually draw more current before they fail. SafePlug monitors can detect a future failure before it happens by detecting small increases in motor current. This early warning enables proper maintenance with repair or replacement during a low- cost shut- down time and date. Identify abuse of equipment. Equipment abuse shortens the life of the equipment, thus adding unnecessary operating costs. SafePlug can identify when tools, production equipment, cleaning machinery, shredders, and other appliances have been overloaded. This information can be used to identify training needed or problem situations. Fire Prevention Detect critical electrical faults Disconnect electricity upstream of fault automatically before ignition occurs Detect critical electrical faults. One of the top causes of heat leading to wire damage and fire ignition is overloaded appliances. A 10 second fire typically can causes over $1000 in damage, a 100 second fire causes over $10,000 in damage and a 1000 second fire destroys an entire building and all its contents. Few

5 appliance safety standards require internal overload protection. SafePlug receptacles were the basis for the new electrical outlet safety standard to prevention appliance overload fires (CSA 22.2 Std No ). This alert can be configurable by time of day, location of equipment, and type of equipment. Disconnect electricity upstream of fault automatically before ignition occurs. Circuit breakers are designed to protect premise wiring (in the walls, between outlets) from overloading, but do little to protect most appliances from causing fires or from damage to the appliances or equipment. In contrast, SafePlug overload protects the smaller wires inside appliances that are susceptible to much smaller overloads than branch circuit wires. When SafePlug detects these appliance- specific overloads, it removes power from the appliance to prevent damage or ignition. Trips occur after only 4 second duration overloads, to avoid false trips from normal variations. Theft Prevention and Detection Simulate occupancy during off hours Detect removal of equipment Simulate occupancy during off hours. A network of SafePlug receptacles can be used with table lamps to simulate occupancy to deter break- ins at empty buildings. A central computer can send messages to SafePlug receptacles to turn lamps on and off in sequences to simulate a person moving from one room to another. Occupied buildings get far fewer break- ins than unoccupied buildings. Detect removal of equipment. Some thefts occur by employees. SafePlug receptacles detect removal of plugs in less than one second. The unplugging of expensive equipment can be associated with an alert alarm to security staff.