Meter Dashboards Help Facility Managers Visualize Their Energy Conservation & Cost Cutting Initiatives

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1 Building Operating Management enewsletter June 2012: Courtesy Morrissey Engineering, Inc. Meter Dashboards Help Facility Managers Visualize Their Energy Conservation & Cost Cutting Initiatives A new way of visualizing facility operations, dashboards provide a graphical interpretation of realtime and historical meter data gathered at user-defined time intervals. This helps facility professionals gain a quicker, more intuitive grasp of their energy consumption and demand patterns for real-time decision making at the facility level, relative to load shedding, carbon footprint reduction and other energy conservation and cost cutting measures of value to the bottom line. Don Millstein E-Mon ( No longer assumed to be a fixed cost, energy consumption and demand can be managed to help mitigate other rising costs that may be more difficult to control. With this in mind, energy monitoring offers a relatively easily implemented, cost-effective means for conserving energy and saving money. When integrated into the Building Automation System (BAS) to monitor a broad range of facility performance parameters, the raw meter data is converted by software into real-time and historical snapshots of delivered energy (kwh), real power (kw), apparent power (kva), power factor (%), current load (A) and line-to-line Voltage (V) for:

2 Heating Lighting Air Handling Domestic Hot Water Back-up Power (UPS) Plug Load and more As a way of displaying the energy data in the form of meaningful information, facilities will often provide large flatscreen monitors in front offices or other high-traffic areas. As one facility manager noted, through this interactive medium, everyone has a stake in monitoring facility performance and becoming an equal partner in the energy conservation process. Dashboards metering s attractive new face Not surprisingly, industry studies agree that pursuing sustainability goals and objectives will continue to drive the agendas of most commercial and institutional facility operators seeking to better manage and reduce their facilities energy demand (kw) and consumption (kwh) levels. If information is indeed the breakfast of champions, the fuel food that allows facility professionals to better manage their operations is meter data relative to the facility s consumption and demand profiles, collected at user-specified time intervals from five to 60 minutes, depending on the desired level of granularity. Once this interval data is collected, it can be imported into energy intelligence software like E-Mon Energy or Web- Mon and displayed pictorially on a meter dashboard to show how the facility load varies over time. While an organization s management team can proactively manage a building s resources, it s just as important that the occupants are aware and involved in this effort. In addition to their informational value, dashboards are a great way for organizations to publicly demonstrate the facility s commitment to energy efficiency, renewable energy or other sustainability measures. Meter dashboards promote energy education A valuable tool in the energy education process is to provide real-time information relative to the building s resource use in conjunction with illustrating the various building sustainability measures that contribute to the conservation of those resources. To that end, meter dashboards give occupants insight into how their actions directly impact the building. The data is presented in an easily understood format, in varying degrees of complexity from basic big picture snapshots all the way to energy profiles of specific metered equipment. More sophisticated meter dashboards of the type shown in Figures 3-7 typically consist of a series of gauges, graphs, and/or live display values that provide the building operator with a summary of the important energy metrics within the facility. These dashboards are very useful and are typically utilized by the operations management side. Another important aspect of displaying building data is to benchmark it against some baseline energy model, an ASHRAE standard, or even against another company or governmental entity. Seeing how one building compares to another is very informative, especially when the energy savings can be translated into monetary savings. Even though the data is often simplified, it is still helpful for facility professionals to continuously review it, because the information is so easy to access through the organization s intranet or internet for all building occupants to: View resource use in hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or yearly increments; Compare historical data with current consumption (kwh) and demand (kw) profiles; Extrapolate energy savings levels to monetary or other equivalents.

3 Where does dashboard data come from? Because the level of profiling needed by high-volume energy consumers is simply unobtainable using the standard utility meter found at the main electrical service entrance, submeters are rapidly gaining ground as first-level datagathering tools to help identify literally thousands of dollars in energy cost savings. First introduced in the early 1980s, submeters are metering devices with monitoring capability that are installed on the facility side of the master meter to provide any or all of the following: Usage analysis and peak demand identification; Time-of-use metering of electricity, gas, water, steam, BTUs and other energy sources; Cost allocation for tenant billing; Measurement, verification and benchmarking for energy initiatives, including LEED Energy & Atmosphere (EA) and Water Efficiency (WE) credits; Load comparisons; Threshold alarming and notification; Multi-site load aggregation and real-time historical monitoring of energy consumption patterns for negotiating lower energy rates, and more. Table 1. Whether designed in or retrofitted, submeters are installed on the building side of the main utility meter to measure energy usage from the enterprise level all the way down to a single device or circuit panel. Sold through distribution, electric submeters are easily integrated with water, gas and other pulse output utility meters, and energy intelligence software, to provide a total facility energy snapshot. Non-socket-type electronic submeters are less expensive initially, quicker and easier to install, and offer superior performance and options compared to other types.

4 Of the three main submeter types shown in Table 1, the first two feed-through and current transformer (CT) based are socket-type meters. CT-style socket meters are used with loads of 400A and above. In institutional applications, they may be specified but take up substantial space in the electrical room due to the need for CT cabinets and the meter bases. The extra space requirement cuts into the available usable building space, which is undesirable in the commercial marketplace. Another major disadvantage in many jurisdictions is the fact that socket meters are not UL listed. The third type is the electronic submeter, a non-socket device that provides clear advantages over the previous two, as shown in the right-hand column of the table. Submeters not only improve the facility bottom line, but facilitate implementation of building retro-commissioning projects and other energy initiatives while also encouraging every level of the enterprise to become a stakeholder in the energy management and conservation process. A new generation of advanced submeters (Figure 1) offers a number of important functions and capabilities for new construction or retrofit applications, including: Scrolling LCD display of kilowatt-hour (kwh) usage; kwh in dollars; Current demand load (kw); Cost per hour, based on current load; Estimated CO 2 emissions in pounds, based on DOE standards; Estimated hourly CO 2 emissions based on current load; Net metering, including utility-delivered vs. user-received power and net usage; Compatibility with pulse output utility meters, including water, gas, BTU, steam, etc. Figure 1. In response to EPAct 2005, EISA 2007 and other federal energy guidelines dotting the facility landscape, E-Mon and other manufacturers have developed advanced hardware and software tools that specifically address the needs of the sustainability market. Certified to ANSI C12.1 & C12.16 national accuracy standards, new generation advanced meters like E-Mon s Green Class meter (shown) offer a number of important functions and capabilities for new construction or retrofit applications.

5 Meter dashboards a look under the hood By importing data from electric submeters and other metering devices into Web-based communications (Figure 2a and 2b), interval data may be cost-effectively collected, analyzed and displayed in near real time to allow facility managers to shed load and perform other peak shaving actions to lower their demand charges. Figure 2a (top) and 2b (bottom). Internet-based meter dashboards like E-Mon s Web-Mon allow users to automatically integrate their distributed metering infrastructure into real-time meter dashboards via open-architecture Modbus IP-compatible LAN/WANs. Dashboards are available for single facilities (2a) as well as multi-facility campus-type applications (2b) to provide real-time and historical presentment of electricity, gas, water, steam, BTU and other metered parameters for multiple users.

6 Meter dashboards often include: Automobile-style gauges showing how power, fuel and energy are being consumed on a real time basis; 24-hour load profiles for power, chilled water, steam or other building systems; Historical comparisons of current usage versus previous time periods under similar conditions (time, day of week, temperature); Automated carbon footprint calculations; Tenant or consumer-level information about energy use and efficiency efforts through display of electrical consumption (kwh), peak demand (kw), power factor, Volts, Amps by phase and VARs. Now available on the commercial market, full-function meter dashboards like the Web-Mon series from E-Mon provide users with an Internet-enabled energy monitoring platform for real-time and historical energy data presentment via standard Web browsers. In addition to single-facility applications, meter dashboards designed for campus-type multi-building scenarios can directly communicate over the facility s existing IP backbone with remote electric submeters and gas, water, steam, BTU and other pulse output utility meters. The ability to view usage whenever desired, either on-site or remotely, allows facilities professionals to stay current with energy conservation programs, green building initiatives or overall efficiency analysis programs, by means of some or all of the following typical meter dashboard functions: Modbus TCP/IP communications; Carbon footprint dashboard displays of CO2, SO2, NoX and other calculations by meter; User alerts when daily kw/kwh usage alarm set points are exceeded; Storage and display of data from current day, previous seven days and previous 30 days; Internal memory storage of up to 36 days of 15-minute interval data; Readability of electric, gas, water, steam, BTU or other pulse output meters; Display of current weather conditions and short-term forecasts from NOAA; Comparative usage by square foot for the user s own facility versus regional averages around the country; Capability to drag and drop data for specified meters and time periods to create charts and display comparisons of all recorded parameters by meter; Data exportable to Excel or pdf formats; Support for static IP addresses; UL, CE, C-UL, CSA and FCC agency listings. Meter dashboard examples With that background on what meter dashboards are, why they are useful and where the data comes from, it may now be instructive to see how the meter interval data is actually presented after it has been converted by energy intelligence software into useful information. Figures 3-7 illustrate typical dashboard screens, showing the breadth and depth of the energy information at the user s fingertips for proactive facility energy management strategies.

7 Figure 3. Consumption dashboard allows comparison of the daily consumption (kwh) of all or only of selected meters. Shown above, data from the meter monitoring consumption of a main power panel P. The ability to toggle between demand (kw) is seen at the top of the screen and shown in detail in Figures 4 and 5. Figure 4. Demand (kw) dashboard displays the metered values of main power panel P (blue) and an HVAC panel (red) in terms of coincidental demand for both meters. The compare button at the bottom of the screen displays another chart comparing the same set of meters for a different time range.

8 Figure 5. Comparative demand (kw) dashboard displays the metered values of an HVAC panel (blue) and two lighting panels (red, green). When selected, the compare button at the bottom of the screen displays dual charts comparing the same set of meters at different time ranges. Figure 6. Providing a wide variety of information relative to main power panel P as monitored by an E-Mon D-Mon submeter, this dashboard displays a snapshot in both tabular and graphic formats. Real-time demand (left) and consumption (right) dials show current daily levels. Resettable maximums are based on highest-recorded values. Demand is represented by the line; consumption by the shaded area.

9 Figure 7. This carbon footprint dashboard displays the real-time and historical environmental impact of a specific meter based on consumption (kwh). The main power panel P in this example is characterized in terms of kwh today; number of trees and forest acres required to absorb the CO2 in one year; and an extrapolation of equivalent gallons of fuel consumed and miles driven. The CO2 dial at top displays the equivalent emissions for the day, with the maximum being the highest recorded level. You can t save what you don t manage Given their long lifespans, today s commercial, institutional, industrial and multi-family facilities represent a major opportunity for reducing energy demand, consumption and, consequently, operating expenses. With energy being the single largest controllable operating expense for most facilities, a well-planned and implemented program of meterbased energy monitoring and data presentment affords building operators unprecedented opportunities to: Compare historical data with current consumption and demand patterns; Lower operating costs through identified energy savings opportunities; Comply with LEED, Energy Star and other green building energy mandates and initiatives; Improve infrastructure performance; Justify capital improvements and track ROI; Hold vendors accountable for ROI; Retain tenants by proving dollar savings and more.

10 As a new way of looking at the facility bottom line, meter dashboards provide both graphical and tabular interpretations of real-time and historical meter data gathered at user-defined time intervals. This allows for a quicker, more intuitive grasp of energy consumption and demand patterns for real-time decision-making at the tactical and strategic level, relative to load shedding, carbon footprint reduction and other energy conservation and cost cutting measures impacting the bottom line. The old energy adage: You can t manage what you don t measure and its corollary: You can t save what you don t manage are flip sides of the same coin. When combined, energy monitoring and meter data presentment offer facility pros a cost-effective, scalable solution for optimizing facility performance, while also increasing energy savings and cutting costs the name of the game in today s challenging operational environment. o-0-o To learn more about how energy monitoring and meter dashboards can help save big energy bucks in your facility, call E-Mon today at (800) or visit: Don Millstein is President and CEO of E-Mon of Langhorne, PA. As a veteran energy industry speaker and author, Don is a former participant in utility deregulation in California, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. He is a member of the FEMP task force, Alliance to Save Energy, the U.S. Green Building Council and other energy conservation-related organizations. He may be contacted at dmillstein@emon.com.