Energy Metering

Energy Management…

Energy Management System

Most Facilities are often under the scrutiny of the EPA because of the amount of energy that they use within the various systems that are in place. Between dehumidification systems, humidification systems, lighting systems and HVAC systems, a lot of carbon dioxide is being released and the sheer energy consumption can be overwhelming. While it is plain to see for anyone who runs a facility why these systems are running, there is another option that will benefit both parties. An energy management system will not only allow you the ability to reduce energy consumption but control temperature and humidity levels in the facility. By allowing greater efficiency, the systems are not constantly running.

What an Energy Management System will Offer

The biggest aspect of energy management systems is by using schedules to operate the facility. There are opportunities for some of the systems to go into sleep modes on occasion, too. All of the systems that you have in place can feed into the energy management system which will determine when the systems need to be on and when they can be turned off or at least be turned down. This will reduce the carbon footprint of the facility and also reduce the electric bill, making it an economical as well as a "green" choice to have an energy management system installed.

Everything can be viewed through a control panel that may be installed on your computer via some very specific software. If you have a computer you can access the control softwoare through your internet browser. You can set controls with threshold levels as well as have various sensors installed throughout the facility to help the energy management system do its job. The likelihood of you needing all systems running at high all times throughout the day and night are limited, though that is probably what you’ve got going on right now simply because it is easier.

The energy management system will be able to know when most people have left for the day to turn off lights in certain zones. If no work is being done within a specific area of the facilitym, then you may not need the temperature to stay static – it may be able to go up one or two degrees. These are the settings that you will be able to control using the software so that the system knows what the limitations of the facility are so that you never put the work of the facility in jeopardy.

How to Get an Energy Management System?

Going "green" is becoming more and more popular for facilities and other industries because it is not only the right thing to do for the environment but it also makes for excellent marketing tactics. Saving money, too, is a great motivator for companies. This means that there are more and more companies looking for an energy management system, so you have already found your energy management company. We can provide you additional information and assist you in developing your energy management plans. These will feed off of your other systems, so the fact that you are a facility is likely not going to come into play until it comes to calibrating the system, setting the controls and choosing the software program to install on the computer.

Please contact us to learn more on how we can help you reduce your energy costs of your facility.

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Tenant Billing - BTU Example…

In this application BTU meters are used to measure the amount of chilled water used for tenants in a facility that utilizes a central chilled water system.  A web based Building Automation System (BAS) controls the central chilled water system, common area tenant areas and the tenant spaces in the facility.  The tenants have separate electrical metering but the cooling for tenant fan coil units is metered and data is stored daily into an SQL server database. The building owner and tenant can access the facility web site and pull a report for daily usage using a per BTU cost to calculate a total for the period.

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United States Energy Use…

The average energy consumption of each of us in the United States is 230,000 Kilocalories per day while the rest of the developed world uses only 125,000 Kilocalories per day. We use almost twice as much energy per person than people who live in countries like Germany and England, for example. With only 4.7% of the world's population, we use 25% of the world's commercial energy. Therefore, a vast potential exists for reducing our energy consumption and becoming more energy efficient.

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HVAC Energy Management System…

HVAC Energy Management System for Complex Facilities

An HVAC energy management system for your facility will be able to provide you with the heating, ventilation and air conditioning that your facility needs without wasting a lot of energy to do it. Not all HVAC systems are designed for energy management, so when you have one of these systems, it helps your company to become more "green" and comply with LEED/Energy Conservation Code/EPA regulations that are in the works for facilities to adhere to. When you have an energy management system, you are reducing your carbon footprint, and when used correctly, can reduce your electric bills, too.

What an HVAC Energy Management System will Offer

There are a lot of things that an HVAC energy management system will be able to offer your facility. In addition to providing everything for your HVAC system, it will be able to monitor the quality of the air so that it can power itself down or up depending on the level of filtration or temperature required. In most cases, your HVAC system runs at full power all the time because that is what it is told to do. But, it probably doesn’t need to be running at full steam all the time, right?

The HVAC energy management systems will be able to reduce the amount of power that the system is drawing. When the temperature has been maintained throughout the day, the system will switch to a lower power per a pre-determined schedule to simply help maintain. An example would be night time setback. The systems will throttle back during low usage periods and once it is time to start work the systems will throttle up to meet demands. When you have a system that is smart enough to be able to do this on full automation, you get the results you need to maintain your facility without having to spend a bunch of money on your electric bill, too.

There are many systems that can play into an HVAC energy management system so that it runs even more efficiently. If you have lighting systems, security systems and anything else that gives off heat, you can have them all wired into an automation system that can be focused on conserving energy so that your HVAC System isn’t working at simply cooling off the heat caused by the other systems.

Why an HVAC Energy Management System is a Good Investment

The EPA is beginning to focus a lot of attention at the high energy consumption industries because of the amount of systems used to maintain the indoor atmosphere. The larger the facility, the more systems are required and the longer they run. They all give off carbon dioxide which leaves a fairly large carbon footprint for all cleanrooms. Eventually, the EPA is going to require an HVAC energy management system for all industries or set fines until one complies. When you get your system before it’s a requirement, you get to save money and be compliant early, earning you bonus points that can help in marketing strategies, too. As your electric bill reduces itself each month, too, you will see that the investment will begin to pay for itself.

Energy Conservation Codes are becoming more and more rigid. When constructing a new facility or remodeling an existing facility, you have to have energy calculations ran and approved by a professional engineer. This includes lighting calculations, energy ratings of new equipment, and the like. Used to be there were no regulations on lighting in facilities, but now there are and you are limited to how many lights you can install based our your occupancy usage. So focus on energy management, so you can reduce your operating costs.

Digital Air Control has experts in energy management systems and can provide you with excellent returns on your facility operating costs. Contact us to see how we can help your facility reduce operating costs.

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Power Management Systems…

Power Management Systems

Operating a facility can be one of the hardest things to do because everything worked on inside of it is completely dependent upon the atmosphere. If any of the systems are not operating, the atmosphere is compromised and so is the work inside of it. Power management systems can provide the backup necessary if the power is suddenly cut due to storms or other issues so that the systems continue running and the integrity of the facility does not falter.

The Importance of Power Management Systems

Power management systems do two things. One, they will help to ensure that there is always power in the building, even if the primary goes out. Second, they can help all of the other systems run more efficiently with energy conservation modes. These two aspects to the system is critical when you are operating a facility because without power, you would not have any of the other systems able to run, which means that your facility cannot operate at all. Indoor air quality, temperatures, humidity levels – all of these things matter, which is why you have taken the time to pick each and every system to control the environment as best as it can.

When you have power management systems, you can ensure that you have power no matter what. While other businesses and residences are forced to shut their doors during a storm, you can continue to work, which means that you are maximizing your time and the labor of all of your employees. You can ensure deadlines are met and that all of your systems will continue to run even if there is a storm in the area. It is the only way to ensure the success of your facility and they can be installed quite easily.

Having Power Management Systems Installed

There are a number of power management systems that you can choose from. Some will have digital control capabilities so that you can hook them up to your programmable controllers to find out what the power output of all the other systems are. When you have energy conservation in place, these outputs can be extremely important so that you can guarantee that everything is working how you intended them to work.

Depending upon how many other control systems you have in place will depend upon the power management systems that you choose. The reason for this is because you want to make sure that you choose a system that is completely capable of handling everything that you are expecting it to power. Otherwise, you run the risk of overloading the system and nothing will end up working.

Facility design firms, energy conservation firms and many other companies will be able to provide you with the power management systems that you need for your facility. Once you have selected the system, a company will come out and install the system and calibrate it for your needs. It is better to have this system first, but it can be added after you already have all the other systems in – though it may require some downtime.

Digital Air Control can assist with your system selection. Digital Air Control can also assist with energy management of your facility. We can evaluate your current systems or proposed systems to provide you with options on your power management systems.

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Monthly KW Use Profile…

The monthly load profile of buildings is an important tool that building owners and operators should use to evaluate the efficient operation of the facility.  The below example shows this building owner that on Thursday September 30th there was a very large incurred in KW usage that is not normal.  What caused this?  A service provider, a building operator, a tenant.  With out KW metering the building owner is not going to know it happened and take corrective actions.

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Environmental Considerations…

The reduction of KW in your facility not only lowers operating costs, but contributes to an overall needed reduction in emissions. The below example shows EPA calculated emission reductions generated over the last three years after an energy reduction program.

Emissions for Grant properties

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Energy Audits…

Audits help identify economically viable improvements that yield substantial annual energy savings. We provide energy audits for facilities to help clients make informed electrical energy usage decisions to justify payback for implementing energy-efficiency strategies. With an expert assessment of a facilities infrastructure asset utilization, energy usage and facilities operational efficiency we can develop a short and long term plan to improve the performance of a facility with respect to operations and energy usage reduction.

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