What is Energy Management?

1. What is Energy Management? Energy Management is the process of • monitoring • controlling • conserving energy usage in a building or organization.

2. Why is Winston-Salem looking at Energy Data Management? • Receiving $2,262,000 in EECBG funds which will be applied to energy-efficiency improvements in numerous city buildings and a parking deck, pedestrian-level LED street lighting, etc. • Implementation of an energy-savings reinvestment fund to utilize the documented savings from these improvements to fund future EE projects, extending the effect of the initial grant funding into the future. Savings from the initial projects are estimated to be as much as $700,000 over ten years. • Energy Conservation policy enacted in all city facilities. • Our commitment to reducing greenhouse gases and energy use requires documentation in the effectiveness of implemented measures and ongoing improvement

3. Energy Management Typically involves the following steps: • Metering energy consumption and collecting the data. • Identifying opportunities to save energy, and estimating how much energy each opportunity could save. • Taking action to target the opportunities to save energy. Start with the no-cost or low-cost items, (e.g. “low-hanging fruit”) first, then move progressively to other items. • Track progress by analyzing data to determine the effectiveness of implemented energy-saving measures

4. Energy Management Why is it important? Energy management is the means to controlling and reducing an organization's energy consumption and costs. It is a tool which can help to: • Reduce costs(Interval monitoring can determine patterns and timing of electrical usage, so that demand charges can be avoided, or other measures like load-shedding can occur.) • Meet (sometimes very aggressive) energy-consumption or reduction targets • Reduce carbon emissions • Reduce risk –With energy management you can reduce the risk of energy shortages, rate increases, and price spikes by reducing your demand for energy, and by controlling it so as to make it more predictable. In other words, “You can’t manage what you can’t measure!

5. Controlling and reducing energy consumption Let’s suppose we’ve taken the actions above: • Metered energy consumption and collected data • Found and quantified opportunities to save energy • Targeted the opportunities to save energy and implemented them • Track the effectiveness of efforts But months later, energy bills have started to creep up and the Budget Office wants to know: what’s going on? That’s where one last point is very important!

6. Energy Management Managing energy consumption effectively must be an ongoing process! WHY?

7. WHY? Things happen……… • The air distribution piping at the city garage developed a leak and is causing the air compressors to run unnecessarily at that facility • Employees in a building ‘forgot’ the seasonal temperature standards in the city’s energy conservation policy and set the thermostat out of standards • Maintenance problems in a building’s HVAC system are causing it to operate inefficiently • A department is working extended hours, using more heating, cooling, and lighting • Lighting controls aren’t working properly • A ‘power blip’ caused the night setback temperatures programmed into the building’s thermostat to default to daytime settings • The data center manager still thinks that data centers should also be able to function as a walk-in freezer • Unusually cold or hot weather is causing above-expected energy usage • The cost of energy increased during the year and the Budget office didn’t allow for it as requested As you can see from the sample illustrations above, changes in conditions or behaviors can have a negative effect on energy consumption. Regular monitoring can catch the problem before it gets out of hand!

8. Integrating Energy Data Management With Energy Awareness • An energy data management system can help an energy-awareness campaign be more successful • To save energy, it is important that staff become aware of the energy consumption for which they are responsible. Simple changes in behavior can quickly lead to significant energy savings, but such changes will only happen if all employees are aware of the impact their behavior has on energy usage and consumption. • If guided and encouraged appropriately, staff can achieve significant cuts in an organization's energy consumption. Everyone knows that saving energy is a good thing, but most people will only be motivated when it can be demonstrated just how much energy is being wasted, and just how much potential there is to improve. • An excellent way to encourage the occupants of a building to reduce their energy consumption is to use targeted facts and figures that are specific to them. • The more we can make our energy-awareness message directly relevant to employees, the more employees will understand and appreciate it. We plan to post the information from the Energy Data Management System on departmental websites; talk about it during meetings; use it for awards and incentives?

9. Things to Do, Questions to Ask • Involve all stakeholders, including your Information Technology department, from the beginning • Determine the minimal requirements by planning for the end product, how it is to be used, and expectations; think strategically into the future. • Make sure you understand the requirements of an energy data management system. For example, how will data get entered? Manually or electronically? Is there staff available to enter it manually? Are you willing to expect an occasional data-entry error? Do we need data from past years entered into the system to establish a baseline or to take into account improvements already implemented? • Do we really need that web-based enterprise system or is a stand-along PC application workable? What are the annual licensing/maintenance costs? Support? Cost considerations! • Does this system have a history of being compatible with my building’s Direct Digital Control system, Building Management System, or other? (If applicable) Don’t rely on the sales person’s word. Get confirmation and references • Purchasing policies vary from state-state and city-city but most have a policy of allowing variances from standard bidding for “information technology” purchases-check with your purchasing agent.

10. Resources DOE Building Energy Software Tools Directory This directory provides information on 376 building software tools for evaluating energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainability in buildings. The energy tools listed in this directory include databases, spreadsheets, component and systems analyses, and whole-building energy performance simulation programs. A short description is provided for each tool along with other information including expertise required, users, audience, input, output, computer platforms, programming language, strengths, weaknesses, technical contact, and availability. http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/tools_directory/ (Please note that the directory above is not a comprehensive list of all the energy management tools available on the market!) Find out what others are doing; what systems work for them and why! Remember: what works for them may not necessarily fit your needs. ICLEI Energy Office Initiative: ICLEI can show you how to set up a self-funded energy office. http://www.icleiusa.org/energyoffice