Start thinking smart

Achieving best practice in building energy performance management delivers a range of tangible benefits, including savings in energy and preparing for the mandatory CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme. It can also attract a premium for a building, whether for sale or lease – and play a key part in corporate social responsibility.

Wired for savings
One of the most significant ways of reducing energy use is to identify any wasted energy. This may be as high as 30 percent and is often the result of operational inefficiencies. You cannot cut out energy waste unless you are able to identify exactly where and when it is occurring. Smart meters enable this level of energy monitoring.

A smart meter is an advanced meter – usually an electrical meter – that identifies consumption in more detail than a conventional meter; and generally, communicates that information through a network. In essence it enables real time electricity measurement. By contrast traditional electrical meters only measure total consumption and as such, provide no information of where and when the energy was consumed.

Smart meters provide an economical way of measuring this information. They are also highly flexible too. Smart meters can interconnect with a radio mesh network, enabling power usage to be monitored remotely. These wireless meters can be attached anywhere in the country, enabling a national portfolio of buildings, individual floors or defined areas to be monitored, from any computer online. The meters can also be retrofitted without having to switch machinery off – and installation is low cost and hassle-free. They also give the necessary information to allow a building manager to check that their energy supplier is charging correctly.

On track
Another invaluable tool is the Workplace Footprint Tracker. This is a web-based dashboard that collects results from meters and displays them in an easy to understand format, which can be accessed online anytime, anywhere in the world. These dashboards can be displayed on personal devices or digital signage in public areas.

The system can be fine tuned to deliver specific information, such as the consumption figures of a region in the country, or a single floor of a building. This allows central monitoring and management of multiple locations. It also allows all building occupants to see the impact of initiatives to reduce energy encouraging “energy saving behaviour”.
The inclusion of a carbon calculator can help meet the requirements of the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme. The tracker can play a major role in setting energy targets. Based on consumption figures, targets can be set for different regions and groups, setting achievable goals that lead to a drop in energy bills.

Hit the power
Specialist boxes, that duplicate a PC’s key controls such as the power button, USB ports and so on can also play a part in carbon reduction. The products allow users to power down their computers quickly and easily. Just hitting the ‘power off’ button automatically saves all documents and turns the PC off, so there are no excuses not to turn off computers. Using systems such as Freemote and Micromote can generate estimated savings of up to 1,300kW of energy per PC per annum – and nearly a tonne of carbon per PC per year.

The Enistic Energy Explorer Kit is also a very simple system to reduce energy consumption. A five-way plug strip, it monitors the energy consumption of devices you plug into it. The kit is economical and simple to install and allows the collection of money-saving energy data only minutes after being installed. One clever function is its intelligent hibernation, which detects when a PC is switched off – and so automatically turns off all peripheral devices such as the monitor and printer. It is particularly effective at finding out which devices consume the most energy – enabling their use to be controlled.

All of these solutions should become a consideration for businesses who are keen to demonstrate a good level of energy efficiency. And as the savings in energy generated pay off the cost of installation, there really is no reason why not to consider these options.