IEM programme key to cut energy costs
Millions of dollars can be saved by organisations by having an efficient integrated energy management (IEM) programme in place to manage energy costs, consumption and risk, says Luc Onockx*.
01 May 2008
Managing energy costs in today’s volatile geo-political and economic environment is not an easy task.
Combined with energy prices now at all-time highs and an ageing building stock, many organisations are facing a complex problem. That’s why facility managers are turning to integrated energy management (IEM) to reduce consumption and better predict future needs.
IEM treats energy management as a continuous process (Figure 1) rather than a series of events and provides the practices and tools to drive economic and environmental change. The synergistic benefits that result are significantly greater than the sum of the individual energy conservation measures.
IEM revolves around:
• Energy asset management, which reduces energy consumption through the use of high-efficiency equipment and modifications to building equipment. It also involves selecting energy assets that support multi-fuel options, such as on-site generation and alternative fuels;
• Energy supply management, which is the development of energy supply structures that access lower-cost wholesale products by leveraging load control capabilities, along with ongoing procurement and risk management activities. Selecting energy feedstock sources that provide flexibility in meeting load requirements is essential to supply management.
• Active demand management, which ties energy assets, energy supply structure and energy data together via an energy information and control system (EICS) to monitor and control usage, lower energy costs and reduce environmental impact. An effective EICS is core to the successful implementation of an IEM programme because it provides the knowledge of the enterprise energy demand, consumption and trends. This allows facility and energy managers to increase efficiencies, identify trends, benchmark consumption, and purchase and control energy more intelligently.
EICS
A web-based system that integrates energy metering, building management, load management and energy analysis tools to manage the entire energy chain, EICS is comprised of:
• Input/output (I/O) devices;
• Building control systems (BCSs);
• Building network integration (BNI) platform;
• Enterprise network integration (ENI) platform; and
• Energy management applications (EMAs).
Figure 2 provides a general overview of the EICS components, features and functions. The components use various communication media and protocols – tied into a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN) – to maintain real-time or near real-time management. The exact media and protocol are dictated by site conditions, existing infrastructure and the equipment an organisation selects.
Input/output devices
I/O devices are the hardware, transducers, transmitters and relays needed to interface between field equipment and BCSs, such as temperature sensors, and flow and power meters. They convert ambient information – including temperature, equipment status or power reading – into signals that may be interpreted by the BCS. New “smart” I/O devices contain on-board microprocessors, which convert the sensed data to a digital format and allow communication with higher-level systems.
Building control systems
BCSs are local microprocessor-based computers that gather data about the building and use it to make changes to the facility assets. Some common examples of control systems are building automation, fire alarm, card access, energy metering and video systems.
Installing a control system can create energy savings by optimising mechanical, electrical and water equipment based on parameters such as time of day, temperatures, occupancy schedules and operating parameters. Operational savings result from remote system access capabilities, reductions in manpower requirements and reduced wear on building systems.
Energy metering and building automation systems provide end-to-end control capabilities, which enable an active demand management programme to close the loop on energy. Pre-programmed control sequences continually manage the efficient operation of energy assets while supervisory control and optimisation routines are provided via higher-level EICS components. Important functions associated with an IEM programme facilitated by BCSs include I/O data conversion and real-time equipment level control.
Building network integrator
The BNI level of the EICS merges automation, Internet and IT technology into a single platform. It enables dissimilar building systems (such as control systems, metering, and security), which communicate on dissimilar media via dissimilar protocols, to coexist and communicate across LAN, WAN and the Internet. Whether the systems are based on BACnet, LonWorks, MODBUS, SNMP, OPC or legacy proprietary protocols, the BNI connects the control systems – regardless of manufacturer – into a seamless, unified system. This approach leverages existing control system investment while providing a low-cost method of migrating to non-proprietary architectures.
Enterprise network integrator
The ENI acts as the network server and supervisor station for the networked BNIs. Often referred to as a Scada (supervisory control and data acquisition) system, the ENI collects and processes data from the various BCSs. It provides enterprise-level information exchange, standard data format and password protection, security and alarm processing. Data is made available for historical archival, presentation, reporting and alarming through one common web-enabled interface.
Energy management applications
The Energy management applications (EMAs) provide the tools and functionality necessary to actively measure, manage and control energy assets across the EICS. Because EMAs require a level of expertise not all organisations have, many vendors offer EMA functionality as an annual service plan versus a licensed hardware/software solution. EMAs must provide basic functionality such as interval data management, data alarming, data analysis tools, a rate engine, load forecasting and reporting.
EICS in action
Although differing significantly in mission and energy usage patterns, the following examples highlight real IEM programmes – driven by an EICS – that significantly helped each organisation manage energy costs, consumption and risk.
Fort Bragg: Located in Fayetteville, North Carolina, it is the largest US Army post and home of the 18th Airborne Corps. The Fort Bragg Directorate of Public Works (DPW) began a rigorous energy management programme in 1999 and by 2005 reduced energy costs by $15 million. To date, the programme has delivered $74 million in energy and operational savings.
Smart and Final Stores: In 2000, this California-based warehouse food and foodservice store operator began an IEM programme. Energy savings alone amounted to $6.25 million in 2005, and the programme resulted in a $15 million reduction in energy and operational costs over five years.
By taking an IEM approach and implementing a robust control system, facility and energy managers can demonstrate solid results by increasing budget control and reducing the risk associated with price volatility. These are significant benefits by any measure. But the potential dividends are huge given the current energy climate.
* Luc Onockx is PC sales leader at Honeywell Building Solutions EMEAI (Europe, Middle East and India).
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