Get on Board with Energy Dashboards By Mark Robins, Senior Editor Smarter metal building occupants and managers, not just smarter metal buildings or control technologies are critical elements of effective resource conservation. (Photo courtesy of QA Graphics) Successful metal building energy management could be a click away
An energy management dashboard is a browser-based application independent of the metal building automation system pro- viding rapid identifi cation of real-time data and historical trends, including energy use, operational effi ciencies and critical metrics. Most energy management software can result in energy consumption and cost savings in metal buildings between 5 to 30 percent. “Energy dashboards enable users to view
trends and be able to quickly identify issues before they become bigger problems,” says Pam Henry, sales specialist at Activelogix, Charlotte, N.C. “The different types of dashboards include custom-made
graphical user interfaces with control capabilities, sustainability dashboards that have no control capa- bility and provide information only, and dashboards like Periscope by Activelogix that provide both control capability as well as information.” Lucid’s energy management dashboard lets
people view, compare, and share building energy and water use information in real time on the web. “We work with our customers to defi ne profi le pages designed specifi cally for their context: for example buildings, companies or schools,” says Andrew deCoriolis, director of marketing and en- gagement at Lucid, Oakland, Calif. “Once monitor- ing is enabled, logical groups are defi ned such as
departments, fl oors, dormitories or end use. Initial analysis will reveal breakdowns by fl oor or end use, or identifying periods of high consumption. “We believe that the best results are ob-
tained when users can visualize energy and water usage in meaningful ways, and feel they can make a difference. To help people make sense of usage information, easy-to-digest graphs allow even non-technical people to identify trends and rela- tionships in energy and water use data. Graphs work synchronously with resource-specifi c ani- mated gauges, creating an engaging and interac- tive experience that keeps building occupants informed and engaged.”