from targets and analyze total savings to date since project inception.
7.) Normalize data: When monitoring a large portfolio of a large building, the most effi cient way to reduce energy is to look at the worst-performing sites and asses these fi rst. However, it is often misleading to look at just the energy consumption of a building without taking into account a number of factors that drive the energy usage, such as season, geographical regions, time of day, square footage and occupancy numbers. With such depth of normalization capabil- ity available across your portfolio, users can view the impact of improvements with clarity over time; it provides a true “apples-to-apples” comparison.
8.) Multi-variable regression analysis: Multi-variable linear regression analysis provides re- alistic modeling of performance, normalizing usage against up to 10 driving factors simultaneously. This technique allows users to compare actual usage against the predicted usage based on these factors or to forecast energy usage going forward.
9.) Utility bill verifi cation: Compare utility bill usage data and costs against collected meter data to eliminate cost of inaccurate bills and prove anomalies.
10.) Dashboards: For up-to-date information and instant reaction, energy dashboards are key to identifying areas for improvements. Dashboards
are also useful for energy effi ciency initiatives as they help to increase participation throughout the organization. With web-based technology, users can access energy data from anywhere worldwide. The more access and visibility employees have into energy usage information, the more likely they are to get involved in energy-saving initiatives.
In addition to the above techniques, metal
building owners may have to bill tenants based on usage. Some software can automatically manage the process of calculating energy consumption and billing sub tenants across one or more sites. This en- ables commercial property owners responsible for sub-tenanted properties to store different supplier contracts against sub-tenant meters. The informa- tion can then be used to automatically generate a formal sub-tenant bill based on energy usage over an annual, monthly or four-week bases. Metal buildings with fans can benefi t from en-
ergy management dashboards and software. IFAN by Kelley Co., Carrollton, Texas, networks their high volume low speed big fans and controls them from a centralized location. The fans are networked to a 21-inch touchscreen computer, complete with cus- tom graphics representing the facility’s exact fan layout. This screen allows administrators to control fans individually, by zone and for the entire facility. The system can also display a variety of tailored performance metrics for individual fans, a particular zone or the entire facility that can be archived and viewed later for trend analysis.
Incentives and codes Beyond the very real incentive of dashboards mak-
ing customers and occupants aware of energy us- age, and the obvious monetary savings, there are a variety of industry trends, incentives and motivators for performance monitoring and energy dashboards. “First, energy disclosure laws have been passed in a variety of cities, requiring that buildings above a certain size track publicly disclose energy use infor- mation,” says deCoriolis. “Building dashboards can help track and report that data. “Secondly, the USGBC LEED scoring system
for Existing Buildings, Operations, and Maintenance require ongoing performance monitoring of buildings. This ensures that LEED certifi ed buildings continue to perform as expected and modeled. There are also credits with LEED given to buildings that use perfor- mance data to drive behavior change.” There are several incentives offered by utility
providers for reducing energy consumption. “One specifi c example is the Monitoring-Based Com- mission incentive offered by ComEd and Nicor,” says Volpe. “The incentive basically offers up to $25,000 toward implementing an energy manage- ment system for on-going energy monitoring and additional money back based on savings achieved after the software implementation.” Despite these incentives, accurate, real-time
monitoring of energy use in buildings has been slow to develop in the United States. “ESight Energy was founded in the United Kingdom and moved to the states in 2008,” says Volpe. “We have defi nitely real- ized that the U.S. market is about fi ve years behind
Energy effi ciency education dashboards provide quick access to an overview of building effi ciency and educate on a build- ing’s sustainable features. They explain why the building is performing the way that it is. (Image courtesy of QA Graphics)
Dashboards can present photovoltaic production data. (Image courtesy of QA Graphics)