Making Your Job Easier with Effective Energy Management
By 9f405e387eb227b9db4d15b2dd5f8384 ·
In my previous "Use it or Lose it" post, we discussed how it’s impossible to save what you don’t measure. Essentially, measurement of data has to be tied into a system in order to implement effective management of energy and water resources.
I’d like to elaborate a little today. The lack of access to utility energy usage data access has long been extremely problematic, but both market and regulatory pressure have resulted in some broad-sweeping changes.
With the advent of smart metering, Greenbutton and more accurate information through meter data management, data access has become easier, (although not easy.) The good news is that data reliability and access continue to improve, and utilities increasingly have the ability to provide regular, timely and enhanced access to meter data, cost-effectively. Some utilities that have enhanced their access to data recently include PG&E, SoCal Edison, San Diego Gas and Electric, Pepco and ConEd. Over the course of many years, we have researched hundreds of utilities and can let you know the status of your local utility, and how integrated your systems can be. Increasingly, we are seeing that, gas, steam and water data are also becoming available.
However, perhaps not surprisingly, adoption of energy management software remains low despite having easier data access at reduced costs.
Why? We can think of many reasons, but chief amongst them are 1) fears of a prohibitive cost, and 2) confusion in the market between energy management systems with control functions, building management systems, and energy management software.
Unlike very costly, very complicated building systems and controls, energy management software is straightforward to implement and cost-effective. For example, MACH Energy Insights and other platforms provide sophisticated analytics to make property team's jobs easier by enabling automated budget reporting, tenant billing, and accurate dollar impact changes across electricity, water, gas, and steam.
If you like to learn more about data availability, your utility and local requirements, or how energy management software can make your job easier, just email us.