Cloud-based software for operational energy efficiency savings in commercial buildings

The Energy Management Software automates tenant billing, energy reporting, and their analytics have been shown to reduce costs by up to 10%. Validate the use of this Energy Management Software to improve building energy use. A field study will be implemented along with a group of control sites. Internal billing study will be conducted and compared.

The Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015, SB 3501 in California, requires the state to double energy efficiency savings in electricity and natural gas end uses by 2030 statewide. SB 350 is supported by AB 8022 which allows the California Energy Commission (CEC) to develop a building energy-use benchmarking and disclosure program. Energy benchmarking information allows for building owners to make informed choices on whether to and how to make building upgrades. A vendor's energy management software (EMS) is offered in the form of Software as a Service (SaaS) to almost 900 million square feet of commercial property nationwide. The software has always been based on meter data with a significant portion of customers in California spanning small to large buildings. An evaluation was requested of the EMS with the goal to see if this tool could be used by the SCE to internally identify and prioritize measures for Small Medium Business (SMB) commercial accounts. The project contained two main tasks. The first was to evaluate the system in a lab scenario; and the second was to perform a field evaluation. While the lab evaluation was being conducted, both the EMS vendor and the project vendor were acquired by other companies. Prior to the completion of the acquisition, the project vendor was able to complete the lab evaluation. However, the field evaluation did not get completed. The project vendor tested the EMS in the hypothetical lab setting, using a variety of sample data files from various commercial-type buildings to verify EMS response to these scenarios. The sample data was manipulated to simulate scenarios occurring at the facility and an overview of the performance of the software in the scenarios. The EMS identifies excess energy cost days effectively using algorithms that incorporate day of the week, weather conditions, and like-kind facilities nearby. Some high on-peak demand scenarios were not flagged in the system where presented. It remains unclear why these high on-peak demand scenarios were not flagged. The built-in ‘What-If’ scenario builder provides reasonable estimates of energy and cost savings when provided with reasonable inputs for a given project initiative. The software incorporates utility rates providing estimates of cost savings from the opportunities for identified improvements. A comparative analysis was also conducted to compare to other EMS in the market. The results indicated that many other EMS vendors offer similar features. The project's EMS stood out above the rest being one of the few with Air Quality incorporated and demand response capabilities, however a couple of the vendors were capable of Automated Demand Response and one was OpenADR 2.0 certified as well. The EMS demonstrates enough potential to recommend a follow up field evaluation, along with two other EMS platforms with demand response capabilities to find the most efficient software for SCE to use to meet California’s goals. The field evaluation would allow the software to be studied in real-world scenarios, using real time data that would provide high quality and accurate information and results. It is suggested that the field-evaluation phase target approximately 60 sites in three groups having approximately 20 customers in each. The first group would be a control group, the second group would be used to test SCE customer engagement and results, and the third group would be used to test energy efficiency project persistence. These sites would be selected by SCE.