With IoT devices in place through a power distribution system and vast connectivity enabling aggregation of data from across a building or campus, facility teams are wellpositioned to take the next step toward true operational efficiency, reliability, and occupant satisfaction.
However, Bhavesh Patel of ASCO Power Technologies cautions that the result of having so many smart sensors at so many points is ‘Big Data’.
And facility managers will be expected to interpret it to extract its full value, e.g. reducing energy consumption, projecting capacity requirements, streamlining maintenance, resolving operational issues, and meeting reporting requirements. “And that’s the short list of benefits.”
Fortunately, advanced analytic software is available today that helps make sense of everything.
Each corporate, energy, facility, and maintenance leader gets appropriate, actionable power and energy data tailored to his or her needs to simplify and speed decision-making.
It’s also easier to share information across the enterprise in formats everyone can understand. Raising energy awareness can encourage energy-efficient behaviors, while allocating costs to cost centers or tenants can lead to actions that reduce energy consumption.
For the first time, a complete picture of energy consumption throughout one or more facilities is available. Dashboards and reports help compare floor-to-floor or building-to-building performance.
Teams can then set performance baselines, accurately track the progress of efficiency initiatives, and validate savings.
GHG emissions and total carbon footprint can be automatically calculated to support corporate sustainability reporting.
Deloitte observes that “sustainability analytics can help commercial real estate companies decrease their carbon footprint, have more sustainable properties in their portfolio, and eventually differentiate themselves in the marketplace.”
For organizations wanting to optimize their energy costs and avoid penalties on their utility bill, new energy analytic applications can be used to model and predict energy needs. These take into account energy pricing and weather forecasts, then provide the necessary decision inputs to automated peak shaving or load shifting.
The high accuracy of onsite metering can be used to validate utility bills to uncover potential errors. Analytics can also enable participation in programs such as demand response. Signals received from the smart grid are evaluated based on the opportunity.
If accepted, deployment of onsite DER is then coordinated in response to load curtailment requests. Analytic capabilities can also help determine the most cost effective periods to either self consume renewable energy resources or recharge onsite energy storage.
Power analytic tools help diagnose problems and improve response times. Data analysis helps isolate problem sources in the network, including when and where conditions might be getting too close to safe tolerances.
Rich data visualization tools can help improve system efficiency by balancing loads or uncovering losses or hidden spare capacity. You can maximize the use of your facility’s power infrastructure without compromising its reliability.
This is critical for minimizing CAPEX, as overbuilding and unnecessary equipment upgrades are avoided. Integrating data from BMS and other systems can help evaluate their true power and energy consumption and, in turn, optimize their settings to boost efficiency.
Analytic capabilities can also help maintenance teams go beyond the confines of scheduled maintenance by using new techniques to predict breaker aging. These take into account not only contact wear and operational cycles, but also environmental conditions including corrosive gases, dust, and temperature.
Predicting equipment conditions in this way makes for better capital planning, as teams can perform repair or replacement only when required. It can also improve service continuity by catching high-risk situations before failures can occur.
With analytic tools providing a ‘microscope’ on hidden risks and opportunities, ‘managed services’ can deliver even greater rewards.
