by Brianna Crandall — December 12, 2016 — Digital industrial company GE’s (General Electric) digital energy startup Current, powered by GE, recently introduced a new digital energy management app for commercial and industrial facilities. The new tool, which is built on Predix, GE’s operating system for the Industrial Internet, is already being used by national customers including McDonald’s and Simon Property Group.
From lighting to HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) systems, energy and facilities managers at restaurants, retailers, warehouses and commercial businesses can use the application to see exactly where and when energy is being used in real time, while powerful software enables not only historic, but also predictive and prescriptive analytics, says Current.
Maryrose Sylvester, president and CEO of Current, powered by GE, explained:
This tool is a perfect example of the optimization enabled through the power of the Industrial Internet. Energy is one of the largest overhead costs to any business, and customers are looking for a holistic, simple way to manage energy smarter. As we integrate sensors and software across systems, businesses can transform the way they see and optimize not only their energy use, but also their operational productivity.
Increasingly, entities are seeing the benefits of building automation and are seeking out connectivity, notes the company. Current, which acquired controls provider Daintree Networks earlier this year, is integrating intelligence via infrastructure like light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and its new energy management app harnesses the power of data beyond energy savings.
Customers across a variety of industries are already realizing the energy-saving potential of this intelligent app, with pilot installations for customers already underway, says Current. McDonald’s Corporation says the EMS tool provides actionable analytics around energy use and provides intelligence for “optimizing labor, reducing operational tension and improving overall efficiencies and effectiveness at the restaurants, all while creating sustainable, profitable growth.”
The new energy management app is also being piloted with Simon Property Group, a global provider in retail real estate ownership, management and development for shopping malls and retail properties across the United States. Michael Romstad, executive vice president of Property Management for Simon Property Group, commented:
This connected, real-time view of how, when and where energy is being used enables our site managers to take actions to reduce and shift energy away from the grid during peak periods, saving significant monthly costs. We’ve already installed efficient solutions such as LEDs at several Simon properties, which are providing significant energy savings and significantly better lighting levels. We estimate the energy management solution will help us reduce consumption across the board at The Westchester mall [in White Plains, NY] by about 20 percent.
The intelligent energy management software was introduced in November during Minds + Machines, GE’s premier event for the digital industrial sector. For more information, visit the Current, powered by GE Web site.
