by Brianna Crandall — October 5, 2016 — As part of Smart Cities Week, the White House announced a new U.S. Department of Energy-led Smart Energy Analytics Campaign to encourage the use of cost-effective, energy-saving building analytics platforms — also known as energy management information systems technologies (EMIS) — in commercial buildings nationwide, and refine best practices.
Energy management information system (EMIS) technologies are a broad group of smart energy management tools that help monitor, analyze and control building energy use and system performance. EMIS can achieve 10-20 percent energy savings in a single commercial building. If these best practices were adopted by all commercial buildings in the nation, more than $4 billion in cost savings could be achieved.
The campaign is also meant to help building operators use analytics for overall long-term energy management and better building performance. The initial goal is to engage commercial building owners and operators to use smart energy analytics in 80 million square feet of floor space. Already the 18 partners represent a total of 1,800 buildings or 50 million square feet.
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency Kathleen Hogan commented:
Organizations partnering in the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign are taking the lead in demonstrating cutting-edge technology systems and using them to pinpoint and achieve deeper, smarter efficiencies in commercial buildings. This commitment to continuous improvement for measuring and monitoring the energy performance of an entire building or suite of buildings is proof that data matters and informs better decision making.
The 18 partners are committing to use EMIS technologies to cut energy consumption and improve overall building performance.
Partner commitments include:
- Macy’s — With over 700 locations, Macy’s was an early adopter of fault detection and diagnostics in a large complex portfolio. The company’s leading-edge approach with FDD has resulted in significant year-over-year savings.
- University of California, San Francisco — UCSF will expand its innovative program of “Connected Commissioning” to use fault detection analytics to help commission major building renovations and make sure they operate efficiently from the start.
- Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources — RI OER is starting an 18-building, multi-year EMIS project and will receive valuable technical assistance throughout their implementation process. The lessons learned through the DOE campaign will help streamline the rollout of EMIS to a large portion of their public sector portfolio
The Smart Energy Analytics Campaign is the fourth technology campaign under the Better Buildings Alliance, a peer exchange program under the Better Buildings Initiative, and expands on the Interior Lighting Campaign (ILC), Lighting Energy Efficiency in Parking Campaign (LEEP), and Advanced Rooftop Unit Campaign (ARC). Altogether, these campaigns have saved public and private organizations approximately $136 million dollars, says DOE.
The broader Better Buildings Initiative aims to make commercial, public, industrial, and residential buildings 20 percent more energy efficient over the next decade. Through Better Buildings, public and private sector organizations across the country are working together to share and replicate successful strategies to drive energy efficiency, thereby saving billions of dollars on energy bills, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and creating thousands of jobs, says DOE.
