by Shane Henson — November 18, 2011—Facilities managers desiring to curb their energy and water usage for both financial and environmental reasons can take advantage of new metering technologies, an action recommended in a new interagency report, Submetering of Building Energy and Water Usage: Analysis and Recommendations of the Subcommittee on Buildings Technology Research and Development.
The report, a product of the Buildings Technology Research and Development Subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), recommends systematic consideration of new metering technologies that can yield up-to-date, finely grained snapshots of energy and water usage in commercial and residential buildings to guide efficiency improvements and capture the advantages of a modernized electric power grid.
Submetering is the installation of metering devices to measure actual energy or water consumption at points beyond the primary utility meter on a campus or building. Submetering allows building owners to monitor energy or water usage for individual tenants, departments, pieces of equipment or other loads to account for their specific usage. Submetering technologies enable building owners to optimize design and retrofit strategies to make energy and water management procedures more efficient and effective.
While the return on investment (ROI) for these monitoring and measurement technologies—or submeters—depends on specific energy-efficiency strategies that may vary by climate, building type, and other factors, “numerous case studies provide evidence that the ROI can be significant,” the report notes.
Further, according to the report, energy and water usage reduction is becoming increasingly important. Commercial and residential buildings consume vast amounts of energy, water, and material resources. In fact, U.S. buildings account for more than 40% of total U.S. energy consumption, including 72% of electricity use. If current trends continue, buildings worldwide will be the largest consumer of global energy by 2025. By 2050, buildings are likely to use as much energy as the transportation and industrial sectors combined, adds the report.
