What is energy management and why do I need to manage my energy supply?

Think of energy as if it were money. There are few people who do not manage their money – particularly businesses. There are plenty of people who would own up to not being very good at it but most have some way of keeping a check on how much they earn and how much they spend – even if it’s just checking bank statements once a month.

Most people have an idea about how much money they have at their disposal at any one time; how much they use on a monthly basis to pay the bills, where it is being spent and what they are getting in return for that money. And many people at various times in their life implement some form of money saving initiative that helps them spend less on certain things and even save money for the future. Everyone knows money is a finite resource and that we need to take care of our supply, not be wasteful or irresponsible and to ensure we keep it secure.

The same is true of energy supplies but consumers don’t think of them in the same way they think of money, that energy is a finite resource, until they have to through legislation, to meet carbon reduction targets, or implement energy efficiency measures, reduce costs, secure energy supplies, or for a variety of reasons.

But what exactly is energy management?

There are a variety of definitions for energy management. At its most fundamental, the goal of energy management is to produce goods and provide services with the least cost to the business and least environmental impact. Other definitions include:

The judicious and effective use of energy to maximize profits (minimize costs) and enhance competitive positions. Guide to Energy Management. Fairmont Press 1997.

The strategy of adjusting and optimizing energy, using systems and procedures so as to reduce energy requirements per unit of output while holding constant or reducing total costs of producing the output from these systems. Source unknown.

So, basically, by applying effective energy management, businesses are trying to minimise energy costs and waste, without affecting productivity and quality, whilst also minimising environmental impact.

Just as with managing finances effectively, firstly, energy consumers need the data and intelligence that will allow them to implement clear and effective energy management, planning and efficiency measures and energy security procedures.

For a single business, operating out of one site, gathering such intelligence and data may not be difficult. Depending upon the size of the business, and if it’s a large, dynamic and energy hungry facility such as a data centre, energy management may even warrant the full-time employ of a dedicated Energy Management operator. If not, it may fall under the auspice of either the facilities or IT manager. If the business is distributed, throughout a chain of branches, multiple sites and locations such as retailers, restaurant chains, supermarkets, the task becomes more difficult. In either scenario, it often makes economic and business sense to buy in the expertise of specialist energy management consultants or to outsource remote energy management to a specialist supplier that is established to provide a dedicated service.

A good energy management system and service will be:

• Simple to install and use and not require any onsite, bespoke programming or configuration. All configuration should be able to be done centrally.

• It should offer customers secure web access to online and historical data (such as site reports, results of system tests, etc.).

• It should seamlessly integrate with other energy management equipment and devices such as meters, controllers and so on.

• It should be cost-effective and offer fast ROI (return on investment) through proven and quick savings from reduced energy costs, better operation and reduced downtime.

• It should offer good and accurate data capture and reporting, preferably in real-time and should offer remote monitoring and automatically adjust parameters to account for seasons, weather and energy strategies.

• A system should enable automatic alarms and events that can be sent by SMS, MMS or email.

• It should offer remote configuration of all system parameters.

• Data analysis should be available by day, week, month and year with customisable reports.

• By implementing it, it should extend equipment design life and play an active part in any on-going or preventative maintenance.

Riello UPS offers several monitoring and surveying services with energy management at their core. Power Disturbance monitoring, for example, will help identify and counteract the problems that can and do occur in every electricity power supply before they cause system damage or interruption. Power disturbances can include sags, surges, brownouts, transients, spikes and harmonics.

Energy monitoring will enable Riello UPS to test the reliability of your energy supply, its quality, how and when those two things vary, alongside presenting customers with an accurate and up-to-date overview of how much energy they use and how much they could save by setting in place certain energy saving measures. It’s about being proactive and taking steps towards a cost-effective and secure energy future.

Riello UPS’s Technical Energy Consultant (TEC) team are experts in energy management and can undertake energy surveys to uncover crucial information about power supply management and standby power requirements. They also provide Critical Power Surveys, offering a comprehensive analysis of current power and cooling capacity and utilisation alongside recommendations for the future to enable your business to become more efficient and resilient.

When energy saving is not a priority for commercial companies

I read an article in the trade press last week about North London football club Tottenham Hotspur cutting its carbon emissions by 400 tonnes in a single year and at the same time implementing energy saving methods that resulted in the club being around 25% cheaper to run. It got me thinking: much as businesses (and business owners in particular) like to be ethical, it’s that last bit – the 25% cost saving – that spurs (pardon the pun) them on to take energy saving seriously.

But is it possible, as commercial organisation, to maintain high standards of quality and customer service while saving energy? This is a special dilemma for power protection customers whose primary need is to provide a continuous source of critical power and ensure business continuity in the face of potential power cuts and power problems. Can energy saving really become a priority for them?

The Premiere League club has been working in conjunction with the 10:10 scheme, an organisation set up by film director Franny Armstrong in 2009 after making the iconic climate change film, starring the late, great Pete Postlethwaite as a man living in the devastated future of 2055, looking back at old footage from our time and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?

10:10’s premise, rather than aiming at staggering targets favoured by ambitious policy-makers of 80% carbon cuts by 2050, is to try and get everyone to aim for 10% carbon reductions per year?

Tottenham employs high-powered sun lamps to keep the turf at its White Heart Lane ground in premier league condition all year round. Giant banks of flood lamps are also used to illuminate the on-pitch action on gloomy winter days or evenings. The club reduced its hefty electric bill by firstly replacing 136 high-powered lights with energy efficient models and although it worked out as a six-figure investment, it is this that has enabled the 25% reduction in running costs.

New lighting controls, including time switches and motion sensors have also helped save on energy. Heating controls on training ground washing machines were deployed, alongside push taps to help save energy and water. The club also analysed and revised its transportation needs to lessen its carbon footprint and now directors take public transport to away games instead of private jets. Fans are playing their part to: after a big publicity push, the majority arrive at matches by public transport rather than private car.

Working alongside The Carbon Trust, 10:10 has developed an Energy Saving checklist offering simple tips to business such as:

• Make someone within your organization responsible for energy saving initiatives and ask them to draw up an action plan.

• Measure, log and analyse how much energy you are using and where it is being guzzled. Energy bills may not give you enough information and you may want to look into some form of energy management.

• Conduct an energy walk round, which will not only confirm the second point but give you a visual picture of where energy is being used in your business.

• Upgrade business critical equipment – old equipment is much less energy efficient and will guzzle far more power than new or modern appliances.

• Switch off lights once there is enough daylight to work by, or in rooms or areas that are not being used. This may seem obvious but you’d be surprised at how many lights stay on in empty toilet cubicles all day!

There are ten tips in all and I won’t include them all but this one is a particular favourite:

• do not locate photocopiers in air-conditioned areas as the heat it will produce will make the air-conditioning work harder and user more electricity.

So, the answer to my earlier question (it would seem) is a resounding “Yes”. If you would like information about energy saving eco UPS, visit our website.

The first ever CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme Performance League Table was published in November by the Environment Agency, which is responsible for running it. It showed that 60% of organisations have taken action on energy management by installing smart meters and obtaining certificates for ‘good energy management’.

Ranked organisations count among them some of the largest energy users in the UK; large businesses and public sector organisations that use more than 6000 Megawatt Hours of electricity a year.

The scheme is intended to help the UK meet its carbon reduction targets and encourage large energy users to be smarter about how and where they consume electricity so that it can be reduced.

At Riello UPS, we think anything that encourages users to focus on reducing energy consumption is a great idea and we help our customers do so (and thus reduce their energy bills) while securing power continuity. We do that by providing products that are efficient, reliable and functional. I cannot help thinking, however, that the UK’s efforts to reduce energy consumption overall and meet carbon reduction targets could be given a real boost if energy suppliers started installing smart meters as standard. Only those that stand to benefit the most from so doing can afford to install smart meters and while that is the case we will continue to see the waste that is associated with a haphazard approach to measuring energy consumption.

For more information about UPS and power protection, visit our website.

Interesting research from big six energy provider npower has highlighted that the issue of energy is the most important matter facing businesses today.

The npower Business Energy Index 2011 showed major energy users (MEUs) indentifying energy and legislation as the biggest risks their businesses face and yet 86% admitted that energy is not a board level issue. 50% have no idea where they are using energy and cannot allocate costs by usage.

This is music to my ears!

For years Riello has been encouraging and guiding customers through our consultancy and surveys to understand more about energy management and get a clearer picture of their current energy use. Only by doing this can they begin to make reforms, install the latest energy efficient equipment (including UPS), streamline their business practices, implement energy saving initiatives and reduce costs overall.

Also, securing a clean, stable and continuous supply of electricity should come first for businesses because without it, most would not be able to operate – our reliance on electricity has become so ingrained.

On that note, I was interested to read a story on Energy Live News about Dixons Retail. Apparently, the company has cut its electricity use by a third in just 12 months. Latest figures show the retail group, which includes Currys and PC World, has netted £1.9 million in savings since May 2010.

The retailer’s energy saving initiatives included:

• Talking to staff.
• Running energy surveys.
• Analysing energy data.
• Implementing specific and individual store-based solutions to change lighting, heating, ventilation, store displays.
• Energy monitoring.

This goes to show that it can be done and need not cost the earth or consume valuable resources. If you’re interested in reducing your energy consumption, understanding more about your energy usage, or wanting to implement energy management and energy savings plans, talk to one of our energy consultants about how you can ensure reliable power protection while reducing energy bills.

Energy management systems (EMS), the once mainframe-bound, proprietary solutions used by large operators of electricity grids to monitor, control and optimise performance of the electricity generation and/or transmission system are moving into the mainstream with the release of ISO 50001 expected in June 2011.

Today’s energy management systems are software-based and can be used by businesses to monitor and control electrical systems – including UPS – within a building such as heating, lighting, IT loads, ventilation and so on. They can be applied enterprise-wide, from a single building to site or campus comprised of several buildings. They can also be integrated with building HVAC and management systems and incorporated with ‘smart metering’ technology so that they can provide meter readings of gas, electricity and even water. Data obtained from EMS can be used to perform self-diagnostic and optimisation routines on a frequent basis and produce trend analysis and annual consumption forecasts in real-time.

EMS can also cover lighting control systems, carbon and sustainability reporting, IT equipment management, demand response, energy audits and provide building simulation and modelling.

A whole industry has built up around EMS with suppliers offering energy management surveys and systems to enable businesses to really take charge of their energy use and ultimately cut costs.

International Standards Organization’s release in June of ISO 5001 will provide a framework for the use and implementation of EMS for commercial, institutional, government facilities, industrial plants and corporate organisations – large and small and influence (according to ISO) 60% of the world’s energy use.

If you would like to know more about UPS and energy management, visit our website.