Arizona Public Service – Thompson Peak
Significant reductions in energy consumption are possible by taking some very simple steps, but often consumers won’t take advantage of these opportunities until they are provided with graphical proof of the savings they can achieve. Continuous energy consumption monitoring with the ability to compare today’s use to historical energy use, available from Automated Energy Inc. can help. One electrical utility taking the lead in helping its commercial customers conserve energy through conscious behavior changing programs is Arizona Public Service (APS). AEI and APS are partners in providing this energy information service.
DownloadThe Problem: Spotting unnecessary electricity consumption
APS supplies some of its larger users with what the utility calls its “Energy Information Service,” provided through a partnership with AEI. The program allows a building manager, or other authorized user, to access reports on a building’s consumption of electric energy on a virtually real-time basis. Continuous monitoring and graphically representing the data provides the ability to spot unnecessary electrical consumption. The amount of positive effects of certain conservation efforts are easier to visualize with the use of this program, as compared to reviewing the typical bill from the power company that aggregates monthly usage in a single kWh number.
The Solution: Measurement and reporting by AEI
The measurement and reporting tool, engineered by AEI, produces reports on demand that graph power consumption in time increments as short as every 15 minutes. The tool also can compare historical consumption levels, factoring in the effects of weather patterns, which can have a significant variable impact on electric power consumption – especially in hot and dry regions like Arizona. Anxious to leverage the power of continuous monitoring in helping them with their own energy savings initiatives, APS’ larger customers deploy the monitoring service in several of their facilities as proof of concept, which will ultimately expand to be used across their organizations. The Thompson Peak Medical Plaza in Scottsdale, Ariz., is one of the buildings using the AEI service. Commercial real estate services firm CBRE handles property management for the facility and has been using the service to monitor energy consumption in the building since April 2014. The information they gathered resulted in some simple changes to their operations which already have garnered 30% savings in electric energy used by the facility.
“Prior to the use of (the software) to monitor consumption, the Thompson Peak facility’s energy management system maintained the building temperature at a constant 74 degrees,” said Jorge Fierro, chief engineer for CBRE. “We hypothesized that if we set the building set point to allow it to warm up slightly overnight and on weekends compared to the daytime weekday set point we would save energy.”
The Results: Savings over $9,000 in one month
To test this theory, Gene Laramee, CBRE’s director of Asset Services, arranged for APS to install the monitoring software. Fierro adjusted the building temperature set-point to 80 degrees in the evening and on weekends, and instructed the system to lower the area temperatures in a staggered fashion to 74 degrees during workweek hours. Since Thompson Peak is a medical office building, the lower temperatures aren’t necessary on weekends. With the monitoring software in place and adjustments made to the building’s temperature controls, the asset management team began monitoring consumption levels and comparing them to data from previous time periods.
As the chart produced by the energy monitoring software indicated, with the new temperature set-points in place Thompson Peak recognized a total kWh reduction for June 2014 compared to June 2013 of over 77,500 kWh, equal to 30% of the building’s power consumption. Energy cost savings earned by the Thompson Peak facility exceeded $9,000 for this month alone.
“As a real estate manager, having a solid grasp of a client’s operating costs allows me to open up a discussion about what can be done to ensure the most cost-effective, sustainable options are available,” said Robyn Warnica, real estate manager with CBRE. “The Energy Information Service reports enable us to show Thompson Peak’s owners how much savings can be achieved and reduced energy costs allow us to improve overall building performance, driving greater value for our clients and ensuring a greener operating environment.”
Based on these positive results, CBRE expects to affect positive changes across the Scottsdale Healthcare campus. “Because of what we’ve learned monitoring the Thompson Peak facility, we’ve made changes to the climate controls in another building as well,” said Jorge Fierro. “The information provided by AEI has also uncovered the possibility for making other energy conservation programs manageable also – like reduction in the amount power consumed with regards to lighting the building itself.”
This is just one example of the benefits obtained through the use of continuous monitoring. “Healthcare, office complexes, schools, hotels/resorts can all achieve significant savings through continuous energy monitoring,” said Wayne Dobberpuhl, senior account executive for the APS Solutions for Business program. “We can’t expect that everyone will save as much as Scottsdale Healthcare, but we’re looking to help any large facility that has someone inside who is chartered with saving energy.”
AEI has solutions for municipal and investor-owned utilities, as well as commercial property owners interested in managing peak usage and energy rates in a variety of settings.