Most businesses could use a lot less energy. According to the Carbon Trust even low and no-cost actions can usually reduce energy costs by at least 10% and produce quick returns. But where to start. Each business faces a myriad of options – lighting, heating and manufacturing processes often at the top of the list.
Buildings are responsible for 40 per cent of global energy use and contribute 30 per cent of total global CO2 emissions. By 2030, electricity consumption will have grown by more than 70 per cent, compared to current levels.
Armed with those statistics there is no surprise that a great deal of attention, from both government and business, to create a more sustainable and low carbon economy in the UK. One that generates fewer greenhouse gases and increases efficiency. For this reason, buildings have a huge role to play in helping the UK meet its 2050 Climate Change Act targets.
At the heart of such a transformation is information; this is where advanced metering and monitoring solutions are vital for enabling data-driven energy efficiency. “Managers are becoming increasingly aware of power monitoring solutions as a way of gaining a detailed view of their energy use. This insight in turn supports energy efficiency and cost reduction efforts,” Poonam Walid, category marketing manager, power monitoring at Schneider Electric explains. “Effective metering and monitoring gives managers crucial information about how their buildings are performing. This can deliver substantial, almost-immediate improvements.”
Metering is the most important part of any energy management programme. Effective metering enables sites to continuously improve their performance by monitoring energy consumption and benchmarking against metrics. Metering can help spot problems and abuses, enabling them to be resolved, and can provide the hard numbers that are required to prove a business case and justify expenditure.
There’s no need to meter everything. Don’t meter what you can’t control, but focus your attention on the big ticket items such as heating, process equipment, air conditioning and lighting.
Energy metering can help with identifying cost cutting opportunities by detecting inefficiencies, benchmarking building performance, improving load planning and energy usage and managing demand to ensure there is minimum exposure to volatility. “An effective metering and monitoring system is one with the capacity to get everyone involved in energy-efficiency measures,” Walid adds. “The ability to identify and quantify energy use is often sufficient to bring about energy-saving changes in practices and behaviours, such as reducing waste and avoiding peak utility rate periods when possible.”
Schneider Electric has been working with Oxford University for the past 20 years to install main meters and sub meters in all the university buildings. There are over 1,000 meters in total, which are designed for key distribution points and sensitive loads to offer advanced power quality and billing accuracy.
Driven by legislation
Another element driving greater energy efficiency is the increase in energy-related building legislation globally, as well as locally in the UK and EU. These legislative and regulative changes are acting as a motivator for increased levels of metering, sub-metering and control solutions. This is across all buildings, but mostly commercial buildings where there are the most savings to be gleaned. One example of this is the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), which requires all EU member states to encourage intelligent metering and control systems in new or renovated buildings. In the US, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 imposes stringent metering regulations on federal buildings.
A wealth of energy efficiency legislation has been implemented in the past decade to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Some legislation has specific requirements regarding metering of buildings to increase efficiency. Others indirectly encourage building owners and managers to use metering as part of an overall strategy to reduce emissions.
Across Europe, legislation has been introduced in response to EU Directives. These include the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD 2002 and 2010) and the Energy Efficiency Directive (2012). EPBD 2002 introduced building energy labelling and encouraged the installation of smart meters and sub meters. The EPBD 2010 included specific requirements for data collection via meters and controls to accurately calculate DEC rating. The Energy Efficiency Directive required the provision of smart meters to all customers and the creation of energy audits for businesses.
Sub-metering and control requirements are included in the Building Regulations Part L. It covers both new buildings and retrofits. For new buildings, the regulations focus on the fact end-use categories (like heating, lighting) must be assigned to 90 per cent of building energy use. Any renewable energy systems must also have their output monitored. Buildings over 1,000 m2 must have automatic meter reading and data collection systems installed.
The Energy Savings Opportunities Scheme (ESOS) is a mandatory energy assessment scheme. It requires large UK companies to conduct regular energy audits. Companies employ over 250 people, or have an annual turnover in excess of £50 million are included in the scope of ESOS. The scheme administrator is The Environment Agency. A sample of assessments are audited every four years. The next ESOS assessment audit is due on the 5th December, 2019.
“As the nation progresses towards a brighter, more sustainable future, energy visibility is paramount for optimised efficiency,” Walid continues. “With this in mind, we’re expecting further regulations and legislation in line with those already in place. While more businesses are already thinking in a more energy efficient way, regulation helps push those dragging their heels toward better building efficiency. It’s not just the regulation, but also advances being made in metering, which are paving the way for businesses to gain greater insight into their energy use and make informed commercial decisions.
“More and more metering and monitoring packages are being sold – not just the implementation of a metering system, but also the installation of software. Together, this is technology that collects and organises data gathered from any building’s electrical network and presents it as meaningful and actionable data.”
The UK Government is committed to reducing Carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. Within that, 40 per cent of the UK’s energy consumption and carbon emissions are coming from the way our buildings are lit, heated and occupied. This means that whilst legislation and regulation is already pushing some companies and facilities managers towards installing more robust power monitoring systems, buildings still need to be doing more. Whether that’s through re-fit, expansion, or making sure energy efficiency is front of mind when completing a retrofit or building a new commercial building in the UK.