How to start an Energy Management Program

An effective energy management program will require an initial investment of finances and manpower. The benefits of an effective energy management program will not always be immediately noticed until the foundation of the program is laid and it is allowed to grow.

There are several steps in implementing an energy management program that should be followed closely to be able to better track the value it adds to an organization. Each of these first steps will lay the foundations needed to effectively manage utilities in such a way that leads to reduced energy usage and cost savings.

Start tracking your utility usage

The first step in starting an energy management program is to begin to monitor the utility usage within your institution. The more detailed you are in keeping an updated database with usage and cost, the easier it will be to see the effectiveness of your overall energy management program.

Your database should track usage and cost together. It would also be a good idea to track individual utility cost per unit. For example, track the cost per kilowatt or any other utility unit you have. It’s important to track the cost per unit of utility is because rates can change over time.

Utility submeters are necessary for tracking data

If you don’t track it you can’t see if your making improvements, reducing cost and usage. Don’t rely only on the utility meters from the utility provider. If you were to get an electric bill for the different things you use in your house you would be able to better target problem areas of energy waste.

If there are several buildings on a single substation it might be difficult to know which building is using the most energy. Having submeters on utilities gives an organization the ability to track usage by department or individual building.

In large institutions or facilities the areas of wasted energy can be targeted and effective improvements made to those systems. It also gives you the ability to see how effective your work within a specific area has been.

Choosing a building automation system

You will need to decide on the type of building automation system that can be used to effectively control the usage of utilities. There are many types of systems available but you will be better served by having a representative from a company in your area.

It would be a good idea to speak with representatives of each of the companies in your area and listen to the ideas they have. However, take any opportunity to speak with technicians or people from other institutions as well.

A building automation system is a big investment and if it doesn’t serve your needs effectively you will lose that investment. You will also spend more replacing it with a system that works.

Some companies want to keep you locked into using a single type of system and offer little to no flexibility. For example, many companies use their own device communication standard that makes it harder for other manufacturers to communicate with. There are also industry standard forms of communication such as BacNet that allows for different devices from different manufacturers to communicate with each other more easily.

Get community involvement

Learn how to be effective at public relations and building good working relationships with your coworkers. You will need their help and the help of others as well.

It is important to get the entire institutional community involved as much as possible. Small things can make a huge difference in the overall impact of an energy management program.

Small things like making sure to turn off equipment that isn’t being used will impact your energy usage much more than you might think. The more work you put into getting the community of your organization supporting your efforts the more benefit you will see.

How effective can an Energy Management program be?

As the old saying goes, “the proof is in the pudding,” and “the numbers don’t lie.” When measuring how effective energy management can be, we can look at a few examples.

The campus of Western Kentucky University took steps to cut costs during their annual Christmas shutdown. The results were very impressive as you can see below.

Their Alumni Association report shows:

Bowling Green, Ky. – Western Kentucky University’s energy savings experiment over the winter break resulted in an energy reduction of 1,052,932 kilowatt hours of electricity, 1,112 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, with a cost avoidance savings of $128,340 for the three-week period. 

The results you se will depend on the effort you put into the program and the changes to your organization to better implement improvements.