Members
Speak Out
Smarter Metering:
Let’s set up task force now
David W. Wade, PE, President, RDA Engineering Inc.
Editor’s Note: “Members Speak Out” runs in
each issue of District Energy magazine. Its purpose is for a member to briefly share his/her
district energy experiences and opinions – and
obtain feedback from fellow members. If you
have comments on this column, please email
David Wade at the address below – or email
IDEA with your response for publication in the
next issue.
We all agree we live in an information age. Computers, PDAs,
cell phones and BlackBerrysTM
are bound together by the nearly instantaneous transfer of information over the
Internet around the world, providing man
and machines with more information than
ever before. Think about the remarkable
technology that allows microchips to control building HVAC systems, regulate our
cars’ engines, play music files, and transfer
money using our chip-embedded credit
cards. Mass markets for these advanced
products have made them widely available
worldwide.
The U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005
(EPACT 2005) incorporates a section on
smart metering of electricity by utilities.
The law recognizes the benefit of time-of-day metering and the equipment required
to collect that information. Additionally,
EPACT 2005 requires federal agencies to
meter electricity use in all federal buildings
using advanced meters that provide data
at least daily. These requirements have
generated significant interest from equipment suppliers seeing a large market for
metering systems that collect energy use
data and can efficiently provide that information to utilities.
Metering of steam, condensate and ther-
mal units of heating or cooling energy from
a district system has always been problematic and expensive. Today’s meters use state-of-the-art electronics, but the development
of new low-cost metering systems has been
hampered by relatively few customers compared to the electric industry. From the
standpoint of metering thermal energy
commodities, there has been little interest in
developing advanced metering systems for
district energy customers.
There has been little interest
in developing advanced
metering systems for
district energy customers.
The district energy industry has a unique
opportunity to develop smart metering in
the coming decade. During this timeframe,
hundreds of thousands of cooling customers
will be served by new systems in the Middle
East. These customers will be housed in
modern buildings with the opportunity to
implement state-of-the-art communication
between thermal users and thermal suppliers.
Additionally, there are millions of thermal
heating customers scattered throughout
Eastern Europe and European countries
where hot water district heating has long
been employed as the preferred thermal
service. In the United States many apartments, condominiums, and multi-tenant
buildings would welcome cost-effective
smart meters from district energy utilities.
Of course, basic thermal metering is
important to our industries’ conventional
business model. Imagine the potential of a
smart meter that gives feedback on energy
use to the customer, has a communication
link with the building energy management
system, and provides a conduit for other
services by the district system utility including
maintenance, energy management, and
security. Opportunities for innovative rate
structures taking into account time of day
usage could be made available. Maybe the
customer could swipe a credit card at the
meter to pay the bill! Looking at the technology all around us, I believe smart thermal
meters are possible and would greatly add
value to the district energy proposition.
Making district energy meters smarter
won’t happen by itself. District heating and
cooling systems are largely unknown to the
public. The industry is small, our delivery
mechanism (pipes) are underground and
out of sight, and the high reliability of
delivered thermal energy means the service
isn’t regularly on customers’ minds. To make
smart meters a reality, the industry will need
to define the metering products it needs,
find manufacturers who can deliver the
technology required, and convince mass-market electronics companies to make the
needed devices at an affordable price.
IDEA has a perfect opportunity to bring
industry leaders together to develop specifications for metering, identify complimentary services that can be delivered with a
smart metering system, and assist its members in finding appropriate manufacturing
partners. An IDEA task force formed to
further the concept would be a logical start.
What better place to begin this exciting
journey into the future than at the initial
International District Cooling Conference
in the United Arab Emirates in 2007? I
challenge our vendors and conference
attendees to take up the charge!
David W. Wade, PE, , is pre-
sident of RDA Engineering
Inc. in Atlanta and has been
an IDEA member for more
than 20 years. He has served
on IDEA’s board and is a past
chair of ASHRAE’s national
technical committees dealing
with Building Steam and Hot Water Systems
and District Heating and Cooling. Wade may be
reached at dww@rdaeng.com.
Column and previous columns available at
www.districtenergy.org/de_magazine.htm
