Feature
Story
GSA’s Web-Based Energy
Manager Tool:
D.C. customers see near
real-time energy use
M. Richard Boyette, Supervisory General Engineer, Heating Operation and Transmission Division
for the U.S. General Services Administration National Capital Region Public Buildings Services
Advances in technology and a
mandate for monitoring energy
usage in governmental buildings
are bringing greater operational savings
and control to building energy managers.
Such is the case with the Heating Operation and Transmission Division (HOTD)
of the U. S. General Services Administration National Capital Region Public Buildings Services (GSA/NCR/PBS).
The organization has developed a
Web-based energy manager system to
give building managers a unique and
immediate Internet view of their steam
and chilled-water utility usage as data is
collected from the metering points. This
newly implemented GSA system ties directly
to the existing meter data collection system
at HOTD to provide customer building
managers with near real-time energy flows,
trend graphics and energy consumption
reports.
Streamlining Data
In the early 1990s, HOTD purchased
an advanced computer system and software programs (the Enersave System),
which interfaced directly with steam meter
processors at remote metering points
over standard telephone lines. The system
connected, downloaded and stored one-
hour meter data in a rudimentary database and served as a platform for verifying
monthly steam meter readings. Over the
course of several years – and several
versions – the software programs were
upgraded and eventually converted to a
Microsoft format that allowed for easy
conversion of meter data into an active
main display with usable reports and
graphics.
In June 2007, HOTD added chilled-water meter data collection to the system.
These steam and chilled-water data acquisition systems together are now known
as the Energy Manager 2000 Data Collection System (EM2000). The system has
been collecting and storing real-time
steam meter data for more than 15 years
as part of ongoing programs to support
HOTD’s billing and meter maintenance.
Upon request, HOTD used to send resulting meter data, trend graphic and reports
for steam and chilled-water consumption
directly to its customers via email or fax
(as Adobe files or Excel spreadsheets).
It has always been the consensus of
energy management professionals, however, that the only way to effectively reduce
energy consumption is for utility users
to have timely access to how much energy
they use, when they use it and how it is
being used. Officials with the Federal
Energy Management Program (FEMP) have
stated that energy consumption is almost
always immediately reduced by at least
10 percent when users are given access
to real-time energy usage.
Energy consumption is almost
always immediately reduced by
at least 10 percent when users
are given access to real-time
energy usage.
In June 2008, HOTD was tasked by
the GSA/NCR/PBS to create a program
to bring near real-time utility data to its
customers in an automated manner via
the Internet. The initiative’s goal is to
aid customers in reducing energy usage,
complying with executive order mandates.
In summary, the mandates require all
federal buildings, in accordance with the
Energy Independence and Security Policy
of 2007 (amended from the Energy Policies
of 1995 and 2005) under section 543, to
have advanced meters or metering devices
in use by Oct. 1, 2012, that provide electrical consumption data on at least a
