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Energy Management
QA Graphics’ award winning Energy Efficiency Education Dashboard® (EEED), educates building occupants with energy data and green building features using a kiosk or desktop, tablet, or mobile device.
QA Graphics's New HTML Energy Efficiency Education Dashboard Built to Showcase an Iowa Nature Center
QA Graphics is excited to announce the creation of an HTML Energy Efficiency Education Dashboard (EEED) that will be housed at the Indian Creek Nature Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. September 15-18th is the grand opening weekend where an open house will be held for the Amazing Space at the Indian Creek Nature Center. A Connection Ceremony will commence at 11 am on Friday the 15.th Activities will continue all weekend with free activities open to the public such as: tours, live music, food, children activities, and more.
An Energy Efficiency Education Dashboard is one feature of this new space. The EEED is a web application that educates building occupants by showcasing real-time energy data and green building features. Highlighting sustainable efforts of a building working towards a green certification. The benefit of QA Graphic’s dashboards is that they can be displayed anywhere, a standalone kiosk or any web-enabled device. Each dashboard is customized and built to the need of each client using the customer’s branding, helping the dashboard feel cohesive with the rest of their building or website.
Indian Creek Nature Center’s dashboard contains:
- Building performance information for electricity and water usage, as well as PV production. This will show the current usage or production, as well as a chart showing historical data compared with baseline data.
- Green tips on how to save energy at home.
- Green features hotspot maps. These show where all the green features are within the building and campus site. Users can select a hotspot and see an image and description of the feature, or they can view some demo videos to learn how the features work.
- A Living Build Challenge Checklist (http://living-future.org/lbc/about). This area breaks down the different ways Indian Creek Nature Center received certification through the Living Building Challenge.
- An interactive map of attractions along the Cedar-Wapsi Recreational Byway. This map shows the 17 different education, recreation, and cultural attractions located along the Highway 13 corridor.
- An extended weather forecast for Cedar Rapids.
Energy Efficiency Education Dashboard – The EEED is a web application that educates building occupants by showcasing real-time energy data and green building features. The EEED highlights sustainable efforts made in the design and construction of a building, which may help acquire points toward LEED® certification. QA Graphics’ dashboards are used by schools, universities, businesses, healthcare facilities, and data centers. Applications can be displayed in a common area via large format kiosk displays or on any web-enabled device.
Read the release here: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/09/prweb13650319.htm
Understanding the Difference Between EMS and BMS
Check out our updated post on this subject HERE.
According to a survey conducted by MACH Energy, 44% of 800 facility managers believe they have an energy management system (EMS) in place. In reality, more than 70% actually have a building management system (BMS or BAS). These results indicate, that even among users of these tools, there is confusion between the systems and what they do.
So what are the main differences? And how can you tell if you have an EMS or a BMS deployed?
A building management system or building automation system (BAS), is a computer based control system installed in building that controls and monitors the building’s mechanical and electrical equipment such as ventilation, lighting, power systems, and fire and security systems.
An energy management system is a system of computer aided tools used by operators of electric utility grids to monitor, control and optimize the generation and/or transmission system.
Key differences:
- BMS is primarily about real-time control, it is the steering control for the operating system. The systems are not built for dealing with historical data or reporting.
- EMS is primarily a reporting and decision support tool. It is a dashboard for energy data and can track trends and help decision makers
One reason it has become hard to differentiate between these two systems is because EMS functionality has been added to many BMS and vice versa. BMS/BAS only allow building teams to automate control, without giving insight into how much building systems should be adjusted and why. There is a growing case to support the adoption of both a BMS and an EMS in buildings, giving the building management both automated controls and data analysis.
Read the MACH Energy study, or learn more by clicking the source links below!
Sources:
Energy Management Today, Study: Confusion, Growth Opportunities in Building Management Systems
Commercial and Industrial Metering Solutions, BMS or EMS? Green Paper
10 Energy Efficiency Facts That Will Keep You Up At Night
We all use energy every day. Whether it’s using your computer, cooking dinner, or lighting, heating and cooling your home or business. Here in the U.S. we consume approximately a quarter of the world’s energy resources. Due to CSR, Green initiatives, climate change and cost optimization programs, companies across all sectors are more concerned than ever about energy management, for good reason. Here are 10 energy efficiency facts that will keep you up at night!
1. The amount of energy the U.S. utilizes doubles every 20 years.
2. Light-bulbs generate more heat than actual light. Only 10% of a light-bulb’s energy makes light.
3. The amount of fossil fuel used to manufacture the 285,000,000 computers that will be sold this year is more than the entire state of Iowa consumes in 1 year! (25 million tons to be exact.)
4. An energy smart washing machine can save more water in 1 year than 1 person typically drinks in a whole lifetime!
5. Over 70% of electricity in the U.S. is generated from non-renewable resources.
6. If the energy efficiency of commercial and industrial buildings improved by just 10%, it would equal a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions equal to taking 30 million cars off the road.
7. According to Google, the amount of energy it takes to conduct 100 searches on its site is equal to a 60-watt light bulb burning for 28 minutes.
8. Energy wasters, like inefficient appliances and poor insulation, cost U.S. consumers approximate $300 billion per year, more than the U.S. military budget!
9. The U.S. produces more nuclear-generated electricity than any other country and accounts for nearly 1/3 of the world’s total.
10. By 2030, world energy consumption is expected to increase more than 55%.
Monitoring energy use is key. The more we know about where and why we use energy, the easier it will be to make energy efficiency changes to save money, and improve our economy and environment!
If you want to learn more about how you can monitor your company’s energy use, we’d love to talk with you! Contact us at [email protected].
Building Sustainable Futures with Energy Management Systems
Sustainability has become a driving factor for governmental regulations as well as for individuals hoping to protect the environment for future generations. Sometimes considered one in the same, Energy Management Systems and Building Automation Systems provide insights into the evaluation of energy and operational data. These systems are the way of the future for building operations across all industries and continue to replace less efficient systems. They give facility managers the ability to analyze data in ways that support more strategic decision making.
Building Automation is often used as an energy management system that efficiently controls air conditioning, lighting and heating comfort systems to help companies and building owners maintain “green” standards. A main benefit of running higher efficiency buildings is lower operating and maintenance costs. This can be accomplished by:
- Using motion sensors for occupancy based scheduling
- Setting software alarms and notifications to alert building managers or technicians of developing problems and system failures before they cause costly problems
- Monitoring and analyzing energy usage to identify trends
- Using control algorithms to reset schedules for heating plants and other systems
To maximize the benefit of Building Automation and Energy Management Systems, facility managers and system integrators can customize their systems with graphics designed specifically for the equipment they use. By using 3D animation, each piece of equipment can be monitored and issues can be indicated with precision, saving valuable time and money when problems arise.
For more information about how these systems can drive sustainability for your company, or to learn more about custom graphics and data management, contact us to talk with one of our knowledgeable team members!