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Energy management software, often referred to as energy management systems (EMS), tracks and manages facilities’ energy usage. Energy management tools may contain features that include real-time meter monitoring, HVAC controls, energy usage monitoring and dashboards, sustainability reporting, and carbon usage reporting. These systems are designed to help companies monitor, manage, and ultimately reduce their energy consumption and boost energy savings.
For example, a data center with high energy consumption levels because of the costs associated with cooling huge server racks is looking to boost efficiency and reduce emissions. The organization may implement a piece of energy management software to determine the current state of their energy consumption and actively manage their energy usage to reduce environmental and financial costs.
The following are some core features within energy management software that can help users:
Energy monitoring: This software feature monitors energy consumption and usage in real time. This feature is the core of many energy management solutions and lets users see their energy usage live. EMS tools increase the amount of automation within the energy management process and help streamline it, boosting cost savings in the process.
Systems management: The software helps manage energy usage within internet-connected systems. As IoT-connected devices become more prevalent, connectivity becomes easier across facilities, and live monitoring sensors can constantly transmit monitoring data to energy management systems for far-flung devices. This feature allows users to make adjustments across an organization’s energy-consuming technology.
Analytics dashboard: This EMS feature provides users with a single-pane view of analysis related to energy consumption across devices and systems. A dashboard allows users to have a real-time view of information important to them, often producing visualizations for users to easily digest information.
Benchmarking: This feature allows users to compare their energy usage and efficiency performance against standardized benchmarks. This feature can be useful when a business is looking to meet a specific energy efficiency standard or reduce its energy use to a certain level.
Report production: This software feature helps produce reports on energy consumption across a given facility or multiple facilities. These energy monitoring reports can be used to make informed decisions related to energy policy and device or systems usage throughout a facility to reduce overall consumption.
Systems integrations: This feature helps connect the software with all energy-consuming systems and devices within a given facility. To monitor energy consumption and reduce energy use, energy management systems need to be connected with the devices they monitor to collect energy data.
The benefits of energy management software include:
Improves energy efficiency: Energy management tools allow businesses to reduce the amount of energy they use by providing the ability to adjust consumption depending on real-time data collected by monitoring devices. This is particularly important for enterprises with a high level of consumption, as these tools help them reduce utility bill costs. By using these solutions, companies can reduce their energy costs and tout a reduced carbon footprint, which is often a large part of organizations’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies and initiatives.
Provides live data collection: Real-time information on energy consumption allows facilities managers to craft and implement energy policy via energy control systems that focus on optimization. Cloud-based energy management systems drive deeper levels of understanding by streamlining energy data collection and giving easy access to energy data. Companies can benchmark against key performance indicators (KPIs) to reduce carbon emissions and drive improved energy efficiency metrics.
Facility managers: Facility managers look after all operational aspects of running a building or multiple buildings. They use energy management systems to consolidate energy consumption and management-related tasks and introduce more automation to their work to boost efficiency.
Related solutions that can be used together with energy management software include:
Sustainability management software: Energy and sustainability management software tools provide similar functionality. While energy management solutions focus on operational efficiency and energy consumption monitoring, sustainability management tools focus on compliance with emissions standards and reducing the overall business impact on the environment.
Meter data management software: Energy management software provides complementary functionality to meter data management software. Meter data management solutions monitor data gathered by smart meters. Energy management systems can use that data to help provide facility managers with more insight into energy consumption.
Energy management solutions can come with their own set of challenges.
Lack of IoT devices: Energy management systems are only as good as the amount of real-time data they can collect. If an EMS cannot connect to a specific piece of energy-consuming equipment, then it has a blind spot. Every piece of machinery, technology, or equipment that consumes energy in a given facility should have an internet-connected sensor or device to transmit real-time information on consumption to the energy management solution.
Security: Security will always be a concern for an organization with thousands of internet-connected devices. An EMS will typically connect to many different endpoints, given the amount of energy-consuming devices within a facility or organization. To address this concern, a security stakeholder should be involved from the start of the research process to help steer the selection committee toward a robust and secure solution to mitigate risk down the line after implementation.
The selection team should put a list of their requirements together and include all relevant facility-specific information. The number of energy-consuming devices, all historical energy consumption information, future expansion plans, and desired outcomes should be considered. The process should also involve security stakeholders, particularly if the facilities the EMS manages are critical to the business or organizational functioning.
Create a long list
The long list should comprise all products meeting the list of core functionality put together during the requirements gathering phase.
Create a short list
The short list should comprise all products that fit the specific needs, including ones with nice-to-have features. The short list should consider security concerns and expectations for ROI to measure success post-implementation.
Conduct demos
During the demo process, a list of questions should be put together and asked. The list should include specific scenarios likely to occur during the regular management of a given facility in which the energy management system will be used.
Choose a selection team
The selection team should contain an actual user (typically a facility manager), a systems specialist responsible for integrating the new tool into the existing tech stack, and a security stakeholder with compliance knowledge. The team should also include anyone with an understanding of exactly how the new EMS will fit into the tech landscape at the organization.
Final decision
The final decision should be a collective one, made by the selection committee and taking into account all relevant needs and concerns.