ISO 50001 is gaining traction as a system to manage the energy consumption of industrial, commercial, and institutional facilities. More and more incentive programs both at the federal and provincial levels require its implementation in exchange for fundings, or go as far as subsidizing only the expenses necessary for its implementation. That means Industrial facility managers are facing a choice, either they give up on the incentives that were available up until then or they find a way to integrate energy management into their operations in a manner that ensures that the results of the whole process is a net benefit for the organisation.
For the complete process to benefit the organisation, it is not sufficient to attain savings in order to justify the expenses, but the time and resources invested in the project need to provide a better return than competing projects. If we express this more tangibly, this means that you need to get valuable and actionable information from your energy management system, while minimizing the employee man hours associated with the management system.
That’s where we can help!
In an effort to capture the dynamic behaviours underlying the energy consumption of an industrial facility with as few resources as possible deployed by the customer, we have developed our own hybrid mathematical model. It combines the predictive capabilities of physical models for the key variables with the simplicity of use of regression models, therefore providing our customers with reliable and actionable insight requiring fewer resources.
What an energy consumption analysis offers the customers
Most energy consumption analyses are aimed either towards the design of a specific system or unit, either for a new installation and/or a retrofit, or to evaluate the results of an energy savings measure. Bull’s Eye Modeling energy consumption analysis, on the other hand, is aimed at establishing a consumption profile that accurately and reliably predicts energy consumption based on some key variables and parameters.
We can express the difference between the two with an analogy to accounting. The first type of analysis tells you how much money you typically spend on a given day allowing you to ensure the required amount is available, but only the second type tells you why that money is spent, allowing you to find better alternatives and rein in the expenses. By understanding, not only the observed phenomena but also their root causes, the energy consumption analysis becomes useful to identify and monitor the behaviors to prioritize and the behaviors to correct. The analysis therefore offers more than statistical parameters as guidelines; it offers a dynamic projection of the consumption as a function of the circumstances.
The Bull’s Eye Software was specifically developed in response to the realization, by different industrial site managers, that you can monitor the energy usage and the results of the implementation of energy efficiency projects by repeatedly analysing your energy consumption. That is because repeating our energy analysis provides the following key requirements of a good energy management system: deep understanding of your consumption sources, consistency, shared understanding between various teams and a log of reliable historical data to use as reference.
Energy consumption analysis for energy management implementation
At the core of any energy management system are the processes of data gathering, processing and reporting. A critical step of the implementation is to design the data gathering to obtain actionable information while avoiding wasteful over-metering or paralysing data overload.
In most cases, maintaining the established consumption profile with the Bull’s Eye Software is providing enough information to reap the full benefits of the energy management system. If not, it helps identify what is needed to handle all the data necessary to manage the energy consumption efficiently.
In that regard, Bull’s Eye Modeling helps industrial facilities set up and implement their energy management system by handling the technical side of it. Moreover, our process to perform an energy consumption analysis is very similar to an energy audit’s with an extra focus on the detailed explanations of the consumption variations. Therefore, opportunities for energy savings are identified in the process at the same time as the means to quantify the progress to be made are being put in place.
A special attention needs to be paid to the reporting processes to be implemented since they play a critical role in turning insight into action. Indeed, in order for an energy management system to create opportunities for an organization it is not enough to gather relevant data, it needs to be communicated to various members of the team in a format that allows them to use it judiciously. An efficient transmission of the information across an organization allows for improvement opportunities to be found and corrective measures to be taken in a timely manner. It also helps rally the team around the goal of optimizing operations and productivity.
Energy management upkeep and continuous improvement
Unlike a building management system (BMS) whose operation is static after it is set, an energy management system provides pathways to introduce new savings incrementally. One of its most powerful tools towards that end is the quick identification of anomalies within the data gathered. These anomalies, when identified quickly enough, can be investigated and used to challenge preexisting hypotheses. On the other hand, when they are not detected quickly enough, they are often treated as outliers from which no further insight is extracted. The investigation of anomalies identified in a timely fashion is very useful to validate and/or correct the hypotheses used in the understanding of the energy consumption, which in turns translates into additional savings.
The continuous effort required for energy management is not limited to the detection of new opportunities, however. Even after the energy management system is operational and providing savings, an effort is still necessary for the system itself to be maintained and continuously improved upon. In particular, ISO 50001 requires both the energy consumption and the processes of the energy management system to be reviewed and enhanced regularly. One of the most straightforward options of improvement is to add to the data gathering and data treatment part of the energy management system. As such, adding an additional way of interpreting the data to the traditional equipment level meter-based data aggregation can fulfill this improvement requirement and bring more reliability to the whole energy management system. Moreover, by the continuous usage of the Bull’s Eye Software it becomes more and more accurate and reliable over time, therefore it does not require additional resources or effort for its’ improvement as part of the energy management system.
Energy consumption analyses have long been associated with specific purposes, namely to evaluate energy savings resulting from a project as part of the M&V process and to guide investment and acquisition decisions.
Bull’s Eye Modeling has pushed the boundaries of what is to be expected of an energy consumption analysis. Its repetition turns it into a monitoring tool able to identify observable behaviors and quantify their importance on operational costs and profitability. The deep investigation of observed phenomena and patterns makes our analysis better suited to energy management systems and processes than to technical design.
The flexibility and efficiency of the energy consumption analysis provide invaluable support for energy management initiatives regardless of the maturity of the system in place. This novel approach to energy consumption analysis gives it relevance for operation and maintenance teams on a daily basis.
It is the first time an energy consumption analysis has a purpose in guiding and monitoring day-to-day activities.
For the complete process to benefit the organisation, it is not sufficient to attain savings in order to justify the expenses, but the time and resources invested in the project need to provide a better return than competing projects. If we express this more tangibly, this means that you need to get valuable and actionable information from your energy management system, while minimizing the employee man hours associated with the management system.
That’s where we can help!
In an effort to capture the dynamic behaviours underlying the energy consumption of an industrial facility with as few resources as possible deployed by the customer, we have developed our own hybrid mathematical model. It combines the predictive capabilities of physical models for the key variables with the simplicity of use of regression models, therefore providing our customers with reliable and actionable insight requiring fewer resources.
What an energy consumption analysis offers the customers
Most energy consumption analyses are aimed either towards the design of a specific system or unit, either for a new installation and/or a retrofit, or to evaluate the results of an energy savings measure. Bull’s Eye Modeling energy consumption analysis, on the other hand, is aimed at establishing a consumption profile that accurately and reliably predicts energy consumption based on some key variables and parameters.
We can express the difference between the two with an analogy to accounting. The first type of analysis tells you how much money you typically spend on a given day allowing you to ensure the required amount is available, but only the second type tells you why that money is spent, allowing you to find better alternatives and rein in the expenses. By understanding, not only the observed phenomena but also their root causes, the energy consumption analysis becomes useful to identify and monitor the behaviors to prioritize and the behaviors to correct. The analysis therefore offers more than statistical parameters as guidelines; it offers a dynamic projection of the consumption as a function of the circumstances.
The Bull’s Eye Software was specifically developed in response to the realization, by different industrial site managers, that you can monitor the energy usage and the results of the implementation of energy efficiency projects by repeatedly analysing your energy consumption. That is because repeating our energy analysis provides the following key requirements of a good energy management system: deep understanding of your consumption sources, consistency, shared understanding between various teams and a log of reliable historical data to use as reference.
Energy consumption analysis for energy management implementation
At the core of any energy management system are the processes of data gathering, processing and reporting. A critical step of the implementation is to design the data gathering to obtain actionable information while avoiding wasteful over-metering or paralysing data overload.
In most cases, maintaining the established consumption profile with the Bull’s Eye Software is providing enough information to reap the full benefits of the energy management system. If not, it helps identify what is needed to handle all the data necessary to manage the energy consumption efficiently.
In that regard, Bull’s Eye Modeling helps industrial facilities set up and implement their energy management system by handling the technical side of it. Moreover, our process to perform an energy consumption analysis is very similar to an energy audit’s with an extra focus on the detailed explanations of the consumption variations. Therefore, opportunities for energy savings are identified in the process at the same time as the means to quantify the progress to be made are being put in place.
A special attention needs to be paid to the reporting processes to be implemented since they play a critical role in turning insight into action. Indeed, in order for an energy management system to create opportunities for an organization it is not enough to gather relevant data, it needs to be communicated to various members of the team in a format that allows them to use it judiciously. An efficient transmission of the information across an organization allows for improvement opportunities to be found and corrective measures to be taken in a timely manner. It also helps rally the team around the goal of optimizing operations and productivity.
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It is not sufficient to attain savings in order to justify the expenses, but the time and resources invested in the project need to provide a better return than competing projects.
Energy management upkeep and continuous improvement
Unlike a building management system (BMS) whose operation is static after it is set, an energy management system provides pathways to introduce new savings incrementally. One of its most powerful tools towards that end is the quick identification of anomalies within the data gathered. These anomalies, when identified quickly enough, can be investigated and used to challenge preexisting hypotheses. On the other hand, when they are not detected quickly enough, they are often treated as outliers from which no further insight is extracted. The investigation of anomalies identified in a timely fashion is very useful to validate and/or correct the hypotheses used in the understanding of the energy consumption, which in turns translates into additional savings.
The continuous effort required for energy management is not limited to the detection of new opportunities, however. Even after the energy management system is operational and providing savings, an effort is still necessary for the system itself to be maintained and continuously improved upon. In particular, ISO 50001 requires both the energy consumption and the processes of the energy management system to be reviewed and enhanced regularly. One of the most straightforward options of improvement is to add to the data gathering and data treatment part of the energy management system. As such, adding an additional way of interpreting the data to the traditional equipment level meter-based data aggregation can fulfill this improvement requirement and bring more reliability to the whole energy management system. Moreover, by the continuous usage of the Bull’s Eye Software it becomes more and more accurate and reliable over time, therefore it does not require additional resources or effort for its’ improvement as part of the energy management system.
Energy consumption analyses have long been associated with specific purposes, namely to evaluate energy savings resulting from a project as part of the M&V process and to guide investment and acquisition decisions.
Bull’s Eye Modeling has pushed the boundaries of what is to be expected of an energy consumption analysis. Its repetition turns it into a monitoring tool able to identify observable behaviors and quantify their importance on operational costs and profitability. The deep investigation of observed phenomena and patterns makes our analysis better suited to energy management systems and processes than to technical design.
The flexibility and efficiency of the energy consumption analysis provide invaluable support for energy management initiatives regardless of the maturity of the system in place. This novel approach to energy consumption analysis gives it relevance for operation and maintenance teams on a daily basis.
It is the first time an energy consumption analysis has a purpose in guiding and monitoring day-to-day activities.
