A GPS for Your Building’s Energy

I recently started using GPS while driving to work and on weekend adventures. I enjoyed seeing nearby businesses, water bodies, and roads that were somehow invisible to me before while driving.

The same kind of "new" insight is available when you monitor electricity in a building. Prior to monitoring, you probably did not know when mechanical systems are operating. Is the refrigeration running all the time? How often does the heating/cooling turn on during overnight hours? Does the pump appear to be operating as expected? Without monitoring, you’d be driving along a road without knowing about the new restaurant just beyond your commuting route.

Another insight from monitoring is knowing operating costs for individual mechanical systems or the entire building. Is the building expensive to operate? Where does an energy efficiency upgrade need to take place? You can easily see the price to run heating, cooling, hot water, lighting, and more. Plus, if you have renewable energy, you’ll know whether the building is net metering or not.

With monitoring technology, you have a deeper perspective into how a building works. This knowledge is certainly akin to having a GPS to navigate and understand the world from your vehicle.