Energy management monitoring reduces energy costs through effective management. It involves monitoring, key performance indicators, and reporting. Data collection includes energy consumption and pattern identification. Key performance indicators should be realistic and achievable, and reports should be timely, accurate, and relevant.
Energy management monitoring is the application of common management techniques to reduce energy costs through effective and efficient management. There are three aspects of energy management monitoring that need to be integrated into a company’s standard processes: monitoring, key performance indicators and reporting. This technique is commonly used in large organizations that have high energy costs or are committed to reducing their energy use to help the environment. The concepts used are quite logical and follow the basic premise that the collection and reporting of data on actual and target utilization rates is necessary to successfully manage energy efficiency projects. All energy management monitoring programs use computer systems to collect data, generate reports, and provide a summary of actual energy usage.
Energy management monitoring has two aspects of data collection: energy consumption and pattern identification. The level of actual energy consumption is based on meter readings provided by the energy company for the number of watts of energy required by the facility. It is important to note that facilities with in-house energy generation facilities will need to include those facilities in the data collection process.
Identifying patterns requires mapping the production or activities that require the most energy. For example, a manufacturing plant that operates between 7:30 and 15:30 each day will block this time as the period of highest energy consumption. The data collected during this period will highlight activities taking place in preparation for the start of production or the impact of unrelated activities on energy consumption.
The use of key performance indicators (KPIs) is very common in business management. The organization determines what ideal levels of energy use should be for a specific period of time, based on business operations and requirements. The easiest way to do this is to first look at actual energy usage data, map it to actual activity, and then look for a percentage reduction rate that won’t negatively impact production levels. KPIs must be realistic and achievable to avoid fatigue or frustration of the personnel involved.
Timely, accurate and relevant reports are critical to this process. Reports must be customized for each specific area of the operation that can be managed as a process. For example, energy use in administrative offices should be separated from that on the production floor. Additionally, each report should provide a comparison of actual usage against the key performance indicators identified for each area. A comprehensive report showing percentage change for comparable periods will help keep the company on track to meet goals.
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