Starving the Energy Monster
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Starving the Energy Monster
There are one and a half million commercial buildings in the U.S.
Less than ten percent of them have energy management systems.
Technology from a new Siemens company in Austin, Texas has what
it takes to steadily ramp down this huge sector’s appetite for energy.
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Answers for infrastructure.
A
lthough high-profile measures to slow global warming Intensive Care for Stores
seem to be eternally stuck in neutral, a combination of RCS specializes in chains of stores in which the buildings are
technology and market forces offers the potential of essentially the same. In each case, it outfits the heating and
putting a significant dent in energy demand and carbon cooling units in customer facilities with sensors designed to
dioxide emissions in the United States. According to a 2009 continuously monitor equipment performance, equips
McKinsey report entitled Unlocking Energy Efficiency in the customer areas with wall-mounted carbon dioxide sensors
U.S. Economy, the commercial sector, which includes as a proxy for occupancy detection—a key parameter in
everything from office and retail buildings to hotels, determining how much cooling is needed on a real-time
restaurants and warehouses, will account for 20 percent basis—and connects thermostats and lighting controls to a
of all the energy used in the U.S. by 2020, or about 20 control box with its own Linux-based computer and
quadrillion BTUs of primary energy. embedded Web server. Depending on the customer, other
major systems such as refrigeration units, trash compactors,
But even as average energy demand per square foot
signage, rooftop solar power equipment, and electric vehicle
continues to grow at 1.5 percent per year throughout this
charging stations can also be equipped with sensors.
vast sector, the customers of an Austin, Texas start-up
company provides enterprise-level energy management for Each store’s control box interrogates its sensors every
chains of mid-sized retail facilities such as health clubs, sixty seconds and delivers a condition report to the chain
supermarkets and branch banks are demonstrating that a operator’s headquarters every two hours.
completely different course is possible.
What’s more, every four hours, a cloud-based RCS data
In spite of the rising cost of energy, their electric bills have management center generates a prioritized list of the
steadily headed south—typically between 15 and 30 percent specific systems in a chain operator’s entire fleet of stores
over a 28– to 36–month period, resulting in an extremely that require immediate service. “It’s like monitoring patients
rapid return on investment. Seeing a perfect match with its in an intensive care unit,” says RCS General Manager Marcus
market–leading position in the automation and energy Boerkei. “Our software keeps an eye on each store’s energy-
optimization of very large buildings such as hospitals, office related vital signs, identifies equipment that is not operating
towers and stadiums, Siemens Building Technologies (SBT) at specified levels, prioritizes problems, and generates
acquired the Austin startup—then known as Site Controls— actionable information that focuses the customer’s attention
in late 2010. on those stores that need help.”
Now an SBT unit known as Retail & Commercial Systems Enterprise-wide Overview
(RCS), the company is helping a wide range of customers Adds RCS Business Development Director Dan Kubala, “Until
with sites across the United States and Canada not only to we came to this market, no one had the tools to do this sort
reduce their energy bills, but to hone their facility of thing. Typically, our customers have a number of cooling
intelligence and come up with smart grid solutions. units on the roof, all supplying a common sales area—think
By continuously monitoring all major
electrical systems in a chain store’s outlets,
Siemens Retail and Commercial System is
helping major operators such as Michaels
to steadily reduce their electric bills.
‘big box’ store. If one malfunctions, it may actually be Toward Virtual Power Plants
pumping hot air into the store, forcing the other units to In addition to steadily driving down chain operators’ energy
work even harder. But without the ability to automatically costs and providing business intelligence, RCS helps its
identify such situations, no one notices, except that energy customers to make the most of oscillating electricity prices
bills just keep climbing.” Even worse, he says, are and receive cash from utilities for reducing electricity
technicians who go to the roof, do little or nothing, and bill demand during peak periods. The company’s SureGrid
a store for their services. “Without remote sensing, there is intelligent load management (ILM) technology, which is a
no mechanism to verify whether a job was actually done,” standard part of its solution, “essentially turns a building
he says. into a fully automated system that can shed demand in
response to market signals from a utility,” says Borekei. “If,
Careless store managers can also be a problem. “What we
for instance, the price per kWh jumps from 6 cents to 13
absolutely want to avoid,” says Kubala, “is the manager who
cents, the building can power down a range of functions
turns the thermostat down to 66 on a hot day and then
that have previously been agreed to by the customer
leaves it there for the entire summer. With our system,
depending on circumstances.”
corporate energy managers receive regular updates on
temperature settings across their entire enterprise, As RCS adds more and more buildings to the thousands it
enabling them to prevent this behavior.” In view of these already controls, the aggregate effect of reduced demand
and other causes of locally-induced energy waste, RCS can have a significant impact on local utilities. Incentivised
software allows headquarters to set each store’s by contracts that pay utility customers for each kW they
temperature and lighting levels and coordinate these levels shed below a predefined minimum, so many buildings
with store operating hours, weekend and holiday peaks, already participate that utilities are able to avoid switching
and seasonal changes. What’s more, as RCS learns from on so-called peaking plants. “The result is that aggreations
best practices, it remotely deploys new, customer-approved of RCS-equipped buildings already participing in a demand-
capabilities across the entire enterprise as a free service. response event start to look like virtual power plants,”
says Boerkei. Normally, however, some buildings would be
Thanks to cloud-based data management and continuous
unable to reduce demand—think of a popular restaurant on
data harvesting, RCS software also helps chain operators to,
a Friday night, for instance—and would be personalized
for instance, identify which cooling systems work best in
with a very high electricity prices. With this in mind, RCS
which climates, and which ones have the best service and
bids the aggregate load of its buildings to the utility. “That
efficiency records. “All of this information helps to optimize
way the individual site can do what it needs to do. It’s like a
functions in existing facilities and supports the planning of
diversified stock portfolio,” says Boerkei. “We negotiate with
new facilities,” says Boerkei. “It also allows a customer to
our customers and split the rewards.” As RCS expands into
look at fleet performance, compare it year on year, and
more and more chains of buildings, there are likely to be
even compare how his fleet is doing compared to the
plenty of rewards—particularly for the environment.
industry average in real time.”
Michaels Stores: The Art of Achieving More with Less
Robin Moore, Vice President
for Store Development and
Construction at Michaels (left).
With over 1,000 stores in North America, Michaels is the “That’s true,” says RCS General Manager Marcus Boerkei.
largest retailer of arts, crafts, and associated merchandise “But we have a rapid innovation cycle that allows us to
in the U.S. It is also one of a small but growing number of generate new apps every one to three months.” One
major U.S. companies to implement consistent policies recently-introduced improvement is the use of so-called
designed to improve its bottom line through reduced “psychrometric” data. “That idea,” he explains, “is to take
energy use. both temperature and humidity into account. For instance,
if the outside air becomes dryer, the temperature set points
“Energy is our second highest line item expense behind
in a store will automatically adjust upwards by 1.5 to 2 ºF
labor,” says Robin Moore, Vice President for Store
without producing any noticeable difference for shoppers—
Development and Construction at Michaels. With this in
but saving even more energy.
mind, the company has equipped almost all stores with
Siemens’ RCS energy management platform. The result, Michaels expects to shave its electric bills even further in
according to Moore, has been spectacular. “Through our the future. “One major item we are looking forward to,”
initial energy management system deployment and says Moore, “is having Siemens automate lighting levels
continuous improvements with Siemens’ Client Services throughout our fleet. When you add up all the benefits of
group, we have saved approximately 25 percent. Recently our energy management system, shes adds, “I just can’t
deployed extensions take those savings even further. imagine why other retailers are not doing what we are doing.
And that has been achieved in spite of regular electricity The value that we have gotten out of our partnership with
rate increases.” Siemens has been wonderful. The payback is there.”
Having achieved such dramatic savings, you might think
that further improvements would be tough to realize.
Chain store operators typically have hundreds of nearly identical outlets. When outfitted with sensors and a Web-based Siemens control box,
each store’s electrical systems (above left) can be remotely monitored. Siemens software at the customer’s headquarters uses the information
to identify energy-related anomalies and generate prioritized maintenance reports. In North America, lighting and heating, ventilation and
cooling (HVAC) are major energy users (above right).
Siemens Industry, Inc. Infrastructure & Cities Sector Building Technologies Division Retail & Commercial Systems 9225 Bee Cave Road, Bldg. B, Ste. 100 Austin, Texas 78733 Tel: (877) 306-9400 Fax: (512) 306-9445 All rights reserved. | Printed in USA | 991-3751P10 ©2012 Siemens Industry, Inc. Answers for infrastructure. Our world is undergoing changes that force us to think growing. For our customers, success is defined by how well in new ways: demographic change, urbanization, global they manage these challenges. Siemens has the answers. warming, and resource shortages. Maximum efficiency has top priority – and not only where energy is concerned. “We are the preferred partner for energy-efficient, safe, In addition, we need to increase comfort for the well-being and secure buildings and infrastructure.” of users. Also, our need for safety and security is constantly
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