EnergyCAP Blog

A large number of facilities with widely varied uses—administration, classroom, laboratories, athletics, parking, medical, etc.—a diverse group of occupants, long operating hours, multiple funding sources, and consistent growth combine to make energy management at a large public university a complex undertaking. Lalit Agarwal, Director of Facilities Systems at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), recently presented a webinar titled “The Ins and Outs of Campus Energy Data” to explain how UNL has integrated numerous systems—including EnergyCAP—and internal teams to establish a program that is successfully reducing energy consumption across campus, while maintaining occupant comfort.

 [Today’s blog is written by Matthew Heinz, EnergyCAP’s Vice President of Customer Service. His topic is our Customer Success program.] It’s challenging and intimidating to implement a new enterprise-level software application, especially one as full-featured as EnergyCAP. But failure is NOT inevitable! At EnergyCAP, we want you to be successful in understanding our software's functionality and with using it to meet your energy efficiency goals. We have an exciting service offering specifically aimed at this, and it’s called Customer Success. Before I tell you what Customer Success is, let me tell you what it is not.

City of Palm Springs, Riverside County, CA Success is commonly defined as “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.” When setting about to purchase an energy management information system (EMIS), the publicly stated purpose is commonly to reduce energy consumption. It’s a realistic, positive aim and an objective that typically garners internal and external support. That said, what ultimately “sells” the EMIS project is cost savings. Fortunately, cost savings go hand-in-hand with lower energy consumption. But that’s only part of the story. A capable EMIS that is properly implemented provides benefits far beyond consistently lower utility bills, such as labor savings, streamlined processes, enhanced data sharing/integration, and technology-driven productivity gains. The County of Riverside, CA, is a great example.

EnergyCAP project managers will be travelling coast to coast to implement new clients on the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards this winter and spring. The State of Connecticut has purchased EnergyCAP utility bill management software for statewide energy management and utility bill tracking, and the City of Los Angeles has also acquired EnergyCAP through a General Services Administration (GSA) process for comprehensive tracking and reporting of the city’s electric, natural gas and water utilities.

In 1634, England’s King Charles I signed legislation that created James City Shire within the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, that prosperous shire, now known as James City County, is home to approximately 70,000 residents and is an EnergyCAP success story.

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) provides centralized procurement for the federal government, offering billions of dollars’ worth of products, services, and facilities that federal agencies need to serve the public.  The mission of GSA is to deliver the best value in real estate, acquisition, and technology services to government and the American people. In today’s blog, we will look at GSA options and advantages for utility bill/energy management software procurement for a range of public institutions, including federal, state, municipal, and higher education.

Over my nearly two decades in the energy management software industry, I have spoken with many energy and facilities managers, and a common topic of conversation is the value of monthly utility bill data versus meter interval data for analysis. In most cases, my response is, “Do both.” Start with an analysis of billing data and refine your research and management with interval data.

At EnergyCAP, we are always delighted when our clients receive accolades for their creative use of our products. In today’s blog, we recognize Miami-Dade County in honor of their recent NACo awards. Read on for a detailed description of what they’ve been doing. You might get some great ideas for your next energy efficiency initiative.

George Mason University had begun its journey into computerized utility bill tracking in the 1990s, but its software solution, Faser Energy Accounting®, had been acquired by Enron®. After the Enron bankruptcy scandal, the university needed to reboot its energy management program. GMU’s Energy Manager, Patrick Buchanan, summarized the situation as follows:

In today’s blog we share highlights from a new case study by EnergyCAP. Municipal and regional government readers will take particular interest in this implementation-focused story about a major city that jump-started its energy program with utility bill management software. As the title of this blog (and the case study) suggests, Tucson, Arizona's software implementation was not without challenges. In some ways, it really was a dance, going two steps forward and one step back as stakeholders grappled with legacy processes, organizational issues, information silos, and even personnel changes. But in the end, the opportunities outweighed the issues as the City's new energy manager successfully negotiated multiple management challenges, discovering immediate and long-term payoffs.

Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) is a pretty special place from an energy management perspective. The district earned “ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year” in 2010 and 2011, and the Partner of the Year–Sustained Excellence Award for the last four years. Over the last 21 years, LCPS has saved over $64 million in expected utility costs—equivalent to hiring over 1,300 first year teachers or educating over 5,200 pupils for a year. In addition, 62 LCPS schools have earned the ENERGY STAR rating (representing over 70 percent of LCPS schools and 6.5 million square feet). In today’s blog, I’d like to highlight the energy savings potential revealed and, at least in part, unleashed by their energy management software. It’s a little like treasure hunting—once you start digging, you’ll be amazed at what you find.

In recent blogs, we’ve been looking at ways your utility bill data can save you money. Today we will focus on the unique opportunities available to large organizations—opportunities that actually grow in size/potential with the size of the organization.

In recent blogs, we’ve been looking at ways your utility bill data can save you money. Today we’ll see how the State of Maryland responded to a legislative energy mandate that had a very specific savings goal of 15 percent. How did they pursue that vision? We'll discover that data transparency and availability can translate into savings.

We're continuing our blog series on how utility bill data can save you money. Today we'll look at the City of San Bernardino, CA, and UniFirst Corporation. Seize Your Opportunities Disorganized energy data causes you to miss opportunities. In 2012, at the height of the recent recession, many government, city/county governments had cash flow issues. There were four California cities that declared bankruptcy, and one of them was the city of San Bernardino—population roughly 210,000. The city was looking for a way to save money and obtain additional revenue.

There’s been a lot of buzz in the energy industry in recent years over the power of demand management for generating big savings, and this has led to an understandable focus on installing smart metering, automating building controls, and obtaining 15-minute interval data. But what do you do for savings if the real-time metering or control infrastructure is not in place? The answer is simple. You work with the energy data you already have—your monthly utility bills. And how do you turn that data into savings?

We love blogging about our successful clients! As one of the largest uniform services provider in the U.S., UniFirst Corporation has a unique energy profile based on its laundering operations. These activities require custom report metrics. But with facilities widely scattered all over the U.S. and other countries, UniFirst had difficulties with utility bill management and data collection. EnergyCAP provided a scalable tracking and reporting solution. This infographic helps tell their story...

UniFirst Corporation has a unique energy profile based on its laundering operations. But with facilities widely scattered all over the U.S. and other countries, UniFirst had difficulties with utility bill management and data collection—until they started using EnergyCAP.

The Kroger Company is the largest grocery retailer and the 23rd largest company in the United States. With $100 billion/year in revenue, Kroger has been serving shoppers for 131 years. But Kroger doesn't just serve up tomatoes and squash. (Photo courtesy of www.mydaytondailynews.com) Kroger has served up almost 35% in energy reductions compared to its baseline year in 2000. How have they done it?

Loudoun County Public Schools is one of the fastest growing school districts in the nation. Located near Washington, DC, they serve 70,000 students. But energy use and cost have not been keeping pace with enrollment. As a result of their 20-year energy management program, energy managers at Loudoun County Public Schools have documented $58 million in avoided energy costs. How have they done this? Watch this short video from this year's Catalyst Training Conference and find out.

The most interesting castle in Ireland has something in common with our newest EnergyCAP clients. See if you can guess what it is. If you visit the Castle Ward House in northern Ireland, you'll find an intriguing building.

EnergyCAP Senior Project Manager SJ Bergman visited Phoenix, Arizona, earlier this month as part of the City’s EnergyCAP software implementation process. Today’s guest blog will focus on energy management plans, practice, and opportunities at the Sky Harbor International Airport. In my experience in performing ASHRAE Level 2 energy audits, I've seen that airports can potentially provide rich opportunities for energy efficiency. So when Paul Sylvia, Acting Energy Management Engineer for Aviation Facilities, offered to show me some of Sky Harbor International Airport's energy saving and sustainability initiatives, I was happy to take him up on his offer. After all, Sky Harbor is "America's Friendliest Airport"!

By overcoming three major challenges, Miami-Dade County revived an energy management program burdened by outdated and inefficient processes. In this post, we discuss one of the challenges the County overcame—its troubled utility bill review and payment process.

The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) is the transit agency charged with regional financial oversight, funding, and transit planning for the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra and Pace bus and paratransit. Riders take more than two million trips each weekday on the RTA region’s transit system in six counties with 7,200 transit route miles throughout Northeastern Illinois. The RTA recently released a Request for Proposal for new energy management software. So why did they ditch their spreadsheets? Streamline Processes & Reduce Data Entry Costs

Note: This post was originally published last year, but many of our current readers missed it. Since then, Riverside County has saved $113,000. Energy Manager Janet Purchase emailed us with good news. Just seven months after implementing EnergyCAP energy managment software, Riverside County, CA, had already saved $96,000. This was most of the County's initial investment in buying EnergyCAP. Janet Purchase had made a good purchase! But how did she save that sum for the County? 

Duke Drinkard, Energy Consultant for Southeastern Freight Lines (SEFL), reported that the company was able to identify a water leak from a toilet in a bathroom that no one knew existed, just by using utility bills. SEFL’s utility tracking software revealed a spike in water use at a facility. Investigation revealed an unused restroom that had been walled off in a previous renovation. A water line to the toilet had started to leak, but there was no visible sign of damage since the water was running into an adjacent floor drain.

Obstacles can either break you or make you better. Take Miami-Dade County, for instance. Home to 2.5 million residents, the County’s building portfolio—more than 1,500 facilities—is complex and constantly changing. It includes the County’s top two sources of revenue, the Miami International Airport and PortMiami. Other public service facilities under active energy management include 70 fire stations, 100 parks, 43 libraries, and many others. The County was facing five large obstacles in their energy management program. Maybe you can relate to some of them. 

The University of Kansas is a teaching and research institution that operates multiple campuses and serves as a center for learning, scholarship, and creative endeavor. KU needed to track and manage chargebacks on 1,100 meters and submeters throughout a complex structure of divisions and departments including athletics, housing, and food services. With annual chargeback revenue totaling over 2.3 million dollars, managing chargebacks was a high priority business process. In addition, KU wanted to measure the success of energy management projects. How did KU do it? 

Today’s blog is a Tale of Three Cities. We’ll give you three brief but instructive stories, and you see if you can match them to the city where each occurred: The three cities are: Westminster, CO San Bernardino, CA Minneapolis, MN Short on Cash In 2012, this city declared a state of fiscal emergency and filed for bankruptcy protection. Reduced staffing made it necessary for an account technician to take on an energy management role. With two electric companies, two water companies, a gas company, and nine months of backlogged energy bills for its energy management software, this city needed a way to stop paying late fees.

You can know an organization by its numbers. Real estate developer Forest City Enterprises manages and owns properties nationwide. Their numbers are: 5,000 monthly utility bills 10,000 utility meters 3,000 chargebacks on tenant submeters 300 utility vendors 100 rate codes With numbers this size, Forest City had an energy management challenge on their hands. Watch this 2 minute video to discover how they solved it.