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Spotlight
Technology for the Physical Plant: Building Smarts
7/5/2007
University of Alabama: Hunting for Errors
Improvements in energy management also are afoot at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where technologists have turned to EnergyCAP to achieve similar results. Here, the system aggregates and retains utility data for every building on campus, from 1993 to the present. The objective: to track trends and identify billing mistakes that could cost the institution hundreds of thousands of dollars a pop.
Specifically, the EnergyCAP system coordinates five types of data for 284 buildings on campus: electricity, steam, natural gas, water, and sewer. By tracking this data over time, the school can predict how to set its utility budgets for the coming year. UAB Engineer Kelly Winnett says that when administrators factor in current energy rates, they also can calculate what utility bills should be, and identify any mistakes in the billing process.
“The program not only helps us spot utility company operation errors, but also helps us detect problems within the buildings,” says Winnett, noting that the school’s overall utilities budget is right around $50 million for the year. With so much money at stake, the ability to catch billing mistakes is vital. “It’s like an insurance policy that we use to make sure we’re not paying more than we should be,” she asserts.
Since implementing the EnergyCAP solution in 2005, UAB has spotted more than $120,000 in utility billing errors. The solution also has helped officials pinpoint a damaged gas meter, leaky valves, and recurring double charges on a sewage account. Considering that the school only spent $50,000 on the technology, Winnett notes the Energy- CAP system has paid for itself already— and then some.
To make sure students, faculty, and staff members are aware of the effort to reduce energy costs, the school recently embarked on an advertising campaign, Winnett reports. The campaign plays on UAB’s school colors: green and gold. Signs imploring constituents to “Think Green – Save Gold” have been affixed to campus vehicles. So far, at least according to the engineer, the advertisements have worked.
“Energy costs trickle down to students in the form of higher tuition and fees,” she says. “The more we can help raise awareness across campus that we’re striving to conserve energy, the better off we all will be.”
Adelphi University: Encouraging Shutdowns
Technologists at Adelphi University have turned to similar tools to control the amount of energy used in their computer labs: A program called Drive- Shield (from Centurion Technologies) shuts down computers every night at a predetermined time.
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