BENEFITS OF ENERGY ANALYTICS FOR BUSINESSES

Energy management software has the capability to collect the necessary data and give visibility to a substantial amount of energy consumption data at various sites. Analytics promotes data driven decision making that can lead to operating cost and energy consumption reductions. In addition to demonstrating waste behavior, such systems can highlight energy savings after the implementation of energy efficiency measures. Cloud based energy analytics platforms provide adaptable tools to streamline energy efficiency projects compared to widely adopted spreadsheet-based alternatives. Analytics facilitates the process of data collection, integrating high frequency data streams from metering hardware and straightforwardly incorporating additional information that is needed to build a well correlated model and automatically quantify savings. Team cooperation when working on energy efficiency projects can be enhanced with respect to spreadsheet calculations. Measurement and verification capability seems to be of particular interests as the number of efficiency projects based on actual measured values and not on deemed savings is steadily growing. Energy analytics allows for up to 95% customer retention rate with the differentiating offer of products and services as energy analytics can support solutions provided by consultants. Energy analytics also creates a profitable, ensured and predictable recurring revenue stream.

Some key features energy managers need to incorporate or look for in a system:

• Provide an edge with certification, project management features, integrate energy efficiency project management and need to comply with international performance code
• Automated and consistent analysis across organizations without Excel sheets saving both time and man hours to reduce cost
• Being on top of billing and reporting by having information when it matters
• Trend analysis to compare energy use over time and against others
• An alert system to notify as soon as abnormal energy use is detected
• Transparency into ongoing energy efficiency projects for trust and conflict resolution
• Awareness of the platform throughout staff to instill change and long-term engagement
• Eligibility for energy compliance and recognition awards such as the ISO 50001 and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
• What-if analysis before agreeing in capital project investment

Some key features energy consultants need to incorporate or look for in a system:

• Tailored plans according to needs of the clients such as different features of the dashboard enabled and charging based on number of meter points
• Total independence of use, admin users, create/delete meter point, set customer access right
• Pay per use as annual payments are inappropriate with client needs changing month by month
• A white label platform meaning the use of company colors, contact details, notifications sent from consultant email address, login from company website, etc., that allows for increased brand awareness and differentiation
• Innovating analytics that are engaging and secure as features get obsolete quickly so consistent new features are a must
• Boost user engagement by identifying active users and customer relationship management integration
• Security, specifically HTTPs use, is important as you are likely handling sensitive company information
• Hardware agnosticism is necessary in terms of technical support and the ability to work with virtually any meter type and frequency
• Automated commissioning is important in terms of plug and play capabilities that allow for easy installation and operation