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Maryland Announces Commercial & Industrial Energy Efficiency Program

November 24, 2009 (ANNAPOLIS, MD) Governor Martin O’Malley announced today that the Maryland Energy Administration is now offering low-interest loans through the EmPOWER Commercial and Industrial Energy Efficiency Loan Fund (EELF) to help Maryland business improve the energy performance of their facilities. The Energy Efficiency Loan Fund is financially supported through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the State of Maryland Strategic Energy Investment Fund. Proposed funding for the EELF is approximately $5.6 million through the end of fiscal year 2011.

“These loans will allow Maryland’s commercial and industrial businesses to implement energy efficiency solutions that not only save money and spur new job creation, but also help our State to achieve the EmPOWER Maryland goal of reducing energy consumption by 15 percent by the year 2015,” remarked Governor O’Malley. “Today marks one more success for the families and workers of Maryland, as we strive to become a more Smart, Green and Growing State.”

Maryland businesses can now qualify for up to $500,000 for electric efficiency projects, and $750,000 for combined electric and gas/fuel oil efficiency projects with a minimum $35,000 for energy efficiency projects. Eligible types of energy efficiency projects may include, but are not limited to building weatherization, lighting technology upgrades, HVAC replacements or upgrades, and commercial refrigeration equipment upgrades.

“The Maryland Energy Administration has a wealth of energy efficiency and renewable energy programs available to all sectors in our State,” commented MEA Director Malcolm Woolf. “The Commercial and Industrial Energy Efficiency Loan Fund is yet another solid resource for Maryland businesses interested in increasing their energy savings and going green.”

Businesses interested in the program are encouraged to download a project loan application at: www.energy.Maryland.gov/incentives/business, and to contact Jesse Fulton, the energy efficiency manager for this program at jfulton@energy.state.md.us or by phone at 410-260-7184 with any questions. Applications will be reviewed and awarded on a first come-first served basis. Applicants are encouraged to take advantage of other financial incentives offered to commercial and industrial businesses through their utility’s EmPOWER energy efficiency programs.

Maryland EmPOWER Program: See the details.

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CALGreen Requirements for Energy Monitoring

With CA’s approval of a Green Building Standards Code dubbed “CALGreen,” it became the first state in the nation to enact a mandatory green building law. While the debate has just begun on CALGreen’s implications, savvy energy management professionals know that they need to get out in front of the new regulations.

A key CALGreen requirement – similar to USGBC’s LEED-EB regime – is the need for persistent Energy Monitoring.

Agilewaves provides virtual submetering via sensor measurements and a long-term data storage capability to satisfy these Energy Monitoring requirements. In fact, Agilewaves goes beyond the hourly reporting requirements to facilitate advanced trend logging and analysis based on 1 minute intervals. By providing real-time actionable information on all building systems, Agilewaves also allows building owners to trim costs and reduce environmental impacts of day-to-day operations.

CALgreen Section 504.2

504.2 Energy monitoring. Provide submetering or equivalent combinations of sensor measurements and thermodynamic calculations, if appropriate, to record energy use data for each major energy system in the building.

504.2 Energy monitoring. Provide submetering or equivalent combinations of sensor measurements and thermodynamic calculations, if appropriate, to record energy use data for each major energy system in the building, including chillers, heat pumps, packaged AC systems, fans, pumps, cooling towers, boilers and other heating systems, lighting systems and process loads. This energy use data, once collected, shall be stored within a data management system.

504.2.1 Data storage. The data management system must be capable of electronically storing energy data and creating user reports showing hourly, daily, monthly and annual energy consumption for each major energy system. Hourly data shall be retained a minimum of 30 days, daily data shall be retained a minimum of 6 months and monthly data shall be retained a minimum of 2 years.

504.2.2 Data access. Hourly energy use data shall be accessible through a central data management system and must be available daily.

See the full CALgreen requirements.

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Building Commissioning & Energy Monitoring

Today’s buildings are a complex mix of sophisticated control systems and legacy equipment, where even small problems can have big impacts. Plus, there’s often a disconnect between the energy modeling done in isolated, one-time re-commissioning or energy audit projects, and what really happens in day-to-day building operations.

What’s needed is a systematic approach to tracking energy utilization that helps detect problems early, before they lead to tenant comfort complaints, high energy costs, or unexpected equipment failure.

That’s why energy monitoring and management technology is now at the forefront for a wide range of energy management projects, providing the information and insight required to discern energy savings opportunities and optimize building operations.

What is Re-Commissioning, RCx, EBCx and MBCx? How do they relate?

• Re-commissioning is a systematic process for investigating, analyzing and optimizing the performance of building systems to meet the owner’s current facility requirements. Re-commissioning projects are periodic audits and the key deliverable is improved operations and maintenance (O&M) procedures to enhance building performance. RCx is re-commissioning for buildings that were never commissioned during the construction process.
• Existing Buildings Commissioning (EBCx) goes beyond RCx or energy audits to make building systems perform interactively. The goal is to avoid the key problem with retro-commissioning – savings can degrade over time. Increasingly, EBx projects incorporate monitoring-based commissioning to ensure benefits persist into future building operations.
• Monitoring-based Commissioning (MBCx) uses retro-commissioning techniques, but also features installation of extensive, persistent monitoring for on-going diagnostics. This preserves long-term savings potential, and at the same time, improves system reliability and comfort as building conditions change. A recent Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory study revealed that MBCx is “a highly cost-effective means of obtaining significant energy savings across a variety of building types.” MBCx is the surest way to ensure that energy efficiency gains do not degrade over time.

Each of these commissioning measures can help buildings earn points toward LEED-EB certification.

How does Agilewaves’ technology apply?

Agilewaves’ Building Optimization System™ (BOS) is a turnkey system which provides the building performance measurement foundation for commissioning projects. It includes a monitoring network, trend analysis tools and alerts to help building operators fine-tune operations on an on-going basis.

• Agilewaves provides a robust foundation for MBCx since we provide the rigorous and on-going metrics for continuous performance improvements. Once an accurate baseline is set, then deviations highlight opportunities for operational improvements or equipment repairs.
• BCx projects often start with energy-use data collection, and since the Agilewaves system can be quickly installed to collect data at the circuit level, it can also be a key tool at a project’s start.
• As part of a re-commissioning project, the Agilewaves system can be used to verify results, and set baseline measurements for the project hand-off phase.
• Agilewaves satisfies the new energy monitoring requirements in LEEDv3.

Agilewaves is also often deployed as part of a building retrofit project to verify the effectiveness of new investments in lighting or HVAC upgrades. In some instances, solar projects need to be monitored to ensure they are functioning as designed and optimized to realize energy savings forecasts.

For all – extensive, discrete measurements are the essential building blocks to achieve and maintain energy efficiency gains. Agilewaves provides a flexible, scalable measurement foundation for the entire range of commissioning projects.

How exactly does that work?

Agilewaves’ Building Optimization System™ (BOS) is a web-based system for actively monitoring and managing electric, gas and water usage in real time. Facility owners and managers can easily display critical building information, track performance, manage and control resource consumption, and trim costs.

Sophisticated, yet easy-to-use, key components of BOS include:

• Sensor Network
  Standard sensors and existing building systems collect data from multiple endpoints and deliver it via common wired and wireless protocols. BOS integrates your existing and future infrastructure investments using industry standard communications protocols. It is designed for rapid installation and does not disrupt building services or tenants.
• Measurement Database and Optimization Software
  Provides secure, long-term storage through a robust data architecture, and a hosted server manipulates and securely stores the data for years, providing useful, globally-accessible information without requiring the customer to maintain or support another IT system.
• Tailored Information & Alerts, Anytime, Anywhere
  Multiple display devices and tailored user interface options provide the right information to the right users, in meaningful, actionable formats. Thresholds can be set for key building systems with alerts sent to mobile devices, email or control systems.

 

Commissioning for LEED: How can Agilewaves help you meet LEED requirements?

Agilewaves can be essential to your sustainability initiatives, by providing an advanced building measurement foundation – one that supplies the rigorous metrics required by LEED-EB, and more.


Want to know more about how Agilewaves applies to your current project?

Contact us now for a private demonstration and project review.

Download the LEED-EB details.

Download the Building Commissioning details.

Additional Information
Sustainability, LEED and Energy Monitoring
Net-Zero Energy Buildings

Key Resources
California Commissioning Guide: Existing Buildings

Recommissioning Guide for Building Owners (PECI, 2007)
Best Practices in Commissioning Existing Buildings (Building Commissioning Association)

Building Commissioning: A Golden Opportunity for Reducing Energy Costs and Greenhouse Gas Emissions, (LBNL, July 2009)

Savings Persist with Monitoring-Based Commissioning (A technical brief by California Energy Commission)

Monitoring-based Commissioning,: Benchmarking Analysis (LBNL, 2009)

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Leverage Energy Monitoring to Become a Green Building Advisor

A Green Building future for your clients begins with energy efficiency plans. Whether the project is a simple building tune-up, a new control system or a complete retrofit leading to optimal building performance management, Agilewaves provides you with the opportunities to differentiate your services portfolio.

Deliver Persistent Savings with Persistent Monitoring
Not only can Agilewaves’ energy monitoring help you to fine-tune operations with advanced tools and techniques, we can help you lock in savings over time for your clients. And, that can make for a winning project proposal.

Via extensive discrete measurements, Agilewaves provides insight into how a building is actually functioning, and if equipment is starting to fall out of spec. With an integrated picture of all key building components, you can identify operational deficiencies that would normally go undetected, then fine-tune settings and procedures to deliver a high-performance building. Here are just a few examples:

• Identify simultaneous heating and cooling that’s wasting energy
• Detect unnecessary lighting – indoor and perimeter
• Discover water leaks by evaluating usage anomalies
• Reduce equipment downtime with proactive alerts before components fail
• Design a peak demand mitigation program with time-of-day data
• Highlight emerging problems before they cause occupant discomfort
• Extend equipment life with improved preventative maintenance schedules
• Identify opportunities to reduce operating hours for key building systems
• Track costs, analyze trends for more accurate budget projections
• Develop an accurate baseline to support Energy Savings Agreement negotiations
• Evaluate new renewable sources to ensure they are performing as expected.

And, that’s just the beginning. With your insight into client goals and operations, we can make sure energy savings materialize as you’ve proposed, and then last over the long haul.

Build Your Brand with Custom Alerts, Reports, Training
With our sophisticated tools at your disposal, you can help clients track resources in a single building, an entire property or multiple locations. You can design custom alerts and reports, and add your company’s logo, to reinforce your brand.

Multiple display devices and tailored user interface options provide the right information to the right users to identify patterns, anomalies, or peaks and valleys. Tools provide:

• User-configurable Alerts and Alarms, sent via email, text or a BMS;
• Top Consumers for gas, water, electricity, dollar and carbon emissions;
• Comparison Reports between any items in the building/property model;
• Advanced Reports to stack charts for more in-depth analysis.

You can help clients get started with a practical sustainability program by using Agilewaves to engage tenants and create behavioral changes:

• Carbon Diets: Put an item (i.e., sensor, room, property) on a diet, a carbon diet. This allows you to set carbon foot print limits, and alerts you when the diet has been exceeded. Or, be alerted if the cost of operating an appliance (plugged into a specific outlet) goes above a certain amount in a day.
• Kiosk Designs: For multi-tenant buildings, you can design an information kiosk to display results in a business lobby or on a website. Then use your kiosk design to help your client with contests or awards to engage energy consumers in conservation programs.

Plus, your training deliverables can take on a whole new dimension, going beyond traditional O&M manuals for building staff. Now they can fine-tune systems to truly optimize building performance – a win for you and your client.

Become an Energy Management “Sentinel” with Remote Monitoring
With remote access to real-time resource utilization and 2-way integration with control systems, Agilewaves allows you to create a virtual command center, and stay on after your project is completed.

Available from anywhere on the internet, Agilewaves allows you to be an extension of onsite building staff. You can monitor energy and water use patterns, detect problems and respond to alerts for multiple sites – all from a virtual command center.

Now that’s value-add, and an ideal extension to your services portfolio.

Supercharge Your Control System Installations
Designed with interoperability in mind, Agilewaves’ open architecture supports easy integration with existing building equipment or control systems, using industry protocols such as BACnet.

A long-term data store can compliment control system capabilities or address limitations. Then by integrating control system data with a broader range of measurement points for all resources (including renewables), you can provide a “whole building” solution. And put your company on the cutting edge of high performance buildings.

We invite you to explore our core technology foundation – Common Data System – with standard interfaces to accelerate extensions to specific applications.

Team Up with Agilewaves
We think next-generation energy management systems like Agilewaves will be the cornerstone for high-performance Green Buildings, and we have the most advanced, flexible platform for you to build on. Contact us now to find out how you can become a trusted Green Building Advisor by working with Agilewaves.

Download the details on Energy Efficiency projects.

Key Resources
Building Commissioning: A Golden Opportunity for Reducing Energy Costs and Greenhouse Gas Emissions, (LBNL, July 2009)
Savings Persist with Monitoring-Based Commissioning (California Energy Commission)
Monitoring-based Commissioning,: Benchmarking Analysis (LBNL, 2009)

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Agilewaves CEO To Appear on GreenIt Panel

[READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE]

Cary Vandenberg, CEO of Agilewaves will be joining fellow Silicon Valley executives for a panel discussion on January 28th.

Green it! is an open discussion between top executives from innovative IT companies building solutions for a greener future. This event will be addressing the challenges, technologies and opportunities of the emerging Green IT market.

Green IT belongs to the greentech/cleantech sector and is a high growth market that leverages the assets of Information Technology. It provides both businesses and consumers tools to reduce their environmental impact and their related expenses. These companies range from energy management software to smart grid technologies trough carbon monitoring.

Date/Time: January 28, 6-9 pm

The panel will be composed by:
- Michael Kanellos, Editor in Chief at Greentech Media
- Sean Harrington, Director Client Solutions at Opower
- Michael Meehan, CEO Carbonetworks
- Cary Vandenberg, CEO Agilewaves
- John Steinberg, CEO Ecofactor

For more details, go to http://www.siliconfrench.com/greenit/panel.html.

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Net-Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB)

Given buildings accounts for 40% of energy use in the U.S., the adoption of high-performance “green” building technologies and practices is essential to the economic vitality of the nation – and your business.

What is a Net-Zero Energy Building? A building that produces as much energy as it consumes. The core of the Net-Zero Energy Building (NZEB) vision is a holistic approach for energy and resource use to enable buildings to be energy self-sufficient.

How is that possible? Studies have found that energy efficiency technologies can reduce building energy consumption by 30-50%, and if integrated into the whole building design, a 70% reduction may be possible. On-site generation via renewable energy technologies would make up the balance to achieve 100% self-sufficiency.

There’s now a body of research to support these Energy Performance goals. One recent study indicated that integrated, performance-based programs have led to operational savings of 40% (for green retrofits) and 75% (in renovations). Other case studies indicate that energy consumption for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning can be reduced by 20% just by detecting mechanical faults and ensuring that the systems are operating correctly. For details, check out this report on Net-Zero Energy, High-Performance Green Buildings.

Where do Energy Management Systems come in? Energy Management Systems provide the improved resource measurement essential to an NZEB program. Energy monitoring systems can identify operational issues at the onset, then with persistent monitoring, provide on-going verification of how building system upgrades and retro-commissioning measures are performing in day-to-day operations.

New performance measurement technologies enable owners and occupants to see real-time energy consumption segregated by end uses, such as plug loads, lighting, and major appliances.

The key to realizing these improvements is new measurement technologies such as sensors, with performance analysis tools that can interact with building systems to detect and correct inefficiencies.

Is that what Agilewaves does? Precisely – the Agilewaves system is an Energy Management System with advanced energy monitoring and resource management capabilities. The rigorous metrics generated by the Agilewaves Building Optimization System (BOStm) provide the foundation for informed energy use decisions – for daily operations or planning equipment upgrades or retro-commissioning projects.

Learn More About Net-Zero Buildings and Other Key Studies
- Net-Zero Energy, High Performance Green Buildings (National Science & Technology Council, October 2008)
- Dept of Energy: Net-Zero Energy Buildings Initiative
- Building Commissioning & Monitoring for Reducing Energy Costs (July 2009)

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