Energy Management Solution Brief

Five steps to increasing energy efficiency Better data visibility can help property owners and building managers reduce energy consumption, improve occupant comfort, and optimize building spending. With automated demand response, they can further reduce energy expenses.

There is clearly room for improvement, with approximately 30 percent of the energy consumed by U.S. commercial buildings being wasted.1 One reason for that waste is about half of building managers lack the tools they need to maximize energy efficiency.2

Energy management challenges

For many companies, building data is complex, fragmented, and difficult to access, creating huge barriers for those who rely on that data to make important resource decisions. Fortunately, the new era of the Internet of Things (IoT) can help tackle these challenges head on, resulting in smarter decisions and reduced costs across the board.

Smart buildings

By linking building and business systems together, energy management tools can deliver insights that lower CapExand OpEx:

• Reduce energy consumption—Save 10 to 20 percent on energy with a return on investment (ROI) in months, not years.3 As experience grows and additional applications are implemented, long-term energy reductions of 35 percent or more are possible.4,5

• Improve occupant comfort—Allow occupants to make individual requests for warm or cold air based on their thermal comfort, and only run heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment when spaces are occupied, thus saving on energy costs.

• Optimize building spending—Collect benchmarking data to compare and optimize a portfolio of buildings, and determine exact system requirements for new buildings rather than just copying plans from previous sites.

• Save further with ADR—Participate in an automated demand response (ADR) program that utilizes your energy management system to reduce energy expenses through credits and reduced rates from utilities.

Energy Management Solution Brief1

Typical Touchpoints of an Energy Management Solution

ElevatorsRooftop HVAC

Lighting

Gas/WaterFlow Meter

Thermostats

TemperatureSensors

BMS

PowerMeters

IoT Gateways(Edge Analytics and Control)

Offices | Factory Floors | Warehouse | Cafeteria

Solar Panels

Organizations just starting an energy management program have many considerations. At the top of the list is establishing program goals, which could include lowering energy costs, promoting sustainability, reducing maintenance costs, improving tenant comfort, or all of the above. Next is deciding which applications to tackle and in what order.

Quick win

Deploying an energy management solution can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. We recommend beginning with a small project, going after some low-hanging fruit for a quick proof-point on return on investment (ROI). Heating, ventilation, and airconditioning (HVAC) is a clear candidate, especially since it’s one of the largest operating cost drivers, accounting for approximately 40 percent of business energy usage6 and as much as 10 percent of capital investment for facilities.7 For some businesses, HVAC may not be the best focus area for energy savings, due to specific requirements and risks, as a radiology facility in a shopping center will undoubtedly have a different power situation than the flower shop next door. In any case, pick a small project to gain somequick insights.

Overall priorities

In addition to HVAC, lighting and water systems could also be high priorities, depending on your region and the nature of your business. For instance, automatically turning off lights after occupants leave the space could yield significant energy savings, or not watering the landscaping when rain is forecasted or during a drought would curb water usage.

Establish clear goals1

Interorganizational cooperation

Consider the relationships between organizations such as IT, facilities, operations, and your project team. Is your IT and operationaltechnology (OT) infrastructure converged, giving your operations equipment access to the core IT network and making it easier tolink your systems together? We believe it is always better to partner with both IT and OT organizations from the start.

Low startup cost

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) energy management applications, with subsidized or amortized hardware and installation costs, can be an attractive option for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) not wanting to take on capital expenses.

Follow these 5 best-practice steps to increase energy efficiency

Energy Management Solution Brief2

Energy Consumption

SustainabilityParticipation

Maintenance Costs

Equipment Availability

Consider collecting data from a wide range of smart building touchpoints in order to maximize your ability to implement various building management applications, such as:

• Energy monitoring and analytics • Smart grid demand response and demand-side management • HVAC and lighting control • Remote asset monitoring• Operations and portfolio oversight

Identify applications and data sources2

Energy Management Solution Brief3

After choosing your applications, identify which data sources are needed for implementation. Some existing data will need only to be integrated (data from existing building controllers and sensors that simply need to be connected to the Internet), whereas other systems will need to be instrumented to capture data. In these cases, it may be necessary to add new devices, such as sensors that clamp over the wiring in an electrical panel or mount on a gas or water line to measure energy consumption.

Data security is priority number one. At a minimum, protect business-critical and personal information using data encryption and tunneling. Intelligent gateways offer hardware-level security with a Trusted Platform Module (TPM), Secure Boot, and BIOS-level password and port lockdown for minimizing unauthorized access to the system. For more discussion about securing your energy management solution visit here or check out the Intel security white paper and Dell security white paper.

Environmental factors

When thinking about data sources, consider the nature of your organization’s environment. In the case of equipment located outdoors—such as a main panel, chillers, rooftop HVAC units, and power substations—the sensors and gateways you install must be able to natively withstand extreme temperatures in the -30°C to 70°C (-22°F to 158°F) range, or be installed with secondary cooling to achieve reliability.

Wired versus wireless devices

Another consideration is whether to use wired or wireless sensors to collect data from your various energy sources, a decision that is typically influenced by a number of factors. For example, are you working with a small retail space, a large building, or a manufacturing plant? Are the various energy consumers close together, spread out, indoors, or outdoors? Can you easily pull cables to sensors at major energy consumption points? Hard-wired connections provide reliable connectivity, but pulling cables can be cost prohibitive in both retrofits and new installations, or even impossible in some historic buildings. In such cases, wireless sensors can be attractive alternatives. Can you get a wired power source to each sensor, or do they need to be self-powered (e.g., battery, solar)? What locations are in relatively close proximity to sensors, and therefore are more suitable for data aggregation? These are important factors when deciding between wired and wireless sensor solutions.

Lighting HVAC Surveillance Smart Meter and Submetering

Building Automation System Data

Occupancy

Many building systems don’t natively talk to the Internet, so sending their data to the cloud will take some effort. For instance, legacy building automation systems (BASs) typically communicate with equipment via BACnet MS/TP and metering devices via Modbus remote terminal units (RTU) protocol, both of which are serial communications that cannot directly communicate over the Internet.

Wireless sensors

If a new data source is needed, wireless sensors are a great option when it’s cost prohibitive to pull wires. While Wi-Fi sensors have the benefit of being able to communicate directly with existing wireless routers, they tend to be power-hungry and need a supplemental line power source. Wireless mesh sensors can last for years on a single coin cell battery, depending on the sample rate, with the tradeoff being an occasional battery replacement. To save power, wireless mesh sensors communicate in brief chirps and need a gateway that can comprehend IEEE 802.15.4 standards, like ZigBee* or 6LoWPAN, to bridge them to the IP network. Bluetooth* Low Energy (BLE) mesh sensors are emerging, but sometimes they don’t perform as well in buildings with dense construction. New technologies, like EnOcean, harvest mechanical energy to eliminate the need for a battery in certain applications, which saves costly truck rolls to replace them. Solar power is also an option for certain sensors.

If access to the core building network isn’t easily achieved, you can build your own parallel network to communicate within the building. And if an outbound wired Internet connection isn’t available, you can use cellular-connected intelligent gateways to pass data directly to a cloud. Starting with a parallel network can be a fast way to get your project off the ground and demonstrate ROI before implementing on the core network.

Determine the best way to capture data3

Multiple Data Sources (Real-time, Structured,

and Unstructured)

Gateway

An edge gateway can connect smaller mesh sensor networks and non-Ethernet/IP-based devices (e.g., serial BACnet* and Modbus*) to an IT network, data center, or cloud. Gateways support hybrid configurations of wired and wireless sensor connections. For example, a gateway measuring power with a wired current clamp at a main panel can also collect data from nearby wireless mesh sensors measuring water and gas flow.

Large buildings typically require one or more gateways per floor, plus a master gateway bridging the aggregated data to the Internet. The number of sensors connected to each gateway is often impacted more by the ability to pull cables to it, the effective range of wireless sensors due to building construction, and other environmental factors, than by the gateway’s maximum computing capability. Implementing edge analytics for applications such as energy optimization will further increase gateway count; for example, you may put a gateway on or inside each HVAC unit to perform analytics on its constant stream of data andonly send meaningful events upstream. On the other side of the spectrum, a small retail space may only need wireless sensors anda single gateway.

0 00

1

1

00 10

11

01

11

Many Protocols Critical to Data

Collection

Energy Management Solution Brief4

Edge Gateway

Possibly the greatest benefit of an energy management solution is gaining a better understanding of how the facility consumesenergy, where and when energy is being wasted, and ways to maximize energy savings. This is achieved with data analytics thatoffer actionable insights based on energy usage, HVAC performance, occupant comfort, environmental metrics (e.g., temperature, humidity, and CO2), and other factors. Data analytics can be centralized in a data center or cloud, decentralized in edge devices (e.g., gateways), or a combination of the two.

Centralized data analytics

Centralized data analytics is relatively easy to implement and maintain since the software runs in one place; however, this approach could require a significant amount of network bandwidth to carry as much as a thousand data points per second. Using a cellular network to send large amounts of building data to the cloud could be rather costly. Backhauling all of this data to a complete centralized analytics structure also requires a substantial amount of storage in the location where it is most expensive.

Decentralized data analytics

The alternative is to perform analytics on aggregate data at the edge, and then send only summarized results over the network. For environments with poor connectivity or limited network capacity, gateways can process, store, and forward filtered data, as wellas provide offline capability to maintain operations. Decentralized data analytics also allows building systems to maintain normal operations when the connection to the BMS or the cloud is temporarily lost.

Consider selecting gateways with more computing power than you initially need to support new applications you’ll likely find in the future. Investing in computing headroom now will be much less expensive than paying for a truck roll to upgrade a gateway’s capacity at a later date.

Explore different analytics models4

Cloud pushes data to and pulls data from the edgeHybrid rules at the edge and deeper

processing in the cloud

Gateway pushes data to and pulls data from the cloud

Cloud AnalyticsEdge Analytics Hybrid Analytics

Energy Management Solution Brief5

Success often starts with a small installation to reveal a few simple trends that present a cost savings. For example, even a simple dashboard (with little to no analytics) can show that energy is being wasted when you didn’t realize it, such as when occupants aren’t around to benefit from a particular service.

More granular data

After finding the areas that provide a quick return, expand your sensor network to get more precise data. Perhaps you started with a main power panel or water meter, and now you can increase granularity by instrumenting subpanels, or even collecting data on individual circuits and fixtures. This information allows you to pinpoint energy waste, down to a particular location or an individual piece of equipment.

Deeper understanding

Next, perform deeper analytics by integrating energy consumption data with a larger data set, including energy costs, occupancy data, business schedules, weather, historical billing data, etc. This can provide a better understanding of energy consumption patterns, such as finding correlations to the weather or certain business events. Consider working with your utility provider to take advantage of an ADR program, which allows your utility to throttle back energy usage during peak demand periods, allowing you tonegotiate the best energy rates while still maintaining overall occupant comfort. Further, increase your sustainability efforts by creating a carbon footprint metric based on the aggregate data you are collecting and analyzing. This data can also be used to optimize new construction in your growing portfolio.

New applications

Once this infrastructure is in place, what other applications can you use it for? The role of the edge gateways used for energy management can be expanded to serve other functions. For example, hoteliers could allow guests to use their smartphone to check in, unlock their room, and adjust the room’s lighting and temperature. Other options are to introduce additional sensors to perform environmental and air quality monitoring, improve space planning using occupancy and motion sensors, implement a smart conference room booking solution; or implement predictive maintenance for key equipment to eliminate downtime and costs for unnecessary parts and emergency repair visits.

Regardless of what you decide your initial ROI should be, it all starts with that first small step. Then you can tackle other initiatives, like managing property portfolios, improving sustainability, and gathering business intelligence.

Act on the analytics 5

Building and Energy Efficiency

Portfolio Management

Sustainability Business Intelligence

IoT Solution Manages Energy for Arrow Distribution CenterArrow Electronics is a global provider of products, services, and solutions to industrial and commercial users of electronic components and enterprise computing solutions, with more than USD 20 billion in sales.

Implementation challenges

Arrow has multiple business units consuming power in one of their typical distribution centers and has historically had no way to monitor their usage or impact on energy quality at a granular level. In addition to not being able to effectively track energy consumption, the power bill was divided equally among all business units each quarter, which resulted in an unfair cost allocation.

Ultimately, Arrow needed a solution that could aggregate large amounts of sensor data related to energy usage and send the meaningful information to the backend for analytics and visualization.

Solution overview

To monitor electrical feeds, Arrow uses Veris Industries E50 and DENT PowerScout* sensors that attach to the main and various subpower panels and collect more than 250 data points, including kilowatts (kW) used, kW hours (kWh), and amps. Since the sensors communicate over different protocols, Modbus* and BACnet* respectively, a Dell Edge Gateway 5000* captures and converts their data into IP traffic, using protocol translation software from Wireless Glue Networks.

The gateway sends data about electric power consumption to OSIsoft PI Server software running on Dell servers. PI is a data historian that can store data for 10 years and allows Arrow to see what occurred over a small, one-minute timeframe years back. Arrow alsouses OSIsoft to visualize its energy data.

Based on Intel® architecture, the Dell Edge Gateway and servers provide a flexible and expandable solution framework that is attractive to numerous independent software vendors, like Wireless Glue Networks and OSIsoft, and end customers, like Arrow.

Solution benefits

The solution measures the flow of electricity through various parts of the building, enabling each business unit to be fairly charged for their specific energy usage and to have more visibility into how to optimize their overall energy consumption. Arrow is not only looking to deploy the solution globally for energy management but also at how it can use the same infrastructure for other applications, such as safety and security systems (e.g., door locks), and logistics. In addition to more granularly analyzing and optimizing energy consumption, Arrow can use historical energy usage data to project the savings for switching from florescent to LED lighting. Moreover, Arrow is in a better position to convert to a time-of-use energy program that could reduce its utility rates.

Electrical Panel

Mobile

Dashboards

AnalyticsDell EdgeGateway 5000*

Wireless Glue NetworksProtocol Translation

Software

IoT Gateway

Data Analysis and Visualization

OSIsoft PI Server*

Power Meters

VerisIndustries

E50*

Modbus

DENT PowerScout*

Energy Management Solution Brief6

Jumpstart Your Energy Management ProgramAlong with other IoT solution vendors, Dell and Intel are here to help you get started quickly and e�ciently. We take a pragmatic approach to the IoT by building on the equipment and data you already have and taking advantage of your current technology investments to quickly and securely enable analytics-driven action. The Dell IoT Solutions Partner Program and the Intel® Internet of Things Solutions Alliance are trusted ecosystems of technology providers and domain experts to complement Dell’s and Intel’s broad portfolio of IoT-enabling technologies.

Energy Management Blueprint

The following describes a blueprint of key ingredients for you to build your energy management solution. This flexible architecture is centered on the Dell Edge Gateway 5000 and includes examples of software solutions from qualified partners that together can enable a complete, end-to-end solution. The Dell Edge Gateway 5000, built with low-power Intel® Atom™ processor technology, enables you to collect, analyze, relay, and act on real-time data from building equipment and sensors. Running analytics in this edge gateway helps ensure perishable data is acted on immediately and only meaningful data is sent to the cloud, to minimize network bandwidth requirements.

The gateway o�ers operating system flexibility with choices that include Ubuntu Snappy*, Wind River Linux*, and Windows® 10 IoTEnterprise, and is protected by a security foundation, including TPM, Secure Boot, BIOS-level lockdown of I/O ports (remotely controllable on select operating systems), and optional software security products from Dell and Intel.

Dell and Intel are working with a wide variety of technology providers who bring a broad range of capabilities to the IoT solution stack. Protocol translation providers, such as Candi Controls and Wireless Glue, enable aggregation of diverse data sets from sensors, BASs, HVAC systems, lighting, and other electrical systems. This data is the foundation for energy management applications and can be stored, organized, analyzed, and visualized using a wide variety of solutions from other partners. For example, Lucid’scloud-based BuildingOS* can be utilized to thoroughly analyze collected data in context with utility billing information to help organizations find new ways to improve building e�ciency, portfolio management, sustainability e�orts, and business intelligence. For implementations with large amounts of time series data coming from many sources, a data historian such as OSIsoft’s PI Server can be introduced between the edge and backend to cleanse and bu�er data for integration into visualization and analytic applications, either performed within PI or by a third party. EnTouch Controls is an example of a solution provider that provides a turnkey, end-to-end energy management service optimized for smaller retail sites, which frees up their facilities management team to deal with the day-to-day issues.

HVAC

Surveillance

Smart Metering and Submetering

Lighting

0 0 1 0 1 1 0

0 1 0 0 1 1 0

Building Automation System Data

Dell Edge Gateway 5000 Series

(Based on the Intel® IoT Gateway)

Utility Bill Data

Analytics and Data Integration

(Lucid BuildingOS* and Entouch Controls)

Historian Database (OSIsoft PI Server* and

Entouch Controls)

Apps

Protocol Translation and Northbound Communication (Candi Controls,

Wireless Glue Networks and

Entouch Controls)

ZigBee*

Modbus

BACnet

LAN

Ethernet

Energy Management Solution Brief7

The architecture shown in the figure takes advantage of open, standards-based platforms, allowing your choice of in-house and partner technology to build out a complete solution. Contact Dell and Intel to learn more about these and other solution providers and to find the right partner for your energy management project.

Candi ControlsProtocol translation and northbound communication

Candi Open IoT Server* is a software stack containing embedded software and drivers for cross-protocol communication between on-site devices and protocols, user apps, and third-party web services. The software runs on multiple routers and Intel® processor-based gateways, and supports ZigBee*, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, serial, powerline, other transport layers and protocols, and a wide range of manufacturer-specific implementations. The Candi Developer Toolkit gives solution developers a head start with mobile and browser app templates. Candi Control’s standards-based, open API enables quick expansion of new features and connectivity to desktop browsers, leading Apple and Android* products, and Facebook*. Visit www.candicontrols.com.

EnTouch Controls Complete software and service solution

EnTouch 360* is a fully managed energy management service, specifically developed to serve the needs of multi-location businesses. This Intel® IoT Gateway-based platform gives building operators real-time intelligence and control over energy, HVAC, and lighting systems, as well as other key facility systems, from refrigeration to hot water. This solution is a turnkey, managed service—from implementation to reactive response to lifecycle asset management. It can be incorporated into a building owner's custom project or accessed via the cloud. Entouch Controls offers a support suite that includes a call center queue and an alerting rules engine. Visit www.entouchcontrols.com.

Lucid Analytics and data integration

Designed to support a wide range of initiatives, Lucid BuildingOS is a leading cloud-based building management platform used to optimize energy costs, comfort, and productivity. The platform integrates and aggregates portfolio-wide building and metering systems data into a centralized view, and has advanced data processing engines to simplify collaborative analysis. BuildingOS also scrubs, organizes, and translates building data across the portfolio, ensuring the data is high quality and easy to understand. BuildingOS takes advantage of existing building infrastructure to collect data from any utility meter, submeter, or controls system, and seamlessly accesses that data across any device. Visit www.lucidconnects.com.

OSIsoft (Dell IoT Solutions Program Executive Partner)Historian database

The PI System features the PI Server, which collects, stores, and organizes data from all your data sources, providing a powerfuland flexible information infrastructure for your organization. The PI Server also includes sophisticated tools for analytics, alerts, and auditing. You can connect the PI Server to almost any existing automation, lab, or information system. Operators, engineers, managers, and other plant personnel use a variety of client applications to connect to the PI Server to view data stored in the PI Server or in external data archive systems. The PI Server is a suite of products. Visit www.osisoft.com.

Wireless Glue Networks Protocol translation and northbound communication

Wireless Glue Networks’ patented multi-protocol broker software integrates easily with partners' existing IoT solutions, extending the ability to monitor and control on-premise assets in real time, regardless of which communication protocols are being used. Wireless Glue Network's solution exists on the edge and is centered on protocol translation and data extraction. The solution feeds data into Wireless Glue Network's partners' BI/analytic engines, including those focused on predictive maintenance and energy management. Wireless Glue Networks’ technology is hardware agnostic and can be embedded inside most on-premise gateways/servers that are being used to communicate with assets. Visit www.wirelessglue.com.

Energy Management Solution Brief8

1. “Improve Energy Use in Commercial Buildings,” https://www.energystar.gov/buildings/about-us/how-can-we-help-you/improve-building-and-plant-performance/improve-energy-use-comme rcial.

2. “Honeywell Survey Shows Safety And Security In U.S. Buildings Are Higher Priorities Than Going Green,” October 28, 2015, http://www.honeywell.com/newsroom/pressreleases/2015/10/honeywell-survey-shows-safety-and-security-in-u-s-buildings-are-higher-priorities-than-going-green.

3. “EnTouch Controls CEO Greg Fasullo to Participate in Energy Saving Panel Discussion at HARDI Annual Conference,” October 4, 2012, http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20121004005304/en/EnTouch-Controls-CEO-Greg-Fasullo-Participate-Energy.

4. United States Environmental Protection Agency, “Energy Efficiency in Local Government Operations,” 2011, pg 3, www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-08/documents/ee_municipal_operations.pdf.

5. “EnTouch Controls Launches Advanced Peak Energy Management Service for Restaurant and Retail Facilities,” July 22, 2015, http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150722005340/en/EnTouch-Controls-Launches-Advanced-Peak-Energy-Management.

6. U.S. Small Business Administration, “HVAC Systems,” www.sba.gov/managing-business/running-business/energy-efficiency/energy-efficient-upgrades/hvac-systems.

7. Marianne Wilson, “Cost Going Up: Annual study tracks cost of building and outfitting stores,” pg 2, Cost of Store Outfitting Systems table, Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, 2013, www.chainstoreage.com/sites/chainstoreage.com/files/ConstructionSurvey_2013.pdf.

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For More Information

Contact Dell Sales to learn more about the Edge Gateway 5000 Series, our ecosystem of qualified partners, and to deploy this flexible energy management solution today. Or visit us online at www.dell.com/iot.

To learn about smart building solutions from Intel, visit www.intel.com/iot/smartbuilding.

Dell IoT SolutionsOne Dell WayRound Rock, TX 78664www.dell.com/iot1-800-438-9973