What to expect from your EMS: features for a complete energy package

For modern businesses energy is much more than operational costs. An intelligent approach to energy efficiency can make or break their game. From sustainable development and environmental responsibility to transparency and advanced ESG tactics, energy can reveal the overall direction a business is headed.

It is a known fact that all the above highly depend on data. Having a full picture of your energy spendings with combined information from dispersed sources is crucial, but ESG strategies require much more than monitoring consumption. According to World Economic Forum,

 “Just 9% (of organizations) are actively using software that supports data collection, analysis and reporting on ESG.”

Therefore, there is particular emphasis not just on the quantity but also quality of data; on its seamless integration into wider operational processes; on yielding actionable KPIs and automating reporting.

Today, there’s a rich range of Energy Management Systems available with standard features of 24/7 monitoring, granular energy measurement, system integration, and forecasting. But few organizations seem to be aware of the features that will correspond to their energy efficiency operation in a continuous and streamlined manner. Throughout any buildings’ and assets’ lifecycle energy needs are also bound to vary. So how can one simultaneously measure, adapt to, and foresee challenges using an EMS?

Here’s what features to look for in an EMS so you can cater to all your energy efficiency needs from A to Z. Namely, such a system must correspond to all important energy- related operations incorporating:

1. Energy Auditing

First, an organization must examine its unique energy needs. Auditing is crucial for pinpointing a building’s trouble areas and understanding exactly where energy is spent on and how carbon emissions can be reduced. This process involves:

Monitoring through vendor agnostic systems systems utilizing data from any source, performing disaggregation, and benchmarking consumption on a 24/7 basis

Bills importing automating manual registration of your bills on a single database

Energy Consumption Validation so bills can be confidently assessed based on information collected from your systems and meters

Visualization of all assets, showing consumption heatmaps, graphs and, in more advanced cases, digital twin models

Energy Normalization to gain crucial insight into how external and shifting factors affect your energy consumption

Data correlation for a better understanding of necessary vs. superfluous energy use

Custom KPIs to monitor those parameters that relate with energy in every specific place such as air quality for office buildings, production level in an industrial space or occupancy levels in malls.

2. Energy Performance Contracts (EPCs)

You have invested in systems for the highest quality data possible and advanced analysis. Using this insight towards an EPC, which in many cases is mandatory, guarantees energy savings and provides transparency and accountability. Cutting-edge EMS can help you craft your tailored EPC on the spot based on intelligent use of your energy auditing information. Competitive features of such EPCs include:

Advanced Analytics with machine learning capabilities to predict consumption patterns

Energy Performance Indicators (EnPIs) for energy strategies that fit into the overall needs of the organization

Improvement Advice revealing optimization opportunities across your portfolio

Process and Milestone Tracking to keep tabs on complex and simultaneous operations linked to energy optimization, effective equipment and space maintenance

Savings Measurement and Verification comparing energy use before and after implementing actions and understanding how to maintain savings

Custom Dashboards and Reports allowing for stakeholder involvement in an organized, transparent, and automated manner.

PRO TIP: Look for intelligent systems that couple their services with human support by energy consultants.

3. Sustainability Management

After necessary EPC actions have been implemented, organizations need to maintain a plan towards continual improvement and sustainable growth. Today, ISO systems like ISO 50001 and ISO 14001 have become the golden standard for energy intelligent and sustainable organizations. An EMS can certainly serve towards making organizations ISO certifiable through combined use of intelligent features, but the most advanced modular EMS can even host the entirety of your ISO management performing:

Corrective and Preventative Actions (CAPAs) with workflow through to completion for continual improvement

EnPI management aiming to automate the process of collecting data used for EnPI calculations and prepare the input for any type of energy audit with the less possible overhead for the personnel

Risk Management to register identified key business risks and opportunities at the energy management planning stage, plan actions and continually ensure the lowest possible impact for the company in a predictive manner

Audit Management to facilitate energy and management system internal and external audits

Process Documentation Management to keep all critical documents updated and in line with the energy related action plans

Training Management to guarantee personnel engagement in the process of continual energy optimization through well documented training and guidelines.

Discover Integrated Energy Packages by YodiFEM

Yodiwo is committed to creating tailored solutions for all around sustainable organizations through end-to-end processes that make most out of your assets and data. Book a free consultation call with us today to assess your unique energy needs.