The Low Cost of High Efficiency by Stephen Whitaker

The Low Cost of High Efficiency: Selecting Sub-metering Solutions for Energy-Savings an article by Stephen Whitaker published in the October 12 edition of the Electrical Distributor Magazine.

For facility managers, it’s no secret that energy efficiency is an effective way to reduce costs. What has proven elusive, however, is a way to determine and document the value of power-saving measures to create a cost-saving energy consumption strategy. Utility meters simply don’t meet this need. They are used mainly for billing purposes, usually on a monthly basis for the entire building.

What facility managers require is detailed information about electric power consumption within the building, categorized by location, function, and time. Sub-meters can provide this information. Sub-metering data can help the facility to take better advantage of rate structures by identifying the facility’s patterns of power usage, by distributing power use more intelligently over the course of a day, and by limiting loads at expensive peak hours. And the permanent presence of the sub-meter allows for continuous commissioning and cost-saving verification.

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