This post is one in a series featuring the complete slate of advanced energy technologies outlined in the report This Is Advanced Energy.
Image courtesy of AEE member EnerNOC.
A Building Energy Management System (BEMS) is an integrated system of software, hardware, and services that monitors, automates, and controls energy use through information and communication technology. Used primarily in commercial and industrial buildings, BEMS technology increases building ef efficiency and comfort by controlling building systems such as heating, cooling, and lighting. Institution-wide energy management systems, often called enterprise energy management systems (EEMS), are being deployed by universities, governments, and retail chains. BEMS can also be combined with software-based data analytics to provide more information and control, particularly across multiple properties.
BEMS technology has brought energy savings to a broad range of building types across the country. By installing a Johnson Controls Metasys BEMS and implementing efficient technologies, the Bank of America Plaza in Columbia, South Carolina, reduced its energy use by 15%, resulting in $43,000 in annual energy savings. In addition to energy costs savings, BEMS can also improve productivity and building performance. By installing Schneider Electric’s SE7600 wireless room controllers in their warehouses, operating plants, and offices, Allagash Brewing Company of Portland, Maine, was able to set up automatic alerts and alarms, track energy use, and integrate temperature controls with other systems — all of which are critical for quality brewing. Similarly, for Mercedes-Benz Headquarters in New Jersey, installing a Trane Building Automation System from Ingersoll Rand not only delivered cost savings, but also increased reliability and building comfort.
The global BEMS market is expected to grow from $2.8 billion in 2014 to $10.8 billion by 2024. At $1.1 billion in 2014, up 13% from 2013, the U.S. market for BEMS accounted for 38% of the global market.
As BEMS becomes more sophisticated, it is being integrated with demand response to provide targeted energy reductions when grid prices are high or the grid needs demand reductions to maintain reliability. This provides additional value to the customer and to the grid as a whole, as utilities and grid operators increasingly look to demand response as a cost-effective tool for maintaining system reliability while avoiding costly investments in peaking capacity and traditional “poles and wires” upgrades.
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