EMIS ReportDesign-Prelim 2020sep11 - Flipbook - Page 34
EVOLVING EMIS MARKET: New EMIS tools are
continually being developed, with some vendors
consolidating or acquiring products. The field is
crowded, with vendors working to differentiate their
software based on feature sets, market-sector
focus (i.e., small to medium businesses), and
partnerships with other EMIS vendors for integrated
suites of products.
PRODUCT/SERVICE PACKAGES: Some EMIS
products are being embedded in multiple tools as
white labeled products, which may be combined
with an EMIS service provider’s ongoing analytic
support. The value-add from the service provider
may include enhanced project management and
fault prioritization capabilities.
While almost all participants have hourly whole
building energy use available in their EMIS, the use
of advanced meter-data analytics such as automated
load shape analysis and automated M&V using interval
meter data is not yet common. Over a dozen EMIS
products in the market currently have automated M&V
capability built into their products (Granderson and
Fernandes 2017); however, the use of this feature
was not widespread by Campaign participants.
Simpler ways to estimate savings were generally used,
including monthly utility bill comparisons and use of
the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.
Owners with experienced in-house teams often
received training from the FDD vendor to program and
tune the FDD rules on their own. Some owners develop
a “core” set of rules to roll out across a portfolio
and tweak them for each unique building’s situation.
While most FDD software has built-in estimation of
the energy cost waste of each fault to use as a
means of prioritization, calculation of cost waste
is not standard across tools. Overall, the common
benefit from FDD systems was the ability to monitor
thousands of data streams that could not otherwise be
monitored manually.
Finding a single EMIS that serves the many possible
functions (e.g., data management, benchmarking,
utility bill management, tenant billing, meter and
system analytics, and project tracking) can be a
challenge. There are few EMIS software that include
all these features. Vendor partnerships may address
the scope of software, and tool capabilities are also
expanding to meet multiple needs. MBCx service
providers can also serve an integration role as they
analyze data streams, potentially using multiple EMIS
software and providing integrated analysis to owners.
The benefits from implementing both EIS and FDD
functionality are clear. We have seen participants
who only implement system-level
The benefits
FDD and do not know how much
from
energy they are using or saving.
implementing Conversely, those that implement
both EIS
only EIS tend to focus mainly on
and FDD
schedules, baseload, and peak
demand, and may miss the more
functionality
nuanced operational opportunities
are clear
identified through FDD. EIS and
FDD can work together to provide both a top-down
and bottom-up analysis of a building’s energy use
and systems.
4. EMIS PRODUCT AND SERVICE TRENDS
and not intended to be a comprehensive list.
Twenty-five of these vendors offered both EIS and
FDD capabilities. Through the process of developing
and maintaining the EMIS products and services
list, several insights emerged:
4.2 MBCx Process and Service Providers
A compelling evolution in the industry is the expansion
of EMIS market delivery through MBCx service providers
using the tools to bring added value to their customers.
This contrasts with earlier models that relied on inhouse direct organizational use of the EMIS. MBCx
service providers tend to be commissioning firms
expanding into MBCx, controls or mechanical services
contractors with MBCx offerings, or EMIS software
vendors that provide additional engineering services.
The expansion in service offerings can make the use of
Berkeley Lab | Proving the Business Case for Building Analytics
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