You cannot manage what you don’t measure.
This old saying is particularly true of energy consumption and carbon emissions. Fortunately, most buildings or facilities generate a wide variety of electrical signals that can be tapped as data sources for overall system management at limited additional expense. New sensors and monitors can also be added to enhance the data set. The stream of data from building control devices, automated utility billing, and solar and other distributed power generation monitoring and reporting systems can then be integrated, analyzed in real time, and organized through a top-level information technology system. This data is critical to the client organization’s CEO and its entire management team.
Nexamp partners with leading software and technology providers to implement facility-level and enterprise-wide monitoring and reporting systems that also offer real-time control capability. We can work with management to develop an IT system overlay that will put critical energy and carbon management information in a “carbon dashboard” to enable system-wide energy and carbon management. This dashboard, which is tailored to each specific client, allows its users to:
- Track energy and maintenance costs and savings for the enterprise
- Track carbon emissions by site and for the enterprise
- Analyze historical and real-time energy and demand use by site
- Compare energy use and carbon emissions between sites
- Provide short-term and long-term forecasts by site and for the enterprise
Previous: Energy Management
Related FAQ
What is a carbon footprint?
The carbon footprint of a product or service is the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases emitted over the life cycle of that product or service, expressed in terms of metric tons (or kg) of CO2 equivalent (CO2e).
Are there financial incentives for reducing my carbon footprint?
Yes, the Federal government and many states offer financial incentives for both homeowners and businesses to reduce their energy consumption or invest in clean energy. (
www.dsireusa.org). Also, a company reducing its CO2 with a large project may be able to sell the verified carbon reductions on the voluntary market. To capture the highest value, the project must follow stringent protocols, such as those of the World Resources Institute, and the reductions must be measured and verified by a competent, independent third party.
Will the government be regulating carbon emissions at some time in the future? How could this affect my business?
It is likely that the Federal government will regulate carbon emissions in the near future. Measures pending before Congress would impose a nationwide cap and trade system. All potential presidential candidates favor carbon regulation at the federal level. Due to federal inaction, states have begun carbon regulation. In the Northeastern U.S., the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) goes into effect January 1, 2009. (RGGI caps only power plant CO2 emissions at this time.) Similar initiatives are underway in the western U.S. and in the Midwest. Carbon regulation may or may not affect your business directly, but it will raise the price of electricity and, eventually, the price of anything with a fossil fuel input – which is virtually everything.