This is a powerful energy management software tool for large or complex organizations that want to measure, manage, and save on utility bills.There are other options for smaller facilities too.
Large corporations, universities, and city, county, and state governments that process hundreds or thousands of utility bills per month need an enterprise-class energy management system with power and flexibility. EnergyCAP allows these large complexes to measure, track and analyze their energy consumption, recognizing that energy is one of the organization's most controllable operating expense, but you can’t control it unless you track it. EnergyCAP is comprehensive client-server software with optional web reporting . It was developed to be primarily a utility bill tracking, accounting and payment tool that would eliminate the need for outsourcing bill payment and auditing, generally leading to a payback under 3 years.
Implementing EnergyCAP allows for increased organizational awareness of energy costs and quick identification of problems using bill histories. Utility bills are entered manually into EnergyCAP and can then be exported directly to an accounting system for payment. Reports can be issued to building managers, and data can be used for budgeting and forecasting purposes. Hundreds of rate templates can be entered into EnergyCAP in order to analyze individual customer accounts. Usage data for water and electricity is entered and matched with the proper rate structure for that consumption pattern. Data can automatically be submitted to ENERGY STAR portfolio in order to benchmark with competitors and similar building types. Benchmarking capabilities identify high cost and high unit cost facilities. Built-in audits assist staff in recognizing usage spikes and alerting building managers.
EnergyCAP has a cost-avoidance module that monitors year-to-year energy reduction goals by comparing energy bills that are normalized for weather and other factors. Cost avoidance provides a reliable basis for M&V of savings resulting from energy efficiency or capital improvements. There is a consistent platform for tracking Sustainability Metrics as well.
EnergyCAP is also capable of Load Analysis. Data from demand response aggregator portals is imported into EnergyCAP via the channel functionality so that local utility energy managers can monitor peak demand and the organization’s impact on the grid during critical use periods.
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Baseline Description: Unmanaged commercial building Baseline Energy Use: 16.7 kWh per year per square foot
Taken from 2007 CBSA (http://neea.org/docs/reports/2009NorthwestCommercialBuildingStockAssessment021CA220F212.pdf?sfvrsn=10). Used overall average of all commercial buildings, since any of them can use integrated design.
"Typical" Savings: 5% Energy Savings Reliability: 2 - Concept validated
This is difficult to verify and quantify, though the system itself will help quantify the savings to a large extent. Results will vary greatly depending on the existing conditions, how well the system is implemented, and on the attitude of the energy manager, management, and other participants.
Energy Use of an Emerging Technology is based upon the following algorithm. Baseline Energy Use - (Baseline Energy Use * Best Estimate of Energy Savings (either Typical savings OR the high range of savings.))
Simple payback, new construction (years): N/A
Simple payback, retrofit (years): N/A
Cost Effectiveness is calculated using baseline energy use, best estimate of typical energy savings, and first cost. It does not account for factors such as impacts on O&M costs (which could be significant if product life is greatly extended) or savings of non-electric fuels such as natural gas. Actual overall cost effectiveness could be significantly different based on these other factors.
Joyce Mihalik, 08/18/2010. Taking Control: Forest City benefits by bringing utility billing and auditing functions in-house EnergyCAP, Inc.
Energy Star, 01/01/2014. ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year - EnergyCAP, Inc. Energy Star
Technical Advisory Group: 2011 Energy Management TAG (#4) TAG Ranking: 47 out of 59 Average TAG Rating: 1.8 out of 5 TAG Ranking Date: 09/29/2011 TAG Rating Commentary: I don't know enough on this one to rate. This tool is fine for analyzing bills (which one much input by hand generally). It isn't well suited as other tools to provide instant feedback on energy use and facilitate energy management. Not a technology per se. Need to look at energy management software solutions more broadly, not this one specific software tool. What's new here?