Technology Description

This energy asset management platform offers four unique features: (1) a new holistic approach to building energy asset management; (2) an innovative concept to measure the energy efficiency using energy-value indices (EVI) at building and zone levels; (3) use of criticality indices obtained from real and simulated data to support asset maintenance and operational scheduling strategies; and (4) a proactive approach for automatic continuous commissioning of critical assets as identified by the energy-value and other criticality indices. The term "value," in the BEAM context, is a dynamic quantity that relates energy consumption to business objectives of the buildings. While such business objectives may remain constant for long periods of time (e.g., months or years), the value quantity computed by BEAM changes dynamically according to the impact on energy performance that energy assets generate over shorter periods of time.

BEAM technology will be residing at a layer above the typical building energy management system (BEMS) with planning time scaled in days or more and operational time scaled in minutes, hours, or longer periods. The underlying models will use dynamic data--metered data on energy consumption of individual assets, sensory data on HVAC and its components, and occupancy data--and static data, e.g., business objectives of the buildings, functional decomposition of the building, and zoning. BEAM uses a five-step model: Synthesize, Measure, Analyze, Plan, and Act. Synthesize supports mapping of building mission and objectives to energy assets using quantitative and qualitative techniques. Measure computes an energy-value index for each energy asset. Analyze computes additional criticality indices and generates an overall criticality index for each asset. Plan runs an optimization routine to compute effective asset maintenance and operational scheduling strategies. Act transforms plans into actions, including implementation of automated continuous commissioning technology.