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Monday, August 8th, 2011
Building Energy Management Pioneer Features Pulse Energy
In a recent article on the importance of building energy management software for energy conservation Bill Holmes highlights Pulse Energy
From SustainablePlant.com
“Energy Monitoring 2.0: how the web will save our bacon”
By Bill Holmes, P.E. August 5, 2011
An unknown Greek philosopher once said, “It is easier and faster, rather than trying to change some people’s minds, to just wait until they die and the next generation grows up.” That quote is on the first page of my upcoming book entitled ‘Would You Fly in this Building?’
In the fall of 1997, I was at the 30th reunion of the class of 1967 of Rose Polytechnic Institute, an all-male engineering school with less than 800 students at the time I graduated. My class was about 120 and I knew them all. A lot of us had kept in touch and come back every five years at Homecoming for our reunion.
After 30 years, a bunch of the guys had done pretty well and were in responsible positions in business and industry. I was eating dinner with several men that I been particularly close to in school. One of my fraternity brothers, Dick Osborn, had gone to work for NASA at the Johnson Space Center near Houston directly out of school and had risen to an upper management position. He had been there during the glory years of all the moon landings and had known several of the astronauts well. He and Mike Smith, who was on the Challenger, had been good friends. Sitting across from Dick was Jim Grundy, who was chief engineer for a division of Eaton Industries.
When I told them what I had been up to and about my energy monitoring system, they both said their bosses had been pressing them to do something to cut their energy costs. I still remember Dick telling me that his response to his boss had been, “First, I need to know where we are spending our utility dollars.” Both Dick and Jim clearly understood engineering problem-solving and that the first step had to be gathering accurate information to define the problem. They each asked me for more information on AutoPilot and took it back to their bosses.
In spite of what some of the astronauts thought, Dick knew they couldn’t have landed on the moon without a very precise information system. He understood information. He said he had been at a party one night in the early 1970s and was explaining to one of the Apollo astronauts some of the science and math involved in putting the Lunar Module on an exact spot on the moon‘s surface. The astronaut’s response, with the same confidence, the same swagger and in the same east Texas accent that I was very familiar with from my days in a fighter squadron, said, “Son, just get me to where I can see the damn thing and I’ll land on it.”
I ended up going to Houston to make a presentation to some of the upper-level management at NASA. Just before I left the hotel for my presentation, my wife cautioned me, “Remember, they are rocket scientists.” Nothing resulted from those conversations, but I have not forgotten how fundamental the first step in addressing the issue was to those two very sharp engineers. Their immediate grasp of the process was obvious.
Utility Meter Monitoring’s Viral Moment
For many years, I have understood that for my approach to energy monitoring to be widely accepted, I would have to wait until the kids who grew up with computers and understood the value of information got to positions of authority. That finally seems to be coming true. Now it is with a combination of amusement and frustration that I watch these ‘kids’ discovering all of the exciting ways to use that information.
In the past couple of years, a number of electric utility as well as private companies have begun to offer consumers access to their meter data via the Web. The most publicized has been the Google PowerMeter. It was introduced in October 2009 by the company that probably understands how to use information better than any other on earth. Unfortunately, it will be retired on September 16, 2011, dying at less than two years of age because, according to Google, “It didn’t catch on the way we would have hoped.”
The statement from Google also says, “Momentum is building toward making energy information more readily accessible, and it’s exciting to see others drive innovation and pursue opportunities in this important new market. We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished with PowerMeter and look forward to what will develop next in this space.” How interesting and unfortunate it seems to me that, at a time when more and more organizations and publications seem to be understanding and publicizing the value of energy monitoring, Google would discontinue that service. I wonder why. Other companies providing a similar service include Excel Energy, based in Minnesota, and Pulse Energy from Vancouver.
To read the article in its entirety, click here.
About Pulse Energy
Pulse Energy is an Energy Management Software company, dedicated to helping the world’s buildings and communities to improve their energy efficiency and keep track of the results. Buildings use 75% of the world’s electricity and are responsible for one third of green house gases produced. By designing Pulse Energy products around the needs of facility managers, energy managers, operations managers, and executives, we have created an energy management solution of unrivaled accuracy, ease of use and relevance. To learn more about Pulse Energy, please visit www.PulseEnergy.com.