Facility managers long for a crystal ball that can give them insight into the inner workings of their building or campus. How can they see problems before they happen? How can they save more on energy costs? How can they keep employees safe and healthy and create environments in which they are more productive? The answers to all these questions and more can be found in EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert, and FICO is your source for this technology. 

Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert (PME) is a software and hardware package that monitors the electrical power supply in your facility, providing power consumption analysis. While your building management system controls how your facility operates, EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert allows you to drill down and see where the actual savings are hiding, providing the knowledge to avoid real problems. 

What’s inside this blog post:

• What is EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert?
• What’s driving EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert?
• What are the benefits of EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert?
• What entities should consider this technology?
• FICO can help you get there.

What is EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert?

As we said in the first paragraph of this blog post, EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert is a software and hardware package that monitors the electrical power supply in your operation, providing power consumption analysis. EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert shows you where your energy is going and how you can save through energy efficiency. You can view these reports through desktop and handheld devices, using a series of dashboards and easy-to-understand charts and graphs. You can electronically share this information with team members, decision-makers, upper management, and ownership. 

EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert looks at the entire power system in your operation. It evaluates power quality, load balancing, cost reductions, and energy savings. Data from EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert management can indicate irregularities in your systems. It‘s a vital part of predictive maintenance. 

There is also the issue of safety. If a production line crashes to a stop because of a power loss, employees are at risk for injury. If EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert sees the potential for a power loss (which it can), you can give managers advance notice to shut down a line or switch to an alternative power system. 

What’s driving EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert?

There is no single factor that drives the need for EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert; instead, it is a combination of pressures and forces that make it a logical next step in the progression of building management systems and energy management.  Here are some of the most significant considerations. 

Cost. Power is typically 30% of the fixed cost of running an office building. The figure is similar for colleges, universities, hospitals, and large manufacturing concerns. EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert management provides insight into controlling and reducing power needs. Energy savings are money that goes back to the bottom line. 

Utility monitoring. According to 360Energy, a firm involved in carbon guidance, utility agencies’ erroneous billings cost companies between 5% and 15% in excess charges. EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert can provide you with shadow billing data. Compare it to your utility billing, make a phone call, and save money. Savings in erroneous billing alone can be enough to recoup the cost of your EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert system.   

Avoiding downtime. Downtime for any business is a considerable cost. In an office, it means idle workers and crashed computers. In a factory, it means more idle workers, possibly damage to sensitive machinery, and often the need to recalibrate equipment. In a data center, it means lost and sometimes unretrievable data (and a tarnished reputation). In a hospital, it could mean lives. Armed with power quality information and the options of self-generated power, you can avoid downtime and the accompanying losses. 

Employee safety. The numbers don’t lie. Electrical equipment failures cause 22% of fires in facilities, and 50% of electrocutions occur within these same facilities. Injured workers mean damaged lives, downtime, OSHA investigations, paperwork, and often lawsuits. Anticipating a power loss allows you to avoid accidents and save lives. 

Pressure to use less energy. Buildings alone are responsible for more than 37% of US energy consumption annually. Utilities answer unchecked power consumption with higher rates.  Municipalities and state governments are also mandating that businesses start implementing energy-saving measures. EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert can help you get there and avoid extra costs and punishing fines. 

What are the benefits of EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert?

Energy savings. In 2015, the World Energy Outlook by the International Energy Agency predicted a 70% increase in the need for power by 2040. That was before we fully understood the power needs of Web 3.0 and AI technologies. According to The Verge, The International Energy Agency estimated that electricity usage by data centers could increase to between 620 and 1,050 TWh in 2026, equal to the energy demands of Sweden or Germany. The increase is largely attributable to cryptocurrency mining and AI. Hospitals are another area where one department can consume vast amounts of power. A 2023 DOE publication titled Better Buildings estimates that imaging departments (X-rays, MRI, and other imaging) account for 5% of hospital usage. EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert can help control that consumption. 

More efficiency in your internal grid. As much as 80% of power quality incidents occur inside a facility’s interior grid. According to Schneider Electric, items such as “variable speed drives, capacitor switching, large motor starts, and computers” stress your internal system. The public utility grid, which is responsible for the rest of the power, guarantees 99.9% availability. As Schneider points out, that still leaves you with about 52 minutes each year with questionable power. Those are potentially expensive minutes, fraught with all sorts of mishaps. Schneider Electric developed a patented technology, Disturbance Direction Detection, that allows facility managers to determine whether problems come from within or outside the building grid. It is part of the EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert from Schneider Electric. 

Predictive maintenance capabilities. EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert can detect spikes in power consumption by individual systems. These spikes, sometimes very small, are often indicative of failing systems. It could be a major component or a fuse. Properly powering down machinery and replacing components is preferable to a failure. 

Isolate cost drivers within your operation. Identifying high-use areas in your business allows you to investigate ways to reduce usage. Showing the staff of individual departments their power usage and asking them to think about ways to reduce it is a strategy that can change behaviors and reduce power usage. 

Generating compliance reports. If your building must meet LEED compliance, ISO standards, or any other requirements, you can rely on EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert to provide accurate and timely reports. 

What entities should consider this technology?

Any business where the electrical bill is a significant component of expenses or where a power failure can be catastrophic is a candidate for EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert. You should look at EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert if you have a building management system as part of your grid. Beyond that, there are several business sectors where it is crucial.

Industry. If production is imperative to your profitability and competitiveness, then this technology should be part of your toolbox. Being unable to fulfill orders because of a power loss is a serious business; EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert can avoid this. 

Data centers. Information is power and represents the competitive advantage in today’s business world. The best companies store massive amounts of data that often need to be quickly accessed from remote data centers, and these data centers need to be up and running 24/7. 

Healthcare. Using technology to the fullest extent allows hospitals to save lives and control costs. EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert means having a reliable power source. 

Buildings. As we said earlier, buildings are responsible for 37% of energy usage in the US. Reducing that usage saves money, keeps tenants happy, and makes everything run smoother. 

Infrastructure. Part of saving energy in the future lies in maintaining solid infrastructure in air, rail, and water. These systems are incredibly complex and move a lot of people and goods. The recent example of the Key Bridge in Baltimore shows how a shipboard power failure can affect international shipping and the world economy. 

FICO understands EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert

Based in Great Falls, Montana, FICO partners with Schneider Electric to install and service the EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert. This technology creates untold savings for companies up and down the business spectrum. To learn more about the energy savings capabilities of building management systems and EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert, contact FICO for a demonstration of the technology, or visit our website today.