Proving the Business Case for Building Analytics

HIGHLIGHTS Smart Energy Analytics Campaign supported 104 organizations, with 6,500 buildings covering over half a billion square feet of combined floor area§Campaign documented median annual energy savings of 3% (Energy Information Systems) and 9% (Fault Detection & Diagnostics)§Produced the largest dataset on EMIS costs and benefits;showed a 2-year simple paybackAs building monitoring becomes more common, facilities teams are faced with an overwhelming amount of data. These data do not typically lead to insightsor corrective actions unless they arestored, organized, analyzed,and prioritizedin automated ways. Buildings are full of energy savings potential that can be uncovered withthe right analysis.With analytic software applied to everyday building operations, owners are using data to their advantage and realizing costsavings through improvedenergy management.The 2016–2020 Smart Energy Analytics Campaign (smart-energy-analytics.org) was a public–privatesector partnership program to support commercially available Energy Management and Information Systems (EMIS)(Figure ES-1)and monitoring-based commissioning(MBCx)practicesfor commercial buildings. MBCxis an ongoing commissioning process with emphasis on monitoring and analyzing large amounts of data on a continuous basis. EMIS tools are used in the MBCx process to organize, present, visualize,and analyze the data.These tools have been available for decades, and their benefits have been documented through case studies and research on relatively small datasets. However, thepast decade has seen significant growth in adoption of EMIS, spurred by a far greater range of EMIS offerings, improved ease of use and integration, a maturing market for third-party MBCx providers, and a broader recognition of the benefits EMIScan bringto energy management practices. The Smart Energy Analytics Campaign was conceived as an opportunity to assess the costs, benefits, and common practices of EMIS when installedat scale across a wide array of building types and sizes.