Energy Management Information Systems can enable significant energy savings, often with rapid payback. Businesses are continually learning how to apply these technologies which include advanced energy information systems, benchmarking and utility tracking tools, equipment-specific fault detection and diagnostic systems, automated system optimization, and building automation systems. Through the EMIS Technology Research Team, partners help promote EMIS, create resources on the basics of EMIS, develop procurement templates, and drive market adoption and sharing of best practice approaches to operating systems.
To date, Better Buildings, Better Plants partners have saved more than 3.6 quadrillion Btu, saving more than $22 billion and 224 million metric tons of CO2.
The EMIS Tech Team collaborates with industry experts, building operators, and technology vendors to promote EMIS adoption. Contact the EMIS Tech Team to learn how you can get involved.
The EMIS Tech Team has hosted many webinars about a variety of EMIS-related topics. Access all recordings and slide decks under Webinars in the Smart Energy Analytics Toolkit.
Featured Solutions
The Smart Energy Analytics Campaign presented its final results on the use, costs, and energy savings from the 104 participants implementing energy information systems (EIS) and fault detection and diagnostics (FDD).
This report details the final results from DOE's Smart Energy Analytics Campaign (2016-2020), describing the savings and energy efficiency measures taken in 567 million sq. ft. of floor area from organizations implementing EMIS in their buildings.
This toolkit collects the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign's best resources to help facility owners and managers take advantage of savings opportunities and performance improvements from EMIS and ongoing monitoring practices.
The data generated through the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign provides industry with the largest existing body of evidence of the value of EMIS and expected payback. This one-pager summarizes the business case for EMIS adoption and how it was established.
This package of materials guides you through the specification, procurement, and selection of an Energy Management and Information System (EMIS) or related building energy performance monitoring and diagnostic technology, as well as the specification of ongoing support services in using the EMIS.
A recent report released by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) explores currently available AFDD technologies for commercial buildings. AFDD, or Automated Fault Detection and Diagnostics, is a growing family of technologies that are increasingly being adopted in many commercial building sectors.
This guide presents an overview of the top energy-savings opportunities in commercial buildings and shows how they can be identified using the type of interval meter analytics offered in EIS technologies or using the automated analytics offered in FDD systems.
Other Resources
Fact Sheet
This fact sheet provides an overview of LBNL's EMIS Field Evaluation Protocols and describes how their use can overcome barriers to EMIS adoption.
Guidance
With the number of EMIS field validation projects growing, the EMIS Field Evaluation Protocol provides a standardized way to assess benefits.
This handbook will give you the information you need to plan an energy-management strategy that works for your building, making it more energy efficient.
This Monitoring-Based Commissioning Plan Template is designed to assist building staff in developing a monitoring-based commissioning (MBCx) process.
Report
This EMIS primer can be used as a first orienting step; it does not detail specific technology features, but instead provides a high-level overview of primary applications within each category.
The focus of this study is energy information systems, broadly defined as performance monitoring software, data acquisition hardware, and communication systems used to store, analyze, and display building energy data.
This guide presents an overview of the top energy-savings opportunities in commercial buildings and shows how they can be identified using the type of interval meter analytics offered in EIS technologies or using the automated analytics offered in FDD systems.
Technical Assistance
This reporting template, which is a companion to the EMIS Field Evaluation Protocol, can be used to capture essential information from EMIS field evaluations.
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Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Prior research in energy information systems, including projects, publications, and presentations.The Building Performance Tracking Handbook: Continuous Improvement for Every Building
A resource from the California Commissioning Collaborative regarding a comprehensive process for performance improvement, including the use of EMIS.
Contacts
Jessica Granderson is a Research Scientist and the Deputy of Research Programs for the Building Technology and Urban Systems Division at LBNL. She is a member of the Commercial Buildings research group. Her research focuses on building energy performance monitoring and diagnostics, and intelligent lighting controls. Jessica holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Arts in Mechanical Engineering from Harvard University. Jessica leads the Energy Information Management Systems Technology Research Team for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Alliance.