Plug & Process Loads

DOE's Integrated Lighting Campaign recognized the Minnesota Department of Transportation for installing integrated controls for plug loads and lighting systems at its Cedar Avenue Truck Station. 

To address the trivial task of monitoring thousands of plug loads in today's large buildings, researchers at NLR proposed a method for combining a limited amount of smart plug metering with a device inventory to develop a disaggregated breakdown of device-level power consumption, revealing energy savings opportunities.

This resource describes how Medical Imaging Equipment (MIE) energy reduction strategies can reduce the overall energy consumption of healthcare facilities.

This fact sheet introduces two emerging technologies that could streamline plug load management for increased energy savings for building owners: learning behavior algorithms and automatic and dynamic load detection.

This fact sheet provides highlights and key takeaways from the University of California San Diego's “Best Practices for Plug Load Management Using a Building Energy Management System” publication, which describes eight detailed steps to guide a building owner or operator on how to successfully integrate plug load controls with their building energy management system.

Smart outlets control the flow of power to devices plugged into them and measure their energy use. This fact sheet outlines what smart outlets are and how to use them, how to procure smart outlets, and how to maintain a smart outlet system for optimal savings.

This fact sheet summarizes ATLIS, a plug load management system framework that takes advantage of smart, connected devices to identify device locations in a building, meter and control their power, and communicate this information to a central system.

Automatic receptacle controls (ARCs) can help building owners and occupants reduce plug load energy use. A growing number of states and local jurisdictions are requiring ARCs as part of their commercial building energy codes. Click here for the Spanish version. 

This resource is an introductory guide for commercial building process loads and is intended to help commercial building owners and operators reduce process load energy consumption.

This guide from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency describes how local governments have planned and implemented energy-saving product procurement programs to reduce energy costs and create a range of environmental and economic benefits.

This session highlighted innovative approaches to controlling plug loads with other systems, including highlights from a field evaluation of LED systems equipped with advanced lighting controls that interface with the HVAC systems and plug loads.

This presentation was prepared for healthcare sector stakeholders as a resource on medical imaging equipment (MIE) energy use. It provides an overview of existing work, reviews existing literature on MIE energy use, and identifies energy savings opportunities.

This publication organizes plug load control strategies by level of effort, offering building owners and operators a staged approach to implement interventions ranging from smart outlets and automatic receptacle controls to behavioral strategies. 

This study from GSA aims to provide insight on how to effectively manage plug load energy consumption and attain higher energy and cost savings for plug loads.

This paper documents the process (and results) of applying advanced power strips with various control approaches, including manual control, automatic low-power state, schedule timers, load-sensing, occupancy, and vacancy.

Learning behavior algorithms and automatic and dynamic load detection are technology areas that could accelerate plug load management system adoption by reducing installation demands and providing additional energy efficiency and nonenergy benefits. This paper includes findings on the current state of these technologies.

This report investigates why Plug and Process Load (PPL) technologies and strategies have not seen widespread adoption and identify behavior and technology pathways to increase PPL reduction in U.S. commercial buildings.

The Automatic Type and Location Identification System (or ATLIS, for short) is a plug load management system framework that takes advantage of smart, connected devices to identify device locations in a building, meter and control their power, and communicate this information to a central system. This paper describes ATLIS and details some of its many applications beyond plug load management.

This report investigated why PPL technologies and strategies have not seen widespread adoption and identified five behavior and technology pathways to increase PPL reduction in commercial buildings. 

This toolkit provides guidance on understanding the numerous strategies for reducing plug and process load (PPL) energy consumption in your buildings, including how to select the right strategy for devices, building types, and occupant needs to maximize energy savings.

Learn how the Minnesota Department of Transportation Cedar Avenue Truck Station accomplished plug load controls integration with lighting occupancy sensors and how the University of California San Diego is integrating plug load controls with their building management system, facilities information management system, and occupancy data system.

Watch this webinar to learn about how Better Buildings healthcare partners deploy submetering strategies to identify energy-savings opportunities.

Properly managing larger plug and process loads, often referred to as process loads, can lead to substantial energy savings. Watch to hear from two organizations about their experiences and successes in managing process loads.

NLR shares simple low-cost and portable plug and process loads interventions.

Subject matter experts walk through the details of the APS specification and provide examples of how stakeholders can apply the specification (e.g., tenants in leased spaces, building owners and managers across their portfolios, utilities for energy incentive programs).

Experts from NLR discuss the implications of navigating cybersecurity with smart outlets.

A researcher from NLR summarizes a recent field study that assessed a wireless meter and control system (a.k.a. "smart outlets") for plug loads in two retail environments.

Researchers from the NLR and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory present recently published studies that describe novel approaches for better understanding device-level energy consumption in buildings.

This webinar focuses on automatic receptacle controls – a method for reducing plug load energy consumption – and their inclusion in the 2021 IECC code cycle, as well as a study of how the code requirements are affecting various stakeholders.

On this webinar, presenters discuss Oregon’s Statewide Plug Load Strategy, the state’s adoption of ASHRAE 90.1-2016 energy codes, and Oregon’s Energy and Resource Conservation Policy, which includes several components of the Plug Load Strategy.

How people use plug load devices can strongly affect their energy consumption. This webinar highlighted what factors are most important for certain types of devices, and how to reduce inefficiencies.

Properly managing plug loads was a key reason the Houston Advanced Research Center was able to make its headquarters the first Net Zero Energy certified office building in Texas in early 2020. This webinar explored the different stages of plug load consumption and the strategies used to manage and reduce plug loads and overall building energy consumption.

Properly managing plug loads in a building can lead to substantial energy savings and other non-energy benefits, and many of these management strategies require little to no upfront cost! Hear from building managers about their experiences and successes in managing their building’s plug loads.