A Primer on Organizational Use of Energy Management and Information Systems (EMIS)

Energy Management and Information Systems (EMIS) are combined hardware and software products that comprise a broad family of tools and services to manage commercial building energy use. The lack of standard terminology for this family of technologies is currently a major barrier to meaningful dialogue and common understanding when stakeholders collaborate. In addition, those new to the domain are often confounded in determining key differences between commercial offerings. This terminology framework was established via consensus across several dozen EMIS vendors, users, and subject matter experts. It provides a common reference that can be used to understand key distinguishing factors and core attributes of different solutions within the family of EMIS technologies. This framework 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. Once oriented, users can explore details such as specific feature sets, data integration issues, matching tool capabilities to specific organizational energy management activities, and ultimately, specification and selection.