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Is metering and monitoring beneficial?

Steps to implementing electricity metering and monitoring at your site

Step1: Being specific will help you determine the success of the project. It will also help you keep the procurement process focused on obtaining a system that meets your needs.

Step2: Analyze electricity usage, locate existing meters, review energy audits, and understand facility infrastructure through single-line diagrams and equipment inventories.

Step 3: Determine expenses, including hardware, software, installation, data collection, and ongoing maintenance. Budget for all associated costs, including training.

Step 4: Identify data needs, choose appropriate metering hardware, evaluate data platforms, and decide on data storage (on-site, cloud, or third-party

Step 5: Justify the project based on energy savings, cost recovery, and compliance benefits.

Step 6: Install metering systems, integrate them into data platforms, and ensure proper commissioning with trained personnel.

Step 7: Continuously analyze data, identify inefficiencies, verify compliance, and improve processes based on insights.

More about cost

Costs	Description
Project Management	Even if there is a single contract for supply and installation.
Equipment and Installation	Purchase of the meters and associated equipment Installation, meter panels, wiring, CT locations, hazardous material removal or area protection Disruptions to tenants and operations Integration with data storage and management systems (data cabling, computers, software licences) Removal costs if necessary
Maintenance and Validation	Maintenance (inspection and replacement of components or sensors) Validation and testing of meters to confirm correct readings
Data Collection and Storage	The preferred energy management and monitoring software or service and subscription fees Storing the data Making data available for various analysis or reporting systems
Ongoing Data Analysis and Reporting	Procedures, systems, and people to interpret and use the data acquired from the electricity metering and monitoring system.
Training and Allocation of Responsibility	Training is often undervalued, underfunded, or, at worst, forgotten. Unless staff receive adequate training on the use of the system, the data may not be used, and many of the projected savings may not be realised.

The following is a rough estimate of the cost of each item. Please note that the prices below are just averages and depend on so many other parameters like the size.

Item	Cost per Unit
Basic meter	$200 – $800
Power quality meter	$1000 – $5000
High accuracy billing meter	$2000 – $5000
Solid core current transformer	$20 – $500
Networking equipment (total)	$2000 – $10,000
Installation (per meter)	$500 – $3000
Software or online platform annual subscription fees (per device)	$100 – $300
Software or online platform subscription fees (set-up price)	$1000 – $2000

Action	Typical Energy Savings	Savings Mechanism
Installation of meters only	0 to 2%	Awareness that consumption is being monitored; savings not likely to persist
Enhanced billing and allocation	2 to 5%	Improved awareness, ongoing
Feedback on consumption and facility tune-up	5 to 15%	Improved awareness, and identification of opportunities for simple operational and maintenance improvements
Real-time feedback and continuous commissioning	15 to 30+%	Improved awareness, identification of opportunities for simple operational and maintenance improvements, implementation of energy efficiency projects with verified results, continuing management attention

More about what you need

• SMART Meter: A smart meter is a meter that communicates, meaning it can send and receive data about energy usage. (1)
• On-Site Equipment: The local (on-site) equipment refers to any equipment that is used on site to centralize data. This includes networking equipment like switches, as well as hardware used to centralize data, like edge devices and required EMS software. (2)
• Cloud or Remote : Refers to services and resources, like storage or software, hosted online
  instead of on local equipment. End users simply access and use these services without managing the underlying hardware or infrastructure. (5)
• Data Integration: Data integration is the process of reading and storing data from sources other than energy meters. As part of the energy meter, water and gas are included. (4)

Analyzing the data

Detailed analysis of energy data often requires specialized expertise and goes beyond the scope of this post. Also third-party services are often used for this purpose by organizations. However, understanding how to interpret energy data is crucial to making informed decisions. Common visualization methods include hourly load profiles to track energy use patterns. Seasonal, monthly, and daily variations to identify trends. Equipment or circuit-level monitoring to pinpoint specific inefficiencies. Regression analysis can also provide deeper insights by correlating energy usage with variables like production levels or weather conditions. These tools can transform raw data into actionable insights, helping businesses optimize energy management strategies.

Responsibility

The use of information from an electricity metering and monitoring system can vary widely across facilities

Application	Potential Users	Good Results	Poor Results
Energy meter billing reports	Building manager Facilities manager Financial officer	Thorough, shared understanding of usage Appropriate allocation of energy usage Accurate energy performance estimates Appropriate allocation of costs	No faith in energy allocations Disputes about cost allocation Energy performance measures ignored
Analytics and diagnostics and fault detection	Building manager Process operator	Tight control of operations Effective energy management Improved throughput and quality Faults and divergence from expectations identified	Excessive alerts or alarms Alerts and alarms ignored or overridden, leading to inefficiencies in operations
Corporate sustainability reporting	Company director Sustainability officers	Automated reports, easily inserted into annual reports Relevant information presented in a clear and timely manner Attention focused on key sustainability performance indicators	Inaccurate data in reports Reports need to be reproduced Difficulty tracking performance

Metering to improve energy efficiency

When aiming to improve energy efficiency, a metering and monitoring system should provide sufficient evidence to identify avoidable energy wastage without requiring costly and time-consuming investigations. A facility can be analyzed as a collection of interconnected energy-consuming systems, each further divided into subsystems. The level of metering required depends on the facility’s complexity, size, and the desired level of insight into energy usage.

1. Facility-Level Metering:
   • Suitable for small facilities with only a few pieces of equipment and well-understood loads.
   • Provides a general overview of the facility’s total energy consumption.
2. System-Level Metering:
   • Captures general energy usage trends for major systems, such as:
     • Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC)
     • Lighting
     • Water services
   • Helps in understanding the energy contribution of each system to the overall consumption.
   • May lack accuracy when equipment is not connected to a common distribution board.
3. Subsystem-Level Metering:
   • Involves direct metering of individual pieces of equipment.
   • Provides the greatest level of detail and insight into energy usage.
   • Minimizes the need for detective work when analyzing energy consumption.
4. Prioritize Submetering for Significant Loads:
   • Meter individual loads that exceed 20kVA (19kW at 0.95 power factor), as recommended by the Green Building Council of Australia.
   • Alternatively, focus on equipment consuming more than 10% of total energy consumption, in line with the Australian Standards for energy audits (AS/NZS 3598.1:2014 and AS/NZS 3598.2:2014).

Example:

By adopting the appropriate level of metering, facilities can better understand their energy consumption patterns, identify inefficiencies, and implement targeted strategies for improvement.

NCC J9D3

When it comes to J9D3 meter requirements, the classification depends on floor area. Meters serving areas larger than 2,500 square meters must be part of an EMS (Energy Management System), meaning they are not standalone meters. For areas between 500 and 2,500 square meters, a memory meter capable of logging metering data is required; for example, the PMC-340B is commonly used as a memory meter. For buildings with areas less than 500 square meters, the PMC-340A is an example of a meter that is identical to the PMC-340B but lacks memory functionality. It is crucial to understand that the National Construction Code (NCC) has no connection to billing.