Campaign FAQ

Why Energy Management and Information Systems (EMIS) technologies?

EMIS technologies enable improved energy efficiency in buildings by providing better access to energy and system data and applying analytics to the data. Commercial building owners, managers, and operators know that their building’s energy systems can become inefficient quickly, often right after occupancy. The Smart Energy Analytics Campaign helps owners, facility and energy managers, and operators use analytic software and ongoing monitoring to find and fix the issues.

What is the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign?

Buildings are full of hidden energy savings potential that can be uncovered with the right analysis. With sophisticated software applied to everyday building operations, building owners are now reaping the cost-saving benefits of analytics. The Smart Energy Analytics Campaign is a program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy that encourages the use of a wide variety of commercially available Energy Management and Information Systems (EMIS) technologies and ongoing monitoring practices to help uncover those energy-saving opportunities and improve building performance for the long run.

The Campaign aims to increase adoption of EMIS technologies and the energy management practices that utilize these technologies, helping bring analytics into the mainstream. In the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign, owners, facility managers, energy managers, and operators of commercial buildings across the country receive expert technical support and national recognition for their efforts.

What is the goal of the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign?

The goal of the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign is to facilitate the adoption of analytics and ongoing monitoring to help owners and managers find and fix building performance issues. The Campaign aims to broaden the base of early adopters and help speed future market uptake.

How do I get started? How do I join the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign?

You can join the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign by pledging to do the following:

Implement an Energy Management and Information Systems (EMIS) in one or more facilities
Implement a process for analyzing EMIS data
Implement at least one energy-saving measure one year or less from joining the campaign
Report on progress at least annually

When pledging, include the number of facilities in which EMIS is planned to be implemented and the associated conditioned floor area. Both new and existing EMIS installations are eligible.

What are the steps in the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign process?

To become a participant in the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign, simply join and make a pledge. You may already have an existing EMIS or plan to install a new EMIS. As a part of this Campaign, you will be invited to complete the following data-entry sections in the Campaign web forms:

Join the Campaign: Enter general information about your organization and buildings. Once you join, you will receive an email with instructions on how to make your pledge through the Campaign’s online secure web forms.
Your pledge to the Campaign: Share your intended EMIS installation and energy management activities with the Campaign. Once you Pledge, you will be a Smart Energy Analytics Campaign Participant and receive a technical consultation with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s EMIS team.
Actions: Share information on your EMIS installation, implementation of energy-saving measures, and annual energy use. The Actions section helps the Campaign understand the results of using EMIS and energy management processes.
Awards: Nominate your organization for an annual award based on each year’s EMIS and energy management actions. All award applicants must complete the data requested in the Actions section plus the awards section. The Awards form includes a description of your EMIS and energy management process, estimated energy savings, and cost estimates. Application for awards is optional. The Campaign will automatically enter your organization into the best fit award categories.

What is the deadline to join the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign?

The Smart Energy Analytics Campaign launched in Spring 2016 and will last at least two years. Go to Join as a Participant to get started.

What are the benefits of joining the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign?

The benefits of joining the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign include:

Achieve cost-effective energy savings
Get technical assistance from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Learn how to make best use of data
Gain recognition for your organization’s participation
Win a national award from the U.S. Department of Energy

Is the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign targeting certain building sizes or market sectors?

The Smart Energy Analytics Campaign targets individual commercial buildings over 50,000 sq ft of floor area, or campuses and portfolios of commercial buildings.

Can owners of both new and existing buildings participate in the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign?

Owners of both new and existing buildings can participate in the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign.

Can I participate in a utility program and the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign at the same time?

Yes, you can participate in a utility program and the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign at the same time. There is no conflict between participating in any utility program and receiving support from this Campaign, and in fact, this is encouraged.

What categories of recognition will be given in the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign?

The annual recognition categories for the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign include:

Best Practice & Innovation
Energy Performance
Largest Portfolio
New Installation & Expansion of an Existing EMIS
Monitoring-based commissioning (MCBx) Provider

Click here for more information on the details of the various awards categories and timeline for submitting an application.

What resources are available for Smart Energy Analytics Campaign participants?

Resources available for the Campaign are organized by categories of Business Case, Technology, and Processes.

Submitting data – is it confidential? What will the organizers do with these data?

Yes, all data shared with the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign will be kept confidential. Data of the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign is protected against unintended or unauthorized access.

Organizers will use data shared with the Campaign to gauge Campaign effectiveness, select awards, and analyze the overall costs and benefits of EMIS and ongoing monitoring.

How can my organization get recognized in the Campaign?

Participants who share their EMIS-related actions and energy use in the webform will be recognized on the website if they so choose.

I already implement EMIS technologies and have an MBCx process for buildings in my portfolio. What else can I do in the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign?

If you already implement EMIS technologies and have an MBCx process for buildings in your portfolio, you can still be a part of the Campaign. You can use your tools, save energy, and get recognized for your efforts. You will also be a part of a large network of organizations trying to do the same and can share knowledge and learn from peers.

What is the difference between a Smart Energy Analytics Campaign participant and a supporting partner?

Smart Energy Analytics Campaign participants are those who pledge to join the Campaign and use their EMIS to save energy, as outlined in the Join as a Participant section.

Smart Energy Analytics Supporting Partners are those organizations committed to promoting the benefits of the Campaign. Supporters spread the message of the Campaign to their customers or members, recruit participants, and include a Campaign link on their website.

Who are the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign organizers?

The U.S. Department of Energy is sponsoring the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is responsible for the design and delivery of the Campaign with support from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Organizations with a vested interest in EMIS and/or commissioning (Cx) adoption play a role as organizing partners. Organizing partners play an active role in Campaign design and recruitment, and regularly engage with the LBNL team.

Are there incentives out there to offset the cost of EMIS and MBCx?

Talk with your utility – some have programs geared towards EMIS. Even if they don’t, they may support adding EMIS as a part of a controls measure. The Campaign developed a list of programs that relate to EMIS, RCx/MBCx, or both.

How long does it take to complete the Campaign forms?

There are three types of Campaign forms: Join as a Participant, Actions and Awards Application. Each of these forms serves a different purpose.

Filling out the Join the Campaign as a Participant form is fast and easy. The first section asks for contact information and questions about your building or portfolio. From there, you can choose to move on to the section that asks for your pledge to the Campaign. These questions ask about your preliminary plan for what EMIS project you will likely undertake or already have implemented (we still want to know about the system you have installed and how you are using it). This just preliminary information; it's okay if you change your project over time. It's important to note that you can join the Campaign with or without submitting a pledge. Once you select the submit button at the bottom of the page, you will get an email with login and password instructions. Completing both the Join and the Pledge sections should take around 10 minutes if you already know what type of system and process you want (or have already have in place) and if you know how many sites will engage in the Campaign.

The Actions form helps the Campaign understand the result of using EMIS and energy management processes. The questions on this form ask for information on what kind of EMIS and energy management process you implemented during the Campaign, and data on your annual energy use. Filling out the Actions form takes between 30 minutes to an hour depending on the number of energy-saving measures implemented. Every Participant is asked to fill out the Actions form with updates, preferably every 3-6 months, for the 12 month period after they join the Campaign. Note that if you have not Joined as a Participant and received a login, you will be able to view the Actions form on the website as read only.

The Awards Application form takes about an hour to complete if you already have energy savings and costs tracked. The awards application process will be easier if you have a process to collect energy savings and cost information from the beginning of the Campaign. The first award applications will be due in March 2017 with awards given in May 2017. Note that if you have not Joined as a Participant and received a login, you will be able to view the Awards Application form as read only.

What is the difference between a minimum and a best practice level pledge for participants in the Campaign?

To make your Campaign pledge, a participant may install a new EMIS, upgrade an existing EMIS, or continue using an existing EMIS. At a minimum level, to participate in the Campaign you must make a pledge, which can be changed over time, to implement at least one of the following:

Use of an energy information system (EIS) with hourly (or more frequent) interval data from the whole building meter, or
Use of a fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) system or automated system optimization (ASO) for at least one HVAC system

Any energy management process is eligible as long as participants use their EMIS to analyze data to identify energy-saving opportunities and implement at least one of these energy-savings opportunities during the Campaign.

To achieve a best practice level, the EMIS installation should include at least one of the following:

EIS with whole building interval meter data, with sub-metering of major end-uses and embedded M&V
FDD or ASO software with BAS data for all HVAC systems.

As long as energy-saving measures are found and implemented through analyzing EMIS data during the campaign, any investigative process may be used. However, an ongoing process such as monitoring-based commissioning (MBCx) is highly encouraged.

Can I become a participant as an owner's representative?

With an owner’s permission, you may join the Campaign, submit a pledge and complete the participant actions form as an owner’s representative. If you are representing multiple owners, you will need to join separately for each owner (each owner will have a login and password), and manage the accounts that you represent.

Answers to common questions regarding participation in the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign.

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Campaign FAQ