The electricity consumption impacts of commercial energy management systems

An investigation of energy management systems (EMSs) in large commercial and institutional buildings in North Carolina was undertaken to determine how EMSs currently affect electricity consumption and what their potential is for reducing on-peak electricity demand. A survey was mailed to 5000 commercial customers. The 430 responses were tabulated and analyzed, EMS vendors were interviewed, and 30 sites were investigated in detail. The detailed assessments included a site interview and reconstruction of historic billing data to evaluate EMS impact, if any. The results indicate that a well-tuned EMS can result in a 10 to 40% reduction in billed demand, and smaller reductions in energy consumption