Operations Center: How We Help Our Clients
No call center here. You get access to experts from Day 1.
As a client, you get engineers, data, and billing analysts assigned to your account. All ready to answer your questions and provide insights.
Tweaks to Optimize the System You Have, Not the System the Manufacturer Expects
The industry standard for water temperature is 7 degrees above the outside air wet bulb temperature. But that isn't optimal for every system.
One customer’s site had a relatively small number of cooling tower fans and higher-than-expected costs. The Operations Center team reviewed the site's data and calculated how changes in water temperature correlated with chiller costs and where the actual breakpoint was. We were able to recommend that the customer change the setpoint when load is high and change it back when load gets low (and what "high" and “low” really mean for their system).
Our engineers know exactly what your setpoints should be under different conditions and how to reset them as seasons and conditions change.
Helping Your Equipment Achieve Its Maximum Potential
utiliVisor commenced operations in 1978, meaning that we have records that go back more than 40 years on every piece of equipment, every system, and every setup we’ve ever encountered.
We use this data to benefit our customers. When we go to a site today, we can pull up records on equipment and configurations similar – if not identical – to yours. We compare load, optimum temperature, and other factors to determine what's possible. Most equipment can do more than indicated on its cut sheet, particularly when you consider its part in the larger system. We can go beyond the design specs to tell you the net potential that you should be able to achieve with the equipment you already have.
Assessing the Buzz
Building owners today hear a lot about the Internet of Things (IoT) and the analytic capability of modern technology. What you don’t hear enough of, we think, is the importance of the data you're already generating and how to use that data to maximize your ROI.
Your data is full of insight about your equipment, your facility type, and your tenants. Applying a generic algorithm to a specific situation is meaningless at best and misleading at worst.
You need someone who can help you understand your data in context – your systems, your tenants, your lease criteria, and your sustainability goals.
Improving Tenant Billing = Improving Tenant Relationships
If you have tenants, you know that billing transparency matters. Some tenants will always question the bill for their electrical usage. You need to be able to get ahead of the inevitable complaints that billing invoices are incorrect.
Perhaps your tenant didn't realize they left all their lights on over a long weekend or they had both the radiators and the AC on simultaneously for days. We make sure that your invoices are accurate BEFORE your tenants receive them, so you can talk candidly with tenants about their energy usage, confident in the knowledge that your statements are correct.
Prioritizing Your ECMs
The list of potential energy conservation measures (ECMs) you could apply is probably longer than your arm. But which ones offer the most bang for the buck?
Many effective ECMs are simple to implement and can be done by your onsite staff alongside their regular tasks. We analyze your data to help you determine which ECMs offer the biggest return on investment. Sometimes reverting back to basics or simplifying your controls can lead to substantial savings.
Normalizing Data for Meaningful Comparison and Analysis
Data comes in from different places and different types of equipment, which means you’re rarely able to compare apples with apples. We normalize your data stream based on equipment, weather conditions, time of day, and tenant type, and then compare our results against our historical data for a realistic set of checks & balances on how your system is really running.
We can help you factor out a weather event, time of day, or even load points on a machine to help you hear what your equipment is telling you and make informed decisions that are based on an accurate, realistic picture.
Getting Ahead of Mother Nature
Weather is a constant challenge in the operational planning of any facility. In the Operations Center, we analyze your data graphically to show how your plant reacts to weather, how it reacts to the load of the loop, and whether there are any outliers in your data to make sure you are prepared for whatever nature brings.
We can give you answers to practical questions like:
- "The temperature will plummet overnight. Do I need to stage on another boiler?"
- "What's been the boiler history the past three years when the outside air temperature is less than 20 degrees?"
- "What's my expected steam flow under tomorrow's conditions?"
- "Tomorrow will be 10 degrees hotter. Can I stretch the AC system by running three versus four machines? What happens if I run just this one set of pumps?"
- "With the humidity rising, am I going to be able to push enough GPM with the pumps I used yesterday? Do I need to stage on another one, and what will that cost?"
Helping You Adjust During COVID
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought up many new problems – ones that most building owners and utility engineers have not experienced before.
If your standard operating practices have changed due to lockdowns, empty buildings, and other COVID-related experiences, we can help you figure out what's effective under these new conditions. We’ll help you look at whether introducing 100% outside air into older loops actually increases load, and how much more you’re spending to meet new air-exchange requirements so that you can take that information to your board, bank, or regulator for performance reviews and budget planning.