Case Study: Jorgensen
Roy Jorgensen Associates, Inc. is an internationally recognized leader in transportation, public works, facilities management and consulting.
Its Facilities Services Division helps clients solve their most difficult facilities problems, including preserving capital investment in facilities, freeing managers from day-to-day maintenance responsibility, and controlling facilities maintenance expenses. Recently, the division expanded its service to include real-time facilities monitoring as it pertains to energy use to help clients control energy consumption, modify operational strategies and improve efficiency in order to reduce overall energy costs.
The Problem: Jorgensen was charged with helping one of its clients, Toyota Motor Corp., reduce energy consumption within its company-owned corporate offices, regional offices and distribution facilities.
The Solution: An energy management solution developed by Stonewater, and integrated with EnvoyXpress, enabled the consultant to cut Toyota's energy use by over 5 percent in the first six months.
When Toyota, one of Jorgensen's long-time facilities customers, challenged the firm to manage energy usage within its campuses, regional offices and distribution centers, Al Pipkin, National Manager Energy Utility Programs, and one of the country's foremost authorities on real-time energy monitoring and efficiency, was tasked by Jorgensen to lead the project. Pipkin's energy team began by developing a comprehensive energy plan for the automaker that called for a reduction in energy consumption of 5 percent by the end of its fiscal year 2002, 15 percent by the end of FY 2004 and a long-term objective to improve total energy efficiency by 50 percent by 2010. In order to achieve these objectives, Pipkin determined that a real-time energy management solution needed to be installed early on in order to track and manage energy use.
"Our client is a savvy organization that correctly recognized that its energy cost did not have to be an uncontrollable, fixed cost," explained Pipkin. "By utilizing an integrated, real-time system that combines monitoring, alarming and alerting to manage major energy-powered systems, companies of all kinds can take control of their consumption, which can in turn enable them to better manage their energy costs."
Pipkin selected the energy1st energy management solution from Stonewater Control Systems due to "its real time capabilities for both monitoring and alerting, as well as for its ability to aggregate energy data from multiple facilities—a key requirement in this case." energy1st, an affordable energy management solution, allows consumers to gain insight into their energy usage in real-time in order to control consumption and reduce costs. Fully integrated with EnvoyXpress, EnvoyWorldWide's core notification platform, energy1st automatically triggers alerts to facilities management personnel when pre-set high/low demand levels are reached. Messages are sent via EnvoyXpress according to the pre-determined wired and/or wireless communications device each individual recipient prefers in order to ensure message receipt.
Once the demand levels were defined and the implementation was completed, the energy1st system began monitoring the totality of systems within six facilities for the pilot phase of the project. Gateways, attached to electric and gas meters and tied into the Stonewater server, allow Jorgensen Associates to monitor air conditioners, lights, office machines, ventilation systems, and battery chargers for the electric forklift trucks used in the distribution centers. The Stonewater solution constantly monitors energy consumption via the on-site gateways, and if high/low demand levels are reached, alerts are automatically sent through EnvoyXpress in order to instantly notify the appropriate facilities management personnel—generally by way of pagers—who then take immediate action to rectify the situation.
By monitoring key energy systems in real time, Jorgensen is able to help the automaker avert potential problems that could severely impact the company's business. And, by analyzing the myriad of usage data flowing into the Stonewater system in real time, Jorgensen is able to take steps to reduce energy use in order to cut costs without creating inconveniences for workers. For example, in the afternoon from noon to 6:00 p.m. when energy costs are at their peak in California, lights in certain facilities are dimmed by up to 30 percent when sunlight is at its brightest.
The Results: Since implementing the integrated solution just six months ago, Jorgensen appears to have met its initial goal of reducing Toyota's energy use by 5 percent. And, as a result of the overwhelming success of the pilot project, Jorgensen has been given the green light to deploy the Stonewater solution, equipped with the alerting functionality of EnvoyXpress, nationwide, encompassing some 60 company-owned facilities.
Concluded Pipkin, "Based on the results we have experienced to date, and the initiatives we have planned for the future, including the use of renewable energy systems and sources, and the expanded use of the Stonewater solution, I'm confident that the goals outlined in our energy/utility management program will be met."