Artificial Intelligence-Based Data Monitoring Helps ETS Clients Control Energy Costs

LIVINGSTON, NJ—Energy Technology Savings, an energy technology, behavior management and smart building service provider, is rolling out artificial intelligence-based technology to help building owners turn their building operations data into valuable revenue streams.

ETS markets its AI solution as the SmartKit AI Platform, an integrated mobile software suite for building operations and energy management.

“We’re servicing buildings in Boston, New York City, New Jersey, down to DC,” says Jeff Hendler, chief executive officer of ETS. “Right now about 80 percent of our clients are on the multifamily side, the balance is commercial. These types of buildings, for the most part, tend not to have any access to any real time data of operations in the building, and the first thing we do for the building is work with the utility to get the meter data alive and transparent.”

Podcast Interview

You can hear an exclusive audio interview with Jeff Hendler, CEO of Energy Technology Services, in the audio player below. If you don’t see a player below, click here to listen to the podcast.

Giving building managers access to the data is often the most important step, Hendler says.

“We create the transparency that makes that data actionable to the property managers in real time, through training and education,” he says. “What they can do in their building is to shift their loads and monitor their equipment, to be able to optimize how the building is being staged and performance for the building at any given time.”

The data analysis capability can ensure that a building is taking full advantage of utility tariff classes for the building’s usage characteristics, Hendler says. In the Northeast, the wholesale electric grid consortium known as PJM Interconnect uses the summer months to analyze usage data to establish baseline energy bills for large building users. Being able to reduce a building’s overall electrical load during the specific hours that PJM is measuring a building’s usage can help reduce yearly electrical costs, Hendler says.

A concierge team of engineers from ETS visits client buildings to show building managers how to use the mobile AI platform to make adjustments like precooling amenity spaces, he says.

In Jersey City, ETS has installed “Internet of Things” sensors at Roseland’s Monaco twin 50-story complex, which includes open-air parking decks. Doorways are equipped with temperature and motion sensors to monitor whether an open access door might be lowering the temperature and exposing standpipes to freezing.

ETS customers have brought the platform to 186 buildings across the Northeast and the West Coast. Current SmartKit AI users represent approximately 60 million square feet of commercial and multifamily residential buildings and 50 megawatts of electric load.

Resiliency and sustainability have become critical to building owners in the wake of power and pump failures after Superstorm Sandy, so getting the size and power of these systems right is essential, Hendler says.

“By having the data on the building, we’re able to help the owners to right-size these types of projects,” he says.

SmartKit AI’s mobile software suite provides real-time data transparency, monitoring, predictive analytics and digital management tools that reduce energy and operating costs by 10 to 20 percent.

“We believe that making buildings smarter is a logical way to go about reducing operations costs; our company’s rapid growth and the expanding user base of SmartKit AI are indicators that the market agrees,” Hendler says. “We create operational transparency and intuitive technology to empower users—from building owners to facilities’ team members—to capture savings and generate revenue. The new offering and recent SmartKit AI growth metrics show that now is the right time to scale up and expand our presence.”

Since the launch of the new software offering, clients expanding their relationship with ETS include Roseland Residential Trust and AvalonBay Communities while Pan Am, Moinian Group and Manhattan Mini Storage signed new contracts. SmartKit AI also works with utilities to solve technical challenges and support more efficient monitoring and planning while cutting costs for customers. The product builds upon ETS’ collaborations with utilities, grid operators and government agencies, which include the company’s roles as a demand response aggregator and NYSERDA Real Time Energy Management vendor.

CORRECTION, 8/8/2018, 2:05 p.m.: An earlier version of this story incorrectly rendered the brand name of the ETS technology. It is the SmartKit AI Platform, not the Smart Building AI Platform.