The Pulse of Energy

Yardi Energy

By Cutright Elizabeth on Mar 17, 2017 in Technology

With the ability to collect, analyze and communicate real-time energy information, Pulse Energy adds the power of data to Yardi Energy arsenal.

The Power of Data

Over the last few years, Jeff Rambharack and the Pulse Energy team have worked to collect data on over a million businesses throughout the US and Canada. That data drives the company’s overall approach and helps provide Pulse clients with strategies tailored to their unique challenges. The company works with utilities and individual businesses, focusing on solutions specifically for different industry segments.

“We provide personalized messaging for individual businesses,” explains Rambharack. “We support over 130 different verticals for businesses segments, and we provide personal messaging within each segment. We recognize that every business is different, and we work to identify sources of energy consumption and provide targeted recommendations layered on top of our in-depth analytics we’ve developed to analyze each business’s energy consumption.”

Rambharack believes the biggest benefit of this data aggregation is that it allows an energy usage analysis at every level of a company’s organization. By being able to provide personalized insights about of those levels of aggregation, Pulse clients can pursue more effective energy management policies and procedures to reduce energy waste and improve energy efficiency.

“Just being able to provide insights and say ‘Hey, you should go look at building X, because we think it has some efficiency problems,’ is so valuable to our clients,” says Rambharack. “Maybe we discover that they are leaving their systems on at night or running their AC and heating simultaneously. Our analytics and extensive database help us detect these sorts of oversights and provide valuable energy consumption insight to our customers.”

Tracking Usage against the Baseline

One of the most valuable tools for energy management involves developing an accurate baseline. Identifying a baseline of energy use creates a standard upon which future action can be judged and measured. A savings baseline, according to Rambharack, records a year of historical data to specify a measure of past performance.

“The savings baseline represents past performance,” Rambharack elaborates. “When a customer implements an energy efficiency measure – like replacing their HVAC system – they can use the savings baseline to track energy savings, calculate kW hours, and identify any savings resulting from the upgrade.”

A baseline can also be used for comparing real-time performance, says Rambharack. When a customer wants to contrast current performance against regular energy consumption, Rambharack explains, they can detect developing issues or highlight potential problems.

“Our customers can go into our software and see the baseline of typical or expected performance,” says Rambharack. “They can then measure their current performance to flag any issues in terms of how the building is behaving.”

Rambharack also points out that baselines can help companies with forecasting and long-range energy management policies. The data allows businesses to plan ahead based on expected weather or episodes of peak demand.

“Our forecasting provides alerts to let them know if they are close to a peak demand day of if there’s something in the weather forecast that will impact demand,” says Rambharack.

“Our baseline is based on a massive database,” he concludes. “There are a lot of interesting elements that contribute to building performance and energy use.”

Happy Customers and Improved ROI

For Rambharack, some of Pulse’s biggest victories come from improving customer satisfaction for his clients. When customers understand their bill, they begin to feel as though they are part of the process, says Rambharack. As a result, utilities not only see increasing engagement, they see savings as well.

Rambharack admits of the biggest surprises he’s found is how difficult it can be to motivate property owners and tenants to take action. Even when it’s clear there’s a significant amount of money that can be saved, he says, those savings alone are often not enough to inspire change. Rambharack believes part of the problem is a general lack of understanding.

“What we’ve realized with our market research is that most people they don’t understand energy or the differences between inefficient uses of energy and efficient practices. There’s a big education gap that’s difficult to overcome.

Because utilities struggle to get their customers to pay attention, Pulse works with each client to ensure their public outreach accurately reflect the realities of energy use in commercial and residential properties

“Targeted outreach increases in customer satisfaction and helps utilities overcome this education gap,” says Rambharack.

“Our metrics show that through our program, Utilities get better engagement and bigger energy savings,” Rambharack continues. “We have even had third-party sources like JD Power rank our clients high in overall customer satisfaction, which is an enormously important accoladge for our utility clients.”

The Business of Energy

Looking ahead, Rambharack expects to see more and more demand for energy use data for energy management applications. As part of the Yardi Energy software suite, Pulse Energy will not only broaden its reach, but expand its capabilities.

“Now that we are a part of Yardi, I see a lot of opportunity for even more fine-tuned energy management,” says Rambharack. “When paired with LOBOS or Voyager, we’ll be able to provide another level of analytics and detailed information about building performance that will help our clients develop effective energy efficiency strategies.”

“Managing a building or running a business can be complex,” he concludes. “I think moving forward utilities, owners, and even tenants will want insights into energy use and building performance so that they can take action.”

“In many ways, running a more energy efficient building is a proxy for a well-run business, and I think that’s a good thing.”