Respond to demand
August 1st 2007

Energy management is is rarely addressed with the kind of networking components and solutions applied in other industries. Many companies are still using outdated controls,meter reading systems and other automation tools not built to provide accurate monitoring and reporting.Echelon's LonWorks-based control system hopes to change this by providing the resources to lower energy costs and improve efficiency writes Claire Jackson

Echelon's products and systems can monitor and save energy by networking together everyday devices and building control systems.

"Our technology means many components on one network can all respond to customer demand," explains Steve Nguyen, director of corporate marketing.

"We worked closely with suppliers and companies such as Honeywell, Hubbell Lighting and Douglas Lighting Controls to ensure a highly integrated system was possible.

Having these components all on one network equals personalised control.

"It's all about meeting the needs of the tenant but at the same time creating an efficient and comfortable environment." Echelon's headoffice itself contains over 1,000 smart devices from over 16 suppliers using Echelon's LonWorks (local operating network) device networking technology in the heating, air conditioning, lighting and other control systems.

"Our headquarters at Echelon are extremely automated, using our own technology," explains Anders Axelsson, senior vice president, sales and marketing.

"We have created a very forwardthinking environment. Using the web services technology in Echelon's i.LON 100 internet server as the interface to a LonWorks-based control system,the building can drop electrical demand by 30% within moments of an energy demand notification from our electricity supplier without any human intervention." "We now pay less electricity on an annual basis because we are willing to put the building into an efficient state." added Nguyen:"On an operating basis we are saving around $30,000 a year.Despite additional staff and working hours, with use increasing by 10%, costs have only risen by 6%. Usage and and costs are not tracking the same." Other buildings have benefited from Echelon's demand response capabilities, from fully manual (facilities personnel manually shut down systems and offices) to system level response (each sub-system in a building reports to a central controller) to fully open and integrated device networks like LonWorks (individual, connected devices respond intelligently to demand requests).

Demand response is gaining wider recognition as a way to conserve energy, reduce greenhouse gases and lower costs for end-users. In a typical work day there are hours where electricity demand peaks significantly, resulting in a strain on overall grid capacity. Nguyen refers to the Californian blackouts that plague the west coast of the US, as the impetus behind Echelon's latest solution.

The company recently received an Early Adopter Innovator Award from the State of California Energy Commission's Demand Response Research Council in recognition of Echelon's support to reducing loads on California's electricity grid.

Echelon demonstrated the ability to reduce energy consumption by over 30% without impacting on building occupants."Any building should be able to accomplish a saving of 20- 30% with the smart control system," suggests Axelsson.

In the UK, Echelon has implemented its control system in several key buildings, such as the Crown Estate HQ, British Airways business centre at Heathrow and Barclays Capital in Canary Wharf.

Providing financial incentives to companies and building owners to decrease electricity consumption during peak hours makes good business sense, according to Echelon. "Seventy per cent of all electricity consumed in the US is by commercial buildings, with a comparable total of 50% in Europe.

Around 70% of that amount is taken by lighting and heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems," says Nguyen. "Therefore having a control system is of vital importance in reducing this figure.

We don't want people to focus on constructing new buildings, but to make existing ones more efficient."