Using data to optimise energy consumption across building estates and fleets

“One of the first things I did when I was given the project to refurbish the site, was to take a detailed look at the data on the current consumption. The Killingworth site was the biggest energy user across our estate. It also had the biggest carbon footprint. So, we needed to get into the details of what was happening across all elements of the site and assess what changes and improvements we could make. To set a baseline for carbon reductions, we used DEFRA’s carbon calculator to model against our energy consumption.

“Being able to quantify carbon savings is key – the traditional ROI of cost savings are difficult to justify in the context of net zero as the driver. Data is key in demonstrating these outputs.”

“Solar PV is an instant win for a site of this size but it’s important to size correctly. As we were driven by decarbonisation, I started by looking at the carbon savings of the range of measures we had implemented – including our air source heat recovery system. Collectively these reduced our energy consumption by 2.5 million kWh per annum – and of that remaining figure, 700,000kWh was electricity.

“My target was to reduce this amount to 200,000kWh through the introduction of solar. Once installed, we then measured how much solar we were exporting – which was 15% of our green energy going back to the grid. This is where the addition of battery energy storage comes in.”

“Battery energy storage was an important final piece in the jigsaw for the site.

“By using Connected Energy’s system, we can capture our excess solar energy and then programme the system to charge our electric vehicles and buildings overnight.

“This helps us to maximise the use of our green energy further.”

Note: This is an excerpt from an interview featured in our new whitepaper for energy managers.