Most commercial building operators already know what they’re spending on energy. However, few know exactly when and where that energy is being wasted.
Remote electrical metering technology is the window into your efficiency. Trend tracking on a modern building management platform can provide you with a real-time and historical view into how power is being used in your building, all the way down to the device level, from wherever you are.
Explore a few ways that a cloud-based platform, connected to your BACnet-compatible electric meters, can give you the insights you need without ever stepping on-site.
Traditional meters tell you how much power your building used — period. But smart electrical meters, when integrated into a cloud platform, can do far more. Remote electrical metering platforms empower building and facility professionals to access circuit-level insight, real-time usage data, and a record of performance over time from the kitchen table. It’s much easier to spot patterns and correct inefficiencies when a few taps on a smartphone get you into the system and show you a full graph of filterable trends.
Want to know how much power is being drawn overnight, even when no one’s in the office? Curious whether a rooftop unit is cycling too frequently or showing signs of failure? Smart metering helps you answer those questions without sending a tech to the panel.
This is not a theoretical value. According to industry research, smart electrical metering technology gives facilities the visibility to save thousands per year by eliminating waste, spotting problem equipment early, and dialing in building schedules to align with actual usage. According to Amrou Awaysheh of Indiana University Kelley School of Business Indianapolis, who co-authored a study on this subject, “On average, energy consumption dropped by 7.46% across all the factories, which corresponded to the companies saving more than $41 million per year in energy costs.”
With a platform like ODIN, you don’t even need to replace your existing equipment; just connect your BACnet meters and sensors, and you’re ready to start tracking.
One of the biggest time-wasters in facility management is sending someone to a building just to check the meters or log performance data. With remote trend tracking, that step disappears.
If your cloud-based remote monitoring app is built on BACnet, it can also integrate with your existing electricity meters and give you full visibility from anywhere. Think about it: No VPNs. No spreadsheets. No driving. You would be able to view performance trends and active usage data on your phone, tablet, or desktop, at any time, from anywhere.
Facility managers can also use this tech to track and compare electric meter outputs at multiple buildings without needing to bounce between sites. It’s easier to benchmark locations, detect outliers, and streamline maintenance scheduling, whether you’re overseeing one building or a whole portfolio.
Trend tracking is a capability that turns metering electricity usage from reactive to predictive. Visualize energy use over time to:
For example, a rise in power draw from a single HVAC unit could indicate that a compressor is wearing out. If you catch that in the trend data, you can act before the unit fails. And if a section of your facility is drawing power during closed hours, you’ll see it in the ODIN dashboard and can adjust your schedules accordingly.
Electric meters are also, honestly, just the beginning of what can be tracked. As long as a device is BACnet-compatible — a sensor, motor, light fixture, or HVAC controller — a remote platform like ODIN can log and trend its behavior.
Empower your building team to take data and building analytics from long-term energy trends and turn it into strategic action that protects your budget. In ODIN, the same interface that helps you monitor usage also lets you adjust system settings, change schedules, or grant role-based access to outside service providers.
In other words, cloud-based metering and trend tracking make it easy to go from energy awareness to full control, even if your team is off-site or working from home. You can lean on these tools to reduce energy costs, to start. From there, support and advance your sustainability goals and protect the long-term outlook of your equipment investments. All of this is possible without a full system overhaul.
ODIN helps you build on the foundation of the HVAC automation or IoT device integrations you may have already begun. This easy-access, intuitive platform unifies your data across devices and buildings and gives you a single source of truth for energy use and system health.
Connect with ODIN today for more information!