15. Describe the building, site and workplace characteristics (e.g., open floor plan, perimeter zone) required to achieve the benefits of your technology cost effectively.
Describe criteria for the implementation of the technology, such as ideal climate zone, applicable energy load profile, utility rates or cost of energy, and other critical site factors. Provide information on power sources, operating requirements and other installation needs of your technology. For example, a solar thermal device may require unshaded flat or south-facing roof areas, large, consistent hot water loads and high cost for thermal energy or no available thermal energy at the site. (Limit 2500 characters)
Open Energy can be applied in any location regardless of workplace characteristics. To achieve maximum benefits it requires new levels of coordination between Facility Managment and Office of IT personnel.
Large Drupal web sites such as www.whitehouse.gov or www.psu.edu were not put together overnight by staff employees trained on the job. Both institutions, with very large IT departments actually hired outside contractors to come in and recreate the old web sites into new Drupal based sites. Many institutional staff members were involved of course and handled different aspects of the Drupal projects. Web content managers routinely are involved in the day to day writing and publishing of fresh content to drive traffic to the site and inform both anonymous and authenticated user to the targeted messages and news.
The same is true about the building automation systems in large facilities. Smart buildings today require maximum interoperability to avoid duplication and ease facility operations. Every building does not require a dedicated BACnet Advanced Operator Workstation. Rather a single front end sitting in a remote enterprise server farm can serve hundreds of facilities. Numerous contractors may have been used, yet by application of consistent standards the disparate systems communicate and share resources. Staff employees still pick up the project deliverables and operate the facilities over the long term.
The new Open Energy paradigm involves placing relevant building data into the mainstream of content developed for display on the primary web site for the facility. Whether it is supporting energy reduction campaigns, showcasing real-time building performance or accentuating green building features, Open Energy content can be delivered on the same page and in the same context as any other web content. This new paradigm empowers the maximum number of users to become active participants in this powerful energy conservation initiative by engaging them where they are already going.
Open Energy relies on increasing both the interoperability of existing systems as well as and the communication between the individuals managing those systems. It is really agnostic as to factors such as ideal climate zone, applicable energy load profile, utility rates or cost of energy. It relies on effectively communicating real time building data directly to the maximum number of building occupants to create transparency and savings.