Energy Management Software Comparison: Strengths and Weaknesses
This analysis compares the strengths and weaknesses of various Energy Management Software (EMS) options like EnergyCAP, Ameresco, EEMS, Lucid, Entech Gold, FacilityDude, UtilityTrac, and NUS Direct. Strengths include cost avoidance, real-time data monitoring, bill management, and more. However, weaknesses such as limited dashboard customization, reporting issues, poor support, and lack of certain features are also highlighted. These insights can help municipalities make informed decisions when choosing an EMS.
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Presentation Transcript
Corporate Energy Efficiency Workshop May 5th 2017 Energy Management Survey Results
Q1 Does your municipality use an Energy Management Software (EMS)? n =23 Yes =16 / 70% No = 5 / 26% Unsure = 1 / 4%
Type EnergyCAP Ameresco EEMS Lucid Entech Gold FacilityDude/UtilityTrac NUS Direct Number 6 / 38% 3 / 19% 2 / 13% 2 / 13% 1 / 6% 1 / 6% 1 / 6%
Strengths Cost avoidance, calendarization and normalization, anomaly tracking, budgeting, EnergyStar, GHG emission calculations, O.Reg. 397/11 annual consumption reporting, tabular & graphical report generation, easy, robust, supports APIs , SAP compatible, automated bill uploading EnergyCAP User friendly, customizable dashboards and account structure, easy sorting features, good customer support & data validation, unlimited users Ameresco Bills management, reporting, real time data, Inexpensive system with simple data input and basic reports of energy consumption EEMS Real time monitoring of facility consumption, helps investing and troubleshooting abnormal operation of equipment, public display, clear information Lucid Utility bill scanning & exporting, can track multiple meter types and generate multiple reports for each facility, allows for financial data inputs Entech Gold Group and facility trending by utility and intensity, benchmarking, weather normalization FacilityDude/UtilityTrac Utility bill management. Ease of use, bill data entry is incorporated into the service, also allows process-based metrics to be added for better alignment of efficiency measurement with specific industrial services (e.g. kWh per megalitre of water processed; kWh per tonne of waste) NUS Direct
Weaknesses limited customizable dashboards, report formats locked, no in-time data monitoring, can t receive data in the Green Button format, does not automatically address data gaps/overlaps EnergyCAP Limited reporting or availability for automatic or emailed reports to users, no real time capability, poor support Ameresco Not user friendly, no report customization EEMS Doesn t provide weather normalized data. Limited calculating Energy intensity use. Tricky to update Lucid Following up with utility on billing errors - Rectifying utility billing errors in software, weather normalization (reporting is weak) Entech Gold Lacks hourly data input and budgeting capability FacilityDude/UtilityTrac Doesn t integrate with in-house submetering capabilities such as BAS. Doesn t support pass through billing and renewable generation. NUS Direct
Fees Type Initial Set up Subsequent and additional fees EnergyCAP $30 65k (some can t disclose) Ameresco $13k, depends on # accounts Huge range based on software upgrades, data entry, ongoing support, configuration, number of accounts, maintenance, contract obligations, hosting, licencing, training, auditing. EEMS $20k - $100k Lucid $50k for one facility Entech Gold $25k FacilityDude/ UtilityTrac Depends on # meters. $6k for 150x NUS Direct $11,776 (108 accounts, 2 yrs historical data)
How you use your EMS Do you use your EMS for budgeting purposes? Yes = 12, 80% No = 3, 20% Is EMS recording data from utility meters and/or bills? Bills only = 6, 40% Both = 4, 27% No, = 3, 20% Meters only = 2, 13% Is the EMS connected to the Building Automation System No = 14, 93% Yes = 1, 7%
Can you share RFPs used for the EMS? Yes = 8, 50% No = 2, 12.5% Unsure = 6, 37.5%