Press Release Back Number(2003)

Developing "a telemetry system to measure energy consumption in buildings" that helps save energy in buildings
Quickly and inexpensively measures energy consumption throughout an entire building

August 26, 2003

Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc., Toenec Corporation, and Watanabe Electric Industry Co., Ltd. have jointly developed a telemetry system to measure energy consumption in buildings. This system can measure actual energy consumption, primarily in existing buildings, quickly and at low cost.

Despite various energy conservation measures, energy consumption in business buildings such as office buildings continues to rise. While the Building and Energy Management System (BEMS)* and other systems are implemented in large-scale or new buildings, no effective energy-saving measures, which tend to be very expensive, are taken for small, medium-sized, or existing buildings.

  • * Building and Energy Management System: The general term for an energy management system primarily for large buildings

It is essential to precisely determine the energy consumption in order to achieve energy conservation throughout an entire building. In this system, the measuring equipment installed in buildings measures the amount of electricity consumed in real-time. Based on the data sent on the same day, graphical presentation software displays the amount of consumed electricity by application and in chronological order. In addition, the system can analyze the capacity and efficiency of the air conditioner that consumes the most energy, based on heat generated by the air conditioner and the room environment (such as temperature and humidity), which are also measured.

Measurement costs, which have been a problem, are reduced by 40% compared to conventional measurement systems for existing buildings, due to an emphasis on cost-cutting and to wireless measuring equipment. In addition, graphical presentations enable the user to quickly grasp the actual situation and to assess when partial repair work should be performed and equipment replaced.

Chubu Electric Power is considering providing new services through this system. In addition, we plan to install the system in our 80 main facilities and to reduce energy consumption by 5% in three years from this fiscal year. Toenec Corporation will begin selling the measurement equipment to general users in September 2003.

Main features of this new system

(1) Low measurement costs
  • - Measurement costs (including the cost of equipment, data collection, and data display) are 40% less than with conventional systems.
(2) Quickly determine the amount of data required for energy conservation
  • - This system incorporates a function that displays measured data in graph form, enabling the user to determine actual energy consumption quickly and precisely.
  • - Measured data is displayed in a variety of graphs (daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly reports).
(3) The optimum system for measuring and analyzing energy consumption in existing buildings
  • - Minimizes wiring requirements to facilitate measurement of energy consumption in existing buildings.
  • - Permits remote monitoring of measured data for management of a group of buildings.