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EnergyWitness™ provides an enterprise-wide view of energy operations that
you can explore quickly and easily to identify problems, validate
improvements, and test hypotheses. You don't need to be a computer
whiz, and more importantly, you don't have to wait hours or days for
a trend log to gather what you hope is the right information. You
have the data at your fingertips to find operational inefficiencies
and cost savings opportunities, and the tools to do so in minutes.
RH sensor data from two different BAS—which one is right? Looks like a calibration problem.
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Diagnostics Start with Data
Just as a forensics expert starts an investigation by gathering
evidence and following where it leads, a facilities manager or energy
engineer needs the evidence—the raw monitoring and control
data—for diagnostics. The importance of having a complete view of
the operational data cannot be understated. Without it, the
diagnostic process is guesswork and trial-and-error.
EWDataCollector and
EWDataWarehouse combine to collect and manage
all the data you need, in the form you need it, to enable you to
identify and investigate any questionable behavior.
Data Presented the way the Mind Works—Visually and Fast
With thousands of control and monitoring points, there are millions
(even tens of millions)
of data intervals collected by EnergyWitness every week. The human mind can't
process this raw data in numeric form, but it comprehends graphical information with
ease. EWViewer translates all the captured data into a graphical
representation that makes diagnosis easy. It is easy to spot
behavior patterns that represent:
- unstable controls,
- out of calibration sensors,
- energy spikes,
- equipment that is on when believed to be off,
- poor control strategies, and
- even engineering design flaws.
Zooming in on the upper set of trend lines where there's a temperature spike.
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Once you spot something, overlay additional trend histories to
get a more complete picture of what is happening. Zoom
in on the area where the issue starts occurring. Go back in time to
see if this behavior has a pattern, if it is new, or perhaps
inadvertently introduced while fixing another problem. Your mind
will process the graphical data in an instant, and just as fast as
you can think about where to take your investigation—what next to
look at—EWViewer can deliver the data. For example, if you
noticed condenser water supply and return temperatures becoming
unstable, you might investigate tower operations
and find the root of the problem started four months ago. You could
never do this with BAS trend logs as your primary diagnostic tool. But
our experience has proven that EnergyWitness, and a skilled
diagnostician, can enable you to
pinpoint even the most complicated of problems.
Trends Are Important ... Trend Logs Are Not the Answer
Trends tell the story in a way that watching a real-time monitor cannot.
The charts displayed by EWViewer are trend lines made up of the 15
minute interval data that is collected. EnergyWitness trend lines are far different from the trend logs
that exist in many building automation systems today. The EnergyWitness trend lines:
- are always there. No need to establish a log and then wait
for data to collect.
- are available for every energy system, every control and
monitoring point, as well as for weather and incoming utilities.
If you have multiple BAS, EnergyWitness displays data from them all.
- can be dynamically overlaid to see how different systems
interact. Just drag a trend line from the
Data Tree and drop it into the trending chart—no need to stop logging and start a new trend log
that includes the additional data.
- are historical, going back to the point where the system was
installed, not something that starts only after you've
hypothesized where an issue might lurk.
- are collected without impeding the performance of your BAS.
Trend logs can become a drain on the systems controlling the
BAS, but EWDataCollector, using OPC to collect data, adds no
such performance drag.
Trend logs have their place, but a BAS is designed to control
your operations—that's their focus. Only EnergyWitness gives you
all the interval data to manage
your operations and provide you with actionable information. Once you have identified and diagnosed an issue
with EnergyWitness, then creating a trend log, knowing
exactly what you need on the first pass, can give you the final bit
of information at the granularity required to implement the needed
correction. Once the correction is made, it's EnergyWitness that
will allow you to verify the change had the desired impact without
upsetting any other part of your systems.
Diagnosis Leads to Correction ... Which Leads to Cost Savings
Energy prices are at all-time highs. On one hand, utility
companies are offering incentives for implementing energy reduction
programs. On the flip side, they will levy huge ratchet charges,
perhaps ten times normal rates, for peak usage that exceeds
contracted demand. EnergyWitness gives you the diagnostic tools so you can
tune your plant into an energy efficient machine.
Without EnergyWitness it would be easy to miss, for example, two
fans running when only one should (we know, we see this kind of
thing all the time). The cost associated with the extra 20 HP fan,
cycling from no load to high load, is $60 per week of wasted
electricity. Problems with a main cooling tower or chiller could be
orders of magnitude higher in
cost. But you can't correct what you can't diagnose in the first
place.
Diagnosis is just the first step in the path to energy savings.
EnergyWitness allows you to capture issues using
EWIssueTracker. We consistently
uncover a wide range of
issues that were previously unidentified. You can then
prioritize and develop a plan for corrective action, identify the
operational implications, and estimate the cost savings. A
technician can be assigned specific issues to fix. Once corrected,
you can again monitor operations to verify the results.
Show Me How to Diagnose My Energy Systems Operations
You don't have to believe what our marketing guy wrote (even though
it's true)—see for yourself. Get a live demonstration of
EnergyWitness and see how it can give you the diagnostic tools to
change your perspective on the state of your facility and alter your
operating plans. Just give us a call at 617-744-1091, or send an
e-mail to
info@intdatsys.com.
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