Small and medium enterprises (SMES) play an important role in Taiwan's economy. The reduction of energy costs and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions are critical to preserving the environment. This paper uses the experimental results from 65 sites, gathered over two years since 2012, to determine how the integration of Internet communication, cloud computing technologies and a cloud energy management service (cloud EMS) can reduce energy consumption by cost-effective means. The EMS has three levels: infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and software as a service (SaaS). Working jointly with ChungHwa Telecom, Taiwan's leading telecom service provider, data from detection devices, control devices, air-conditioning and lighting systems are all uploaded to a cloud EMS platform, to give a so called intelligent energy management network application service platform (IEN-ASP). Various energy saving management functions are developed using this platform: (1) air conditioning optimization; (2) lighting system optimization; (3) scheduling control; (4) power billing control and (5) occupancy detection and timing control. Using the international performance measurement and verification protocol (IPMVP), the energy used at the test sites, before and after the use of the IEN-ASP, are compared to calculate the energy saved. The experimental results show that there is an average energy saving of 5724 kWh per year, which represents a saving ratio of 5.84%. This translates to a total reduction in CO 2 emissions of 9,926,829 kg per year. Using the data collected, a regression model is used to demonstrate the correlation between the power that is consumed, the energy that is saved and the area of the sites. Another interesting result is that, if the experimental sites are maintained by experienced electricians or other personnel and EMS protocols are followed, the energy saving can be as great as 6.59%.
It is easy to measure energy consumption with a power meter. However, energy savings cannot be directly computed by the powers measured using existing power meter technologies, since the power consumption only reflects parts of the real energy flows. The International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP) was proposed by the Efficiency Valuation Organization (EVO) to quantify energy savings using four different methodologies of A, B, C and D. Although energy savings can be estimated following the IPMVP, there are limitations on its practical implementation. Moreover, the data processing methods of the four IPMVP alternatives use multiple sensors (thermometer, hygrometer, Occupant information) and power meter readings to simulate all facilities, in order to determine an energy usage benchmark and the energy savings. This study proposes a simple sensor platform to measure energy savings. Using usually the Electronic Product Code (EPC) global standard, an architecture framework for an information system is constructed that integrates sensors data, power meter readings and occupancy conditions. The proposed sensor platform is used to monitor a building with a newly built vertical garden system (VGS). A VGS shields solar radiation and saves on energy that would be expended on air-conditioning. With this platform, the amount of energy saved in the whole facility is measured and reported in real-time. The data are compared with those obtained from detailed measurement and verification (M&V) processes. The discrepancy is less than 1.565%. Using measurements from the proposed sensor platform, the energy savings for the entire facility are quantified, with a resolution of ±1.2%. The VGS gives an 8.483% daily electricity saving for the building. Thus, the results show that the simple sensor platform proposed by this study is more widely applicable than the four complicated IPMVP alternatives and the VGS is an effective tool in reducing the carbon footprint of a building.
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