Using Panoramic Power sensors and communication bridges from Centrica Business Solutions, AECOM discovered The Franklin was unnecessarily heating the property during unoccupied hours, while year round heating tendencies led to simultaneous heating and cooling in the summer.
The Franklin’s management and engineering team was searching for new ways to uncover energy efficiency opportunities. Critical areas included heating energy at the property’s hundreds of fan-powered boxes, scattered throughout its tenant-occupied floors.
Developed in two phases in 1989 and 1992, The Franklin is a 2.48 million square foot, two-building, multi-tenant office property and home to some of Chicago’s most prestigious businesses. When building owner, Tishman Speyer, engaged AECOM to perform monitoring-based commissioning services, the property’s annual energy use exceeded 40 million kWh.
After establishing HVAC data integration protocols, The Franklin’s engineering personnel were alerted to operating anomalies that could lead to excessive wasted energy. The Centrica Business Solutions PowerRadarTM mobile application enabled the site engineering team to view the same daily and weekly performance data available to AECOM.
Panoramic Power sensors and communication bridges monitor power draw to the property’s fan-powered boxes from 98 electric panels. PowerRadar revealed that the majority of tenant floors consume electricity during unoccupied hours and that night-time setback controls were keeping the floors at unnecessarily warm temperatures at night. It was also revealed that heating was operating throughout the year resulting in simultaneous heating and cooling during summer months.
AECOM used PowerRadar data to correct these operational problems and reduce annual energy use by more than 3 million kWh, or more than 7% of the property’s historical annual energy consumption. The projected energy cost savings enable the property to recover its investment in Panoramic Power devices and repairs in less than six months.
The project was awarded an Excellence in Engineering award from the ASHRAE Illinois Chapter and earned Energy Performance in a Single Site honors from the U.S. DOE Smart Energy Analytics Campaign.
Building engineers often struggle to gain insight into energy usage, as we did at The Franklin in Chicago. AECOM analytics platform utilised Panoramic Power wireless sensors to help visualise real-time energy usage and identify anomalies in the building HVAC operations. The combination of wireless sensor data and analytics resulted into significant amount of energy savings.” Syed Suhail CEM, Manager Energy Analytics, AECOM
Centrica Business Solutions designed and built a Microgrid with a Battery Energy Storage System and…
Turnkey CHP solution and partnership approach supports leading chain of hotels.
Centrica Business Solutions helped Moog to roadmap their green ambitions, and install a 2,200 panel…
Sign up to receive regular updates on:
By submitting your details you agree to process your personal data by Centrica Business Solutions as described on the Privacy Policy. Centrica Business Solutions will send you a regular newsletter and other marketing material we believe is relevant. You will be able to opt out of communications from us at any time.
