Schneider Electric helps Plymouth with long-term energy objectives
Schneider Electric, a specialist in energy management, and Cisco, a global leader in the IT space, are combining their expertise to reduce energy costs for Plymouth University by around £300 000 over the next four years. The university aims to be carbon neutral by 2030 and save £500 000 a year in energy costs and 3000 t of CO2 emissions.
The university, Schneider Electric and Cisco have collaborated in what is thought to be the world’s first integrated communication technology (ICT) and building energy management system (BEMS) that connects with Cisco EnergyWise to report on and potentially control energy-consuming devices in buildings.
The Cisco EnergyWise suite is a platform that sits within the existing IT network. From there, it monitors and controls every IT device on that network, without the need for software rollout — making it very easy to install, configure and maintain.
Integrating the BEMS and ICT through a new gateway has enabled the university to achieve its three main objectives.
• Immediate reductions in emissions and operational expenditure, with a payback within five years.
• Enhanced intelligence for ongoing management and policy development.
• A long-term strategy for the converged management of energy-related systems and assets.
In partnership with Schneider Electric, the university developed and implemented a campus-wide solution that includes significant enhancement of the BEMS, on-site utility and commodity metering and reporting, as well as offering best-practice stakeholder engagement.
The information provided by Schneider Electric and Cisco helps the university to manage energy demand and gives the team visibility of energy use to help build business cases for future investment.
Philip Clark of Schneider Electric explains, ‘For many, the notion of updating an existing system to a more efficient version can seem overwhelming, often believing that they will have to rip out and start again.
‘However, with the open solutions that are now on the market, this isn’t the case. We are able to work with partner companies such as Cisco to devise a tailored plan that will suit organisations such as Plymouth University by simply integrating the new with the old.’
