Best Energy Management System Software

With an economic rebound after COVID-19 and the Ukraine conflict, a spike in energy prices has been triggered for multiple commodities. And just like other business owners, you might be searching for ways to save energy and money.

While others are looking to reduce their energy consumption for the sake of the environment, as energy efficiency becomes a priority for businesses, it has become crucial to invest in energy management systems as early as possible.

But what are the energy management systems, and how could they help? Are some tools available in the market to achieve that, and if so, which would have better benefits?

You might have more questions in your mind than answers, right?

Without further ado, let’s understand the energy management systems' concept and their common features, benefits, usage, and challenges.

What is an Energy Management System?

Energy Management System (EMS) is an umbrella term for different energy-related software applications. EMS software tracks energy usage and displays information such as real-time metering, utility bills, lighting control systems, reports on carbon and sustainability, simulation and modeling of buildings, energy consumption audits, management of IT equipment, etc.

In simple terms, an EMS is like a framework for energy consumers, whether commercial, industrial, or public sector organizations, that help them to monitor, control, and optimize energy usage.

What are the Benefits of an Energy Management System?

The energy management system is not just used to lower energy costs, it is much more than that. Some of the major benefits that an organization can gain from using EMS software include the following:

1. By providing data and tools to make informed energy-saving decisions, energy management software helps organizations save energy and money simultaneously.

2. It can help track energy consumption and set goals to minimize an organization's carbon footprint.

3. Monitoring CO2 emissions at different sites helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions in power plants.

4. Real-time data visualization features of the EMS software helps detect and resolve consumption alerts.

5. Reducing energy consumption also helps reduce resources, raw materials, and equipment costs.

6. The energy management system is a cost-effective solution that helps businesses to focus on adopting eco-friendly practices and levels of energy consumption while promoting sustainable development.

7. Most importantly, with the risk of energy scarcity for future generations, it has become crucial to use an energy management system as it can help to combat the emerging scarcity problem.

What are the Common Features of Energy Management Systems?

Every energy management system is developed differently; while some help you meet your goals, others are destined for failure. What makes the difference? Well, its features.

But what features should be considered while buying an off-the-shelf or developing a customized EMS solution?

To help you out, here are some common features of Energy Management Systems that you should seek:

1. Interactive Dashboard

   With dashboards, users can interact with data by tracking, analyzing, displaying, and monitoring key energy metrics. An interactive dashboard helps users access regular insights on the energy KPIs from a centralized location.

2. Alerts/Escalation

   Including alerts, features send notifications to the administrator when a problem is detected in the system, such as an equipment outage or out-of-range sensor values, etc.

3. Automated Billing

   Billing can be a tedious task for utility suppliers. Thus, many organizations outsource their billing operations to third-party service providers. But, if the EMS software comes with automated billing capabilities, the task becomes much easier and more efficient.

4. Historical Data

   If the energy management system stores annual energy consumption data, it can easily compare current usage to previous ones to detect consumption trends and past problems.

5. Analysis of Power Quality

   Billions of dollars are lost annually due to power failures. If the energy management system you are investing in integrates power quality analysis, it will be easier to avoid any disruptions in energy consumption.

6. Real-Time Monitoring

   With real-time monitoring, businesses get key information on energy usage within moments that help in detecting areas of improvement in the system.

7. Customized Reporting

   What might be beneficial for one company cannot meet the needs of another. So, EMS software needs to implement customization options, allowing consumers to set key performance indicators for customized reporting quickly.

8. Third-Party Integration

   It should also allow businesses to integrate other processes like accounting, energy procurement, and billing systems.

9. Strategies to Save Energy

   EMS software should also provide analyzed strategies to save energy consumption. For example, demand response, energy storage, and energy conservation.

Who Uses Energy Management Systems?

Industrial, Residential, and Commercial consumers individually account for one-third of the total electric usage of a country.

To be more specific, industries like cement manufacturing, metal manufacturing, oil and gas refineries, food and beverage processing, mining processing, petrochemical, utility, etc., uses energy to process, produce, and construct goods.

The commercial industry that uses energy includes public/private organizations, government facilities, and service-providing facilities. At the same time, the residential sector consists of multi-family or single-family residences.

While using the energy management system for residential consumers is optional, it can be applied to industrial and commercial consumers to attain energy efficiency, energy utilization,  waste reduction, and minimize energy costs.

Challenges with Energy Management System

Now that we clearly understand the energy management system and its benefits, we must know the industry's challenges while using it.

Some of the common challenges in the energy management system are as follows:

• Unnecessary Energy Waste: Wrong settings, faulty systems, and poorly maintained equipment can cause high energy consumption. Besides, obtaining an efficient and reliable energy consumption pattern becomes impossible. And by the time they schedule maintenance checks, a lot of time, capital, and energy will be wasted.

To avoid such scenarios, opting for a customized EMS solution that uses AI and IoT technology is recommended to minimize any chances of manual efforts by gathering and analyzing data beforehand.

• Inefficient Data Collection Sources: Undoubtedly, energy data make an impactful difference in energy consumption optimization. However, numerous industrial, residential, and commercial buildings use traditional meters and are not even close to collecting and storing reliable energy consumption data. As a result, the data in EMS remains unproductive and redundant, wasting effort and money.

But, it can be overcome by using an IoT-based EMS solution that can collect and integrate data automatically into a centralized location.

How to Buy Energy Management Software?

As a business owner who wants to invest in the best energy management system available in the market, the ride from deciding to buy software to make a purchase is quite jet-lagging as it requires testing features to see if they meet your requirements.

To help you out, we have outlined the steps you can follow to buy an energy management system.

Step 1: Understand Business Requirements

The most crucial part of buying EMS software is understanding your unique business needs and what you want to achieve. Consider the following questions as a starting point:

• What do you aim to accomplish in the next financial year?

• How will the EMS software impact your business?

• What’s your budget?

After getting answers to these questions, you can easily identify the best energy management software for your business.

Step 2: Create A Must-Have List

Next, you must create a must-have list that includes features and functionalities. You can make this list as long as possible and then cut it down. Here are some questions to consider:

• Is the solution affordable?

• What extra features do we need?

• Will it solve the energy consumption problem?

• Will it make energy management easier?

Step 3: Compare Software Prices with the Value it offers

A common mistake businesses make while buying EMS software is relating software price with its value. To avoid such a scenario, you should consider whether you are getting what you will pay for, whether investing in the energy management software will help save money in other places, whether this software can make us energy efficient in the long run, etc.

Step 4: Check Online Reviews

Another essential step is to check the reviews others have left after using EMS software. Platforms like SoftwareSuggest G2 offer verified reviews for nearly every software you can think of. You can easily browse by category even if you don’t know what software solution you should look for.

Step 5: Create a List for Sorting

Previously you had created a must-have list, then found solutions with those features and even been through their online reviews. So, it’s time to create a new and refined list of the Energy Management Software that best suits your needs.

Step 6: Take Trials

Once you have sort-listed the top EMS software you can go for, it is time to test your options. Any worthy software will allow you to take a trial for a certain period to help you get comfortable with its dashboard and features.

Remember not to feel pressured to choose the solution right away. Instead, take feedback from your colleagues through surveys and make the decision.

Step 7: Buy or Develop Your Top Choice

Finally, you might have found the one that is right for you. All you need to do now is sign the contract and buy the chosen software.

If, in case, there are still some features amiss from the software you had sort-listed and you want to develop a customized solution, you can hire developers with years of experience and expertise to build an energy management system software, share your expectations, get a quote, and get a solution customized for your needs.

Best Energy Management System Comparison

Now that we know everything about energy management systems let’s compare some of the best picks to help you choose the one for your business.

1. Autodesk Insight:

It strengthens engineers and architects to design energy-efficient buildings using building performance analysis and advanced simulation engines integrated into Revit.

Features of Autodesk Insight:

• Real-time feedback

• Better building performance

• Heating and cooling load

• Daylighting analysis

• BIM workflow integration

• Capturing whole building energy

2. ETAP Energy Management System:

It is an intelligent EMS solution that minimizes energy consumption, improves reliability, boosts system usage, optimizes energy, and analyzes system performance.

Features of ETAP Energy Management System:

• Auto control

• Energy cost assessment

• Control system simulator

• Load Sharing

• Optimize spin reverse

• Economic dynamic dispatch

• Maximize voltage security index

• User-friendly logic and macros

• Supervisory and advisory control

• Chains of logic controls and action validations

3. Goby:

It is one of the most intuitive and comprehensive ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) management platforms that help businesses in creating, monitor, and communicate ESG initiatives to enhance sustainability.

Features of Goby ESG:

• Dashboard to track CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) endeavors

• Automate ESG and utility data throughout an organization

• Energy consumption analysis

• Area of improvement detection

• Optimize Energy

3. BuildingIQ:

It is an energy and operational intelligence platform created on five pillars: data capture analysis, measurement and verification, advanced modeling, predictive control, and human capital analysis. Any service built on BuildingIQ has an optimized energy savings balance, tenant comfort, and operational efficiency.

Features of BuildingIQ:

• Consumption visualization

• Data-driven operations

• Autonomous, Predictive, and Adaptive Control

• Scalable

• Preventive Maintenance Module

• Work order Escalation

• Built-in Reporting

• Quick access to scheduled maintenance tasks.

4. DEXMA Energy Intelligence:

It is a cloud platform with data-driven intelligence and other powerful tools to measure, monitor, analyze, and manage energy consumption. With the help of DEXMA, a business can reduce their energy consumption by 30% approx.

Features of DEXMA:

• Benchmarking and Auditing

• On-Demand Control

• Real-time monitoring

• Verified Savings

• Cost Allocation

• Centralized Data

• Easy Reporting

• Scalable Processes

• Consumption optimization