Submeters and Analytics: Single-Circuit Meter

Facility managers can use real-time energy monitoring at the circuit level. The monitoring can reveal excess or off-schedule energy consumption, safety hazards, faulty BAS settings or overrides. It can also predict device failures.

Researchers evaluated a low-cost single-circuit meter. They found it was easy to install and highly accurate. Single-circuit meters will provide the most value for devices or end uses that have high power consumption, such as chillers or data centers.

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GPG Findings 046, January 2021, SUBMETERS AND ANALYTICS: SINGLE-CIRCUIT METER. Opportunity: Why is GSA interested in submetering and analytics? TENANT OR EQUIPMENT-LEVEL BILLING, FAULT DETECTION & DIAGNOSTICS (FDD, IDENTIFY ENERGY CONSERVATION MEASURES (ECMS) Technology: What are single circuit meters? MONITOR SINGLE OR 3-PHASE CIRCUITS INCLUDING PANEL MAINS. Combines a meter, a wireless communication gateway that collects data from multiple meters, non-proprietary current transformers and cloud-based analytics. Measurement and Verification: Where did M and V occur? NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY (NREL) assessed single circuit meters at the Cesar Chavez Memorial Building in Denver, Colorado. Technology was provided by Meazon. Results: How did single circuit meters perform in M&V? <2% COMPARED TO REFERENCE. Captured load profile trends accurately,even for high variability loads. 1 DAY INSTALLATION for 6 measured loads; $470 equipment and $431 installation per load; equipment bulk purchase estimate $132/load. FDD/ECM. Provides basic faultdetection and energy conservation measures for facilities without a BAS; can also be integrated into GSA’s smart building platform, GSALink. Deployment: Where does the study recommend deploying single-circuit meters? TENANT BILLING Most value for monitoring devices with high power consumption. Low-cost submetering can also provide FDD for facilities without GSALink and support ECM identification and M&V. [PDF - 365 KB]


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Last Reviewed: 2022-05-06