Efficiency direct.
Management Control for Energy Budgeting and Forecasting

Efficiency Direct specialise in utility metering as a part of our “If you can measure it you can manage it” motto, including:

• Individual tenant billing within multi-tenanted sites
• Establishing the landlords energy usage and apportioning it back to tenants
• Cost centres within a large organisation to apportion running costs.
• Developing specific energy requirements for specific operations
• Verifying utility bills

These systems provide the data to allow us to provide our Monitoring and Targeting services (see Energy Reporting) for clients to suit their individual needs, these include sub/tenant metering and smart metering systems.

On some sites landlords include utility usage costs within the rent or lease but in multi-tenanted sites this is a very inaccurate way of apportioning usage as inevitably some tenants use more power than others.

Efficiency Direct operate several sub-metering and tenant billing systems, the largest example is a multi-tenanted 100,000 sq.ft complex with about 30 meters that:

• Replicate main tariff meters for bill verification
• measure the actual usage at each individual supply point/tenant
• generate monthly billing schedules for landlord charge-backs
• review usage patterns and report upon them

The site systems are remotely accessed by GSM or internet links to collect, collate the data and then to generate a billing schedule; this is usually a monthly service but can be bespoke to each application.

A Smart meter is:

• an advanced utility meter ideal for smaller sites just under the 100kW threshold for half-hourly meters
• can be extended beyond electricity to include gas and water
• it communicates its information via GSM technology
• a central server collects/collates the data for analysis and billing.

The benefits of AMR include:

• Accurate and timely billing.
• No more estimated bills.
• Operational / Consumption Savings
• Improved Budget and Accrual
• Energy Monitoring and targeting becomes a useful management tool.
• Information can be used to raise awareness amongst building occupants and to produce league tables etc.