Public Building Energy Monitoring (Dublin - Ireland)
Climate change is rapidly becoming the biggest challenge that cities all over the world are facing. Carbon emissions need to be reduced and every official institution in the world has its own Climate Action Plan to achieve similar targets.
The EU Climate and Energy Package demands 20% energy savings by 2020. Ireland is serious about their commitment in realising this target, therefore the public sector will be lead by example and take measures to achieve 33% energy savings (which represents 10% of Ireland’s total saving objective).
One initiative towards achieving this goal was launched in 2012, when smart energy meters were installed in the Wood Quay offices of Dublin City Council. The goal was to provide people with a visual energy usage update every 15 minutes, including information regarding where and how energy is being used.
The system also allows to remotely control the heating systems and set timers for ventilation of car parks. The data gathered enables the Energy Manager to monitor and adjust the heating and cooling systems in real-time.
This Smart Monitoring project is part of a greater plan to cut CO2 emissions and save energy costs.
Dublin City Council is working with Codema (Dublin’s Energy Agency) to analyse energy data and assess where the city could use enhancements through a Register of Opportunities.
Improved Energy management.
Description of the specific objectives:
- Dublin City Council’s Sustainable Energy Action Plan aims to achieve at least 20% CO2 reductions by 2020.
Dublin City Council; Codema.
- Climate change requires serious measures to reduce carbon emissions in all areas of the city;
- The Wood Quay building of Dublin City Council are not energy-efficient, as they were built between 1979 and 1994. Renewal is necessary to achieve visible improvements in energy consumption.
Smart Energy Meters.
In 2012, smart meters were installed in the City Council’s Wood Quay offices to give energy usage updates every 15 minutes.
- In 2016, results show a decrease of 25% in electricity consumption since 2012, and the tendency is to further improve this number;
- In terms of gas consumption, Dublin City Council has used 19% less gas in 2017 than in 2012;
- The improvement in energy efficiency resulted in the Civic Offices being awarded the ISO50001 certification.