Apr 10 2016

RUMM – Remote Utility Monitoring & Management

Business could save £1bn through energy behaviour change

British companies could save as much as £1bn on their energy bills by changing their ‘energy behaviours’ rather than rely on technical solutions, according to Npower energy experts as reported in the Telegraph this week. Each company could save between 3-15pc, or an average saving of 9pc, the supplier added.

Npower Business Solutions, a division of the Big Six supplier, said that it has already helped customers to drive bills down by £26m after acquiring an energy management firm which specialises in company habits.

Npower snapped up the RUMM energy consultancy in April last year as part of the company’s plan to grow within the increasingly competitive business supply market.

A spokeswoman for the supplier said Npower is targeting total savings of £1bn for its energy customers by focusing on RUMM’s behavioural approach to energy saving for with their sophisticated energy management software and business energy reduction UK
gasEach company could save between 3-15pc, or an average saving of 9pc, the supplier added.

Npower’s Phil Griffiths said: “It often surprises businesses to find out that non-technical savings are usually greater than technical savings. Through learning about your energy habits, it is easy to make subtle, low-cost and effective changes to help keep down your energy bills. It’s already produced clear and proven benefits for firms, big and small, saving businesses we have worked with over £26m.”

The supplier refers to its behaviour analysts as “carbon psychologists” and says that the experts can design energy saving programmes by addressing employee energy habits to help them adopt more energy efficient ways of working.

A study from trade group Energy UK found that the business supply market has seen a consistent increase in competitiveness in recent years. Currently there are 24 suppliers active in the business market of which over a fifth joined the market last year.

Click here to find out more on Energy Reduction in Manufacturing and how to conduct behaviour change and decide which behaviour project you should choose to action.


Mar 15 2016

Money isn’t all you are saving when you reduce energy consumption

npower Business Solutions

 

 

npower

Things are constantly changing in the energy sector with many new surprises such as the new Demand Turn Up scheme from National Grid. The idea is that during periods of high renewable generation when the Grid finds it has more energy than it can use, energy-intensive consumers would be encouraged to use more. By either turning off onsite generation from, for example, combined heat and power (CHP) plant or by running an energy-intensive process, such as smelting at a foundry or pumping water at a sewage treatment plant.

A pilot scheme which will run over the summer when wind and solar generation can be high and electricity demand is typically low. Participating businesses will be notified in advance of the extra available energy then, if they respond, they can boost productivity for minimal extra cost plus receive a payment for doing so.

Currently, on very windy days, when output from renewable generation is high the National Grid will turn large power stations down. Or wind turbines themselves may need to be turned off, simply because the power they generate cannot be used.

Filling the energy storage gap

As energy storage technologies become viable utilising energy management solutions it’s likely that storing this extra renewable energy until needed becomes a more cost-effective option. I recently blogged about a 640kWh battery storage system being trailed by Western Power Distribution at a solar farm in Somerset.

Although battery storage systems are predicted to become more efficient and the current high costs to fall, they are not yet able to provide a wide-scale commercial solution to balancing supply and demand. So it will be interesting to see how National Grid’s Demand Turn Up scheme fares.

If you are in any Industry sectors such as Energy Reduction in Manufacturing and looking for ways to reduce energy consumption, click here to find out more and get the information required.


Nov 15 2015

What is RUMM IBASS 4?

Set the blue print for your company with RUMM leaders in Energy Management Software and services. Is your company doing their part in saving energy by reducing energy consumption and being aware of the impact of energy saving on the environment? Ensure energy reduction in manufacturing is a priority within your company.

You might be wondering what sets RUM apart from their competitors and why you would consider RUMM, I will tell you why its RUMM’s superior energy management software called IBASS 4?

RUMM IBASS 4 enables the user to interrogate the database that hold the ½ hourly consumption profiles for visualisation, analysis, alarming and reporting on all the data stored. It is RUMM’s proprietary energy management software suite and forms the framework upon which RUMM delivers its energy management services.

IBASS is configured as part of the sub-metering installation process to accommodate the sub-metering system profile to complete the aM&T system.

IBASS is a software suite that enables the visualisation of consumption profiles, constructs user defined reports and targets energy consumption using advanced analysis and alarming. It has been developed by Energy Managers for the end-user energy management perspective so that it is intuitive.

It is the primary tool used by RUMM’s energy account managers to offer energy management services for customers. Our customer’s utilise the power and flexibility of it too. It’s a product that has attracted interest from the “big 6” utility suppliers.

RUMM IBASS 5 – Launched into the market in July 2014, IBASS 5 is the smart phone and tablet enabled version of the IBASS product it has many additional features including a new look and feel, with dashboards and KPI reporting which continues to keep our offering ahead of the marketplace.

An example of the new version IBASS 5 screens is given below:

IBASS 5 KPI normalised Energy Management Software (IBASS)

RUMM IBASS 5 will have cutting edge dashboards and KPI reports with data available for mobile devices. It is being built using the latest .NET technologies. The .NET Framework 4.5 and ASP.NET MVC 5. This helps provide a sophisticated, scalable application that is based upon known standards and offers compatibility across a range of devices from desktop web clients to roaming IPADs.

It is a pure SaaS model and provides multi-threaded simultaneous concurrent web browsing from anywhere in world.

IBASS 5 mobile Energy Management Software (IBASS)

Mobile Enabled IBASS 5 Screenshots

Screenshot Example – Menu Options in Tablet Format

IBASS 5 menu Energy Management Software (IBASS)

Screenshot Example – Dashboard/KPI Reports to Mobile Devices

IBASS 5 KPI mobile Energy Management Software (IBASS)


Sep 21 2015

If Cardiff Metropolitan University can; your Company can!

RUMM

Your Best Energy Management Option

Does your company take energy saving seriously?

Would you like to do something proactive in business energy reduction and play your part in saving our planet?

RUMM is a company that take their business and their clients very seriously and the results speak for themselves.

RUMM’s Business energy reduction UK main focus is to provide resources and expertise in design and deliver energy management services and solutions in partnership with its customers to achieve cost and carbon reduction. With the support of RUMM your company can achieve incredible results in energy consumption thus reducing a huge amount of cost.

This means that RUMM provide the resource and expertise to work with their customers for a contracted period to deliver measurable savings. “Energy Management Services” is 90% of what they do and includes using all available technologies (aM&T), Behaviour Change and bespoke training.

Have a read of the case study below as to the impact RUMM has had on Cardiff Metropolitan University.

A 7 year Partnership that has accrued more than £1m of savings and reduced the carbon footprint by 15%.

The Client

Cardiff Metropolitan University provides education and training opportunities that are accessible, flexible and of the highest quality. Cardiff Metropolitan has been acknowledged as the “greenest university” in Wales and one of the best across the UK. The University has been a customer of RUMM for over 7 years and the saving accrued are in excess of £1m.

The Brief

As part of the Partnership, RUMM were asked to work with Cardiff Metropolitan to focus upon increasing staff and student engagement by utilising the RUMM aM&T system to provide regular reporting. The goal was to provide reliable and accurate data to inform and motivate management throughout the university.

The Method

Working together, RUMM and Cardiff Metropolitan developed a 5-year plan to reduce utility consumption by 3% per annum. Monthly bespoke reports are prepared and presented to key managers within the University, detailing performance within their respective areas. RUMM’s energy account managers work closely with staff to identify and support Cardiff Metropolitan in realising savings.

Regular meetings are held in order to highlight opportunities for improvement and suggest practical ways in which these can be addressed.

The Results

All targets have so far been exceeded, and Cardiff Metropolitan is has to:

•             Realised financial savings in excess of £1 million

•             Achieved a reduction in its CO2 emissions by more than 15% which is equivalent to the amount of carbon annually absorbed by a forest of 650,000 trees

•             Reduced water consumption by more than 45,000 m3 which is equivalent to 18 Olympic-sized swimming pools

These excellent results have contributed to Cardiff Metropolitan attaining its position as the greenest university in Wales.

Click here for the link to the People and Planet League Table. The Carbon Trust wrote an editorial on the success of the Behaviour Change Program employed at Cardiff Metropolitan University.

Why it Worked – behaviour change

The key to this project has been an increase in staff interest and engagement stemming from the provision of useful information. Provided with regular feedback, people have responded to achieve necessary reduction targets.

“Cardiff Metropolitan University has been delighted with how successful the aM&T methodology has proven in comparison with the more conventional approach involving technical projects”

-Paul Manley, Cardiff Metropolitan University

Be the change you want to see and click here Energy Reduction in Manufacturing