ACES uses WebCTRL, equipment upgrades to achieve more than $16,000 in projected one-year energy costs savings at HQ

By using WebCTRL in its new headquarters, ACES is a proud customer of its own product.  And the projected one-year energy cost savings – more than $15,000 in electric and $1,600 in gas – have been particularly satisfying to the guy who pays the utility bills.

“It’s been a great opportunity to use our building as a ‘lab,’ per se,” said ACES President Justin Vogt “We knew our BAS would make a difference.”

Savings to-date since ACES moved into the building more than 6 months ago are significant: $8,897 in electric, including air conditioning and lighting (56% savings), and $975 in gas, including heating (33% savings). In moving into the building, ACES installed new HVAC and lighting.

“Our ultimate goal is to achieve the 75 or higher score required for ENERGY STAR certification,” added Vogt. “Given that the building was scoring 19 when we purchased it, and is now at 56, I’m confident we’ll earn the certification very soon.”

ENERGY STAR®, a program run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy to promote energy efficiency, uses a 1-100 score, 100 being the best, which has become the industry standard for rating a facility’s energy performance. In 2018, more than 8,100 commercial buildings earned the ENERGY STAR, bringing the total to more than 34,000 facilities. Buildings that earn the ENERGY STAR use, on average, 35 percent less energy than their peers.

ENERGY STAR certification isn’t only about energy cost savings and reducing carbon footprints. “Studies find that ENERGY STAR-certified buildings command a premium of up to 16 percent for sales prices and rental rates,” according to Energystar.gov.

According to an April 2019 report from ENERGY STAR, 464 buildings in Missouri have earned the ENERGY STAR certification, including 201 schools, 9 hotels, 2 hospitals, 100 office buildings and 7 industrial plants. Illinois boasts 1,097 buildings with this achievement rating.

Tracking and reporting energy usage is key to achieving and maintaining such efficiencies and cost savings. To do this ACES offers two options:

EnergyCAP® is a software-based solution to streamline utility bill processing and auditing, track energy and greenhouse gas data, process campus and tenant allocations, target reduction goals, benchmark facilities, submit to ENERGY STAR, measure and verify energy & cost savings, create budgets and forecasts, and more.

EnergyReports™ from Automated Logic comes in three levels, with more robust reporting, visualizations and analyses, depending on need.

Based on the needs of the customer, ACES can determine which software is the best fit.

For a list of companies in Missouri and Illinois that are participating in the ENERGY STAR program (as of April 2017), click here: https://www.energystar.gov/about/state_fact_sheets

To learn more about WebCTRL and utility reporting tools from ACES, contact your ACES representative, or schedule a system demo.