Scientific Conservation Inc., (SCI), a leading provider of energy efficiency solutions for the $4.5 billion commercial building market, today announced the launch of SCIwatch,™ a breakthrough Automated Continuous Commissioning (ACC) software platform that enables commercial building owners and facility operators to slash annual energy spending up to 25 percent. SCIwatch is the industry’s only software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution that persistently and automatically predicts, detects, diagnoses and prioritizes system faults and anomalies that are constantly present in commercial buildings.

As a new class of ACC software, SCIwatch is addressing the insidious but persistent problem of “energy drift,” which causes commercial buildings to lose an average of 17 percent in energy efficiency every one to two years. With average electricity costs running $2.00 per square foot, this energy leakage is costing billions of dollars in unnecessary spending each year. Energy drift can be triggered by a wide variety of problems ranging from clogged filters to more complex issues that include electrical, mechanical and HVAC system faults. In addition, anomalies in building tolerances, seasonal climate change, or varying tenant occupancy rates can contribute to the growing problem of energy seepage.

“A key strength of SCIwatch is its auto-diagnostics that continuously monitor and measure system-wide performance so you can detect problems before systems break,” said Lin Ortega, utilities engineer program manager with Santa Clara County and SCIwatch customer. “Without this capability, buildings can operate inefficiently without anyone even knowing it. With SCIwatch, we can actually flag abnormalities before they become problems. For example, if I have a floor in a building with a defective sensor constantly reading 79 degrees, and the cooling set point is 74 degrees, we are running expensive chillers and fans unnecessarily.”

What sets SCIwatch apart in the increasingly competitive energy efficiency market are its ACC capabilities, which operate within a SaaS framework to simplify deployment and reduce licensing costs. SCIwatch takes raw information from energy management systems and converts data into actionable tasks prioritized by cost savings. The “continuous” element of the solution provides ongoing measurement of changes in each mechanical and electrical system’s health on a 24/7 basis, and does so remotely and non-intrusively. As a result, SCIwatch persistently determines the root of systemic operational problems, predicts operational deterioration, and quantifies its associated cost.

“The problem of energy drift is very real but incredibly difficult to measure, especially since commercial buildings are only being re-commissioned every few years,” said Jorge Moreno, program manager, North American environmental & building technologies for Frost & Sullivan. “That’s what makes SCIwatch so interesting and valuable. The software transparently harnesses complex mathematics to dynamically model system operations in the real world and alarms facility managers when a system is in danger of a major failure or operating outside of appropriate ‘efficiency tolerances.’ And because it ‘continuously commissions’ buildings, energy drift can be detected early so facility energy costs don’t spiral out of control.”

The SCIwatch Platform

As a “just-in-time” predictive energy analytics platform leveraging patent-pending neural network technologies, SCIwatch features a unique architecture that combines:

• a universal interface to almost any building management system, metering or external data source;
• a certified baseline of energy consumption and spending by each facility over time;
• a data warehouse storing all operations source data and anomaly detection histories and associated costs;
• a fault-prediction diagnostic engine that identifies and tracks changes to baselines and anomalies across mechanical and electrical systems; and
• a comprehensive work order module that issues and tracks job tickets to completion, broken down by building and individual systems.

“The days of re-commissioning buildings every few years are essentially over,” said David Wolins, chief executive officer at SCI. “With the introduction of SCIwatch, we have figured out a way to package and greatly simplify the complex tasks of analyzing a facility’s energy consumption and systems operations. As a result, commercial buildings can now be monitored persistently and comprehensively to detect anomalies before they can erode energy efficiency and system uptime.”

Pricing and Availability

SCIwatch is commercially available today. As a SaaS solution with compelling economics, SCIwatch can be purchased with a one-time initiation fee plus a quarterly subscription fee based on each facility’s square footage and selected service level.

About Scientific Conservation, Inc.

Scientific Conservation Inc., (SCI) is a leading provider of energy efficiency and system optimization solutions for the $4.5 billion commercial building market. The company’s SCIwatch continuous commissioning solution is the industry’s first software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform to help cut annual energy spending up to 25 percent by comparing predicted energy and system efficiencies against real-time operation. The company is headquartered in Berkeley, Calif., with offices in Atlanta. For more information, visit www.scientificconservation.com.