Introducing Continuous Efficiency — a New Approach to Global Energy Management

Comprehensive managed services and software help organizations boost energy and operational efficiency, cutting utility bills by 15 to 30 percent

Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management and automation, today introduced Continuous Efficiency, a suite of managed services and software that combines the knowledge of Schneider Electric experts with sophisticated tools and technology.

The mix of onsite and remote support, as well as software, allows companies to uncover savings opportunities, implement changes at both the site and enterprise level, and constantly refine performance.

“Mounting pressure to reduce operating costs, coupled with shareholder and customer desire for improved sustainability, has made energy management a priority for companies,” said James Potach, Senior Vice President of Energy & Sustainability Services at Schneider Electric. “However, organizations are typically presented with services or technology solutions. And the answer for complex operations is often ‘both.’”

“Companies need to develop strategies, gather and analyze data, and make tactical improvements at both the enterprise and facility level. That’s the path to maximum savings and the opportunity to reinvest for growth.”

Continuous Efficiency blends utility, facility and operations management to reduce energy use and spend — 15 to 30 percent on average. It also goes beyond basic energy efficiency to help commercial and industrial firms develop proactive management and maintenance programs to help extend equipment life, reduce downtime and fine-tune systems for ongoing performance.

In addition, the enterprise-level approach allows large organizations to benchmark all their facilities, as well as compare them to like operations in their industry. This allows them to identify performance outliers and plan investments that will have the quickest and best payback across the portfolio.

Key components of Continuous Efficiency include:

• Data Acquisition & Quality – Best-in-class integration services collect and organize facility, energy and interval data along with utility invoices to provide a single, structured view of the most critical information to enable effective decision making.
• Remote Analytics & Optimization – Energy specialists paired with advanced technology monitor facilities, identify energy conservation opportunities and the root cause of comfort and maintenance concerns, as well as ensure continual performance and verified savings.
• Software Visualization – A single, cloud-based view of energy procurement, consumption and sustainability data allows energy managers to identify non-optimized facilities, equipment and behaviors, and prioritize energy efficiency projects based on the anticipated return on investment.
• Onsite Consulting – A variety of collaborative, onsite engagements with Schneider Electric experts help identify energy improvement opportunities, train operations, and facility managers, build internal support with executives, and design best practices to support certifications such as ISO 50001.

“We rely on the same expertise, tools, and processes to manage our own industrial facilities,” said Edwin Willhite, a Regional Facilities Manager who oversees 10 manufacturing plants in the Southeast U.S. “The result has been energy savings of 42 percent for our North American operations. It’s not just ‘walking the talk.’ It’s a competitive advantage.”

Continuous Efficiency is scalable to meet the needs of organizations as their energy and sustainability strategies, and facilities' footprint grows and evolve. Managers can choose the support and technology most relevant to their current business and easily pilot new programs.

In addition to efficiency services, Schneider Electric provides supply and sustainability services globally, working with more than 4,500 clients with 350,000 sites and a combined energy spend of £30 billion.