AFE March/April 2012 : Page 19What are Submeters and What Do They Do? Th e tool that gives managers the needed energy insight to comply with these new directives is the electric submeter. Th is inexpensive device easily installs on the “facility side” of the primary billing meter at the electrical service entrance to monitor energy use for an entire building, individual location or specifi c circuit or item of equip-ment, including lighting, HVAC, plug load and other energy-intensive parameters. Today’s solid-state electronic submeters can be installed virtually anywhere needed, Figure 2. Government Facility Energy Consumption by Source and Agency -FY2009 Figure 1. Government Facility Energy Consumption by Source -FY2009 (Source: US DOE) FIGURE 2 The four main types of power consumed by government buildings, ex-pressed in trillions of BTU by the six top-consuming agencies. 36.9% 52.2% Figure 3. 6.9% 4.5% Q Electricity Q Natural Gas Q Coal Q Purchased Steam, Renwables, Other (Source: US DOE) FIGURE 1 The power behind the federal facility sector is predominantly electricity. As a statistically minor percentage of the total, renew-able energy sources are bundled in the “Purchased Steam and Other” category which also includes chilled water and others not specifi ed. This chart refl ects the total estimated facility energy consumption of the six highest-usage government agencies. FIGURE 3 Advanced submeters like E-Mon’s Green Class provide a scrolling LCD display of CO 2 emissions, kWh and other energy measurements that can help users gain green facility certifi cation points under the LEED system. March | April 2012 Q  Facilities Engineering Journal Q  www.AFE.org 19 Publication List Using a screen reader? Click Here |
