There are two posts on the efforts of Schneider Electric to promote energy. First, India’s Economic Times reports on the efforts of Schneider Electric to work with India’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency to promote energy efficiency. The company plans to help in technology development, innovation and deployment.
Second, Eco-Business.com reports on the efforts to promote retrofits in small and medium-sized enterprises in Singapore.
Schneider Electric in talks with BEE for energy conservation
French firm Schneider Electric’s Indian arm Schneider Electric India has said it is working closely with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency towards promoting energy efficiency endeavours in the country.
“We are in contact with BEE (Bureau of Energy Efficiency) in terms of providing our feedback from a business perspective and also in terms of looking at the business deal in energy efficiency,” Anil Chaudhry, Country President and Managing Director (India) Schneider Electric told PTI.
“Areas like technology development, innovation and deployment that is where companies like Schneider Electric will come in, we are very strong solutions provider,” he said.
He said the company, which is completing its 50 years in India, has an Energy Efficiency Group that facilitates the company’s endeavours towards energy efficiency.
“We have an Energy Efficiency Group within the company, that becomes a point of contact for inter-facing with the government,” Chaudhry said.
That Group also takes up pilot projects for energy conservation.
“With the solutions that our company provides we can save up to 30 per cent of the energy in the sectors like industry, buildings, data centres, etc.” he said, adding that if you are using 100 units and each unit costs Rs 7, so with these energy efficiency measures we can bring the usage down to about 70-80 units thereby cutting down the bill.
BEE which was established by the government in 2002, is engaged in developing programs which will increase the conservation and efficient use of energy in India.
Schneider Electric India employs over 18,000 employees across 40 cities in the country.
Meanwhile, Schneider Electric India conducted the study with AEEE (Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy) on the energy consumption profile of the Indian business and drivers for clean energy investment, last month.
The survey which was conducted in four metros — Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata and 8 Tier II cities — Jaipur, Ludhiana, Rajkot, Nasik, Lucknow, Vijaywada, Kochi and Patna, observed that nearly 80 per cent of the respondents expect up to 15 per cent of their electricity coming from renewable sources in the next 3 to 5 years.
The 300 respondents belonged to various fields including manufacturing, building and construction sector, textiles, food and beverages, automobiles, pharma, etc.
Energy-saving retrofits made easy for SMEs
Schneider Electric launches SmartStruxure Lite in Singapore, an integrated software and hardware solution that enables small- and medium-sized businesses to increase the energy efficiency of their buildings while reducing operating costs
SmartStruxure
Schneider Electric launched SmartStruxure, a new computer-based building management solution that helps small and medium enterprises to reduce their energy consumption and increase savings. Image: Schneider Electric
Energy management giant Schneider Electric on Friday launched a new solution in Singapore featuring solar-powered motion sensors and energy-harvesting light switches for small- and medium-sized businesses that will make retrofitting their units with energy-saving solutions much easier.
Called SmartStruxure Lite, the building energy management solution (BEMS) is a combination of software and hardware technologies together with engineering, installation and other services.
It uses a web-based control system that provides one-click access to remote monitoring of lighting and power functions in a building, as well as management of multiple spaces.
Jeffrey Yap, Schneider Electric vice president of buildings business, told Eco-Business on the sidelines of the firm’s Xperience Efficiency Event at the Singapore Expo: “Building management solutions often cost hundreds of thousands so we are offering a low-cost solution that is easy to implement.”
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that have limited budget for facilities or building maintenance now have an option with this BEMS. SmartStruxure Lite costs about US$2,000 to fit out a standard-sized convenience store, Yap explained. For a larger store of 10,000 square metres, it would cost US$15,000 to US$20,000, depending on store factors.
The full energy management system covers HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), lighting, power applications, room and zone control, air volume control, and metering and sub-metering functions.
“Until now, most small-and-medium commercial buildings do not have an affordable option to implement an energy management system of any scale, despite this segment being one of the heaviest energy users per square foot and square meter vis-à-vis other commercial buildings,” said Ang Koon San, country president for Schneider Electric Singapore and Brunei.
With SmartStruxure Lite’s wireless sensors, for example, a building’s room temperature is automatically adjusted based on the number of occupants in a room, which leads to seven per cent energy savings for every degree the temperature is raised.
Its light switches also do not need to be fitted with batteries or hard wired to a room’s power cables. Switching on the light switch itself generates enough energy for the light to send a signal to a control box for it to be turned on.
In addition, Schneider Electric explained that the BEMS is scalable, so it can be tailored to the size of the business as it expands, making it future-proof. Building energy expenditure is decreased by about 30 per cent as a result. The SmartStruxure also helps a company meet the requirements of Singapore’s green building certification scheme – the Building and Construction Authority’s Green Mark.
Currently, there are buildings in Singapore already using SmartStruxure Lite. Their energy usage is stored in a cloud service, so the information is available in real time for easy assessment and analysis.
Aside from small and medium offices, the building energy management solution can also be applied in retrofitting retail shops, hotels, heritage buildings, schools and other such buildings. SmartStruxure Lite uses wireless technology, eliminating the need to rewire any existing power controls or functions. This is helpful for SMEs since they cannot compromise valuable time for fittings and installation.
Once it is in place, they will eventually earn their savings. Schneider Electric said that the SmartStruxure Lite has a quick return on investment (ROI), of which succeeding earnings can be channelled into increasing a company’s competitive advantage like improving R&D and marketing.
Yap noted that selling such solutions typically require a year or two, but within five months of rolling it out in Japan, the firm won a contract to supply SmartStruxure Lite to 1,000 convenience stores.
Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 