OREANDA-NEWS. February 18, 2011. I.T. Co. completed the first stage of the project and designed an intelligent web based energy monitoring system for one of the buildings of the Tsaritsyno Education Center. The designed solution consists of an industrial smart energy-metering device that assures accurate collection of energy consumption data and supports standard network and technological interfaces, and has a built-in web server. Besides, a special web portal that provides energy consumption control and rational management was developed. It is planned to enhance solution functionality, thus, to ensure efficient metering of such resources as water and heat.

In accordance with Federal Law №261 “About Energy Efficiency…” effective January 1, 2010, Russian budgetary institutions should strictly control their energy consumption. Budgetary institutions, including educational institutions, should reduce annual consumption of energy resources by not less than 3%. To comply with this requirement the management of an institution should have online access to energy consumption details that visibly identify problem areas; only in this case it is possible to set in motion plans for reductions in consumption. A new class of solution – the smart energy metering system, allows meeting this challenge. 

Frequently, schools operate out-of-date metering devices, thus, metering results are used only to pay bills, while monitoring and analytical systems are missing. Implementation of modern energy efficiency monitoring systems is an important activity for educational institutions because it allows not only strict control of used resources but also significant budgetary savings. The Tsaritsyno Education Center is always actively involved with innovations, which use is not limited simply by education purposes. Therefore, it is not a surprise that the Tsaritsyno Education Center was one of the first institutions to install a web based energy monitoring and control system.

This system was offered by I.T. Co. to the Tsaritsyno Education Center in the summer 2010. As a result of negotiations it was decided to implement the energy monitoring system in one of four buildings of the Center. I.T. Co. conducted an assessment and suggested the customer several options of technical implementation. The customer decided on the most suitable option. I.T. Co. specialists mounted and installed the equipment.

The key element of the system is a smart device that collects, stores and transmits consumption data of different energy resources. The smart device collects information from meters, stores and transmits data, as well as provides ample opportunities for analytical analysis. The system displays actual energy consumption at any time and provides access to this information via the school network or Internet. Besides monitoring electricity usage, the system also provides information on the quality of power at the school.

It is planned to enhance the system with other metering options (heat, hot and cold water metering) and network the system to the required number of schools that are part of a unified educational pool or located in the same district or city. I.T. Co. plans to proceed with interface developments and extend system functionality.