Green Building Forum - Metering of Low or Zero Carbon Technologies

Metering of Low or Zero Carbon Technologies

Iain — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 09:24:07 +0100

I'm in the process of writing an article on the above topic and wondered if there was any anecdotes people on here would like to share?

On speaking to BMS providers I've found that they're more than capable to sub-meter mains supplies to circuits but less knowledgable about embedded supplies. Surely the performance of these technologies needs to be fed back into the design process to assist developers and planners select the best performing system?

Have you found installers to be poor in metering their systems? Are their systems easily integrated into larger building energy management software?

Any comment much appreciated.

Metering of Low or Zero Carbon Technologies

nigel — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 10:05:02 +0100

I am currently helping to develop a low cost metering and reporting system for commercial buildings.

The product use one wire techonolgy and pulse readers to read the pulse output from any meter which outputs a pulse.
The results are then stored at half hour intervals and then reported on via a web browser.

Most BMS's are prohibitively expensive and over the top for most buildings.

The regulations on metering and monitoring of energy consumption is increasing the need for cost effective solutions for this.

Metering of Low or Zero Carbon Technologies

fostertom — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 11:15:16 +0100

Very good - I'd hope to monitor my low energy designs and learn from it.

Posted By: Iainmore than capable to sub-meter mains supplies to circuits but less knowledgable about embedded supplies

I don't understand 'embedded supplies'?

Metering of Low or Zero Carbon Technologies

Iain — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 12:55:11 +0100

For embedded supplies read microgeneration i.e. decentralised energy supplies attached to buildings and not to the local distribution network/grid.

Metering of Low or Zero Carbon Technologies

GBP-Keith — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 18:04:55 +0100

Iain. I've been grumbling about this for a few weeks now. As far as I can see there is almost no way to monitor individual renewable energy technologies without having to resort to bespoke technology. This is frustrating because none of us who are pioneering the microgeneration kit can report on output or performance to any degree of accuracy. The problem is the total lack of DC total generation meters. AC meters are not really appropriate as they have to go after the inverter and therefore bundle the sources and suffer from losses.

Until we find something, everyone is having to relying on publishers who frankly are not doing their homework and just running misleading press releases or aggregating misinformation that they have read somewhere else (as a publisher I know this to be true and I know the temptation imposed by deadlines).

Metering of Low or Zero Carbon Technologies

Iain — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 11:45:08 +0100

Keith. What I find most scandalous about this is that resources are being misappropriated. Slick sales patter, glossy brochures and unsubstantiated performance claims are bleeding money away from the technologies which should be getting preferential treatment. As is, there's too much speculation - we desperately need to feedback demonstrated performance to the design process to help designers make informed decisions.

It's something I'd certainly like to see incorporated into statute in the next revision of Part L though it's hard to see how this could be done without revising CIBSE TM39: Building energy metering. I'd also agree that the technology needs to be standardised not only to ensure that every manufacturer's on a level playing field but also so we can get the meters to be integrated into Building Energy Management Systems for the larger building or smart metering systems.