SEATTLE — Seattle-based Optimum Energy has just clocked over 1 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy savings for customers around the world using the company’s suite of HVAC optimization solutions.

The collective energy savings translates into cost savings of more than $100 million and carbon reductions of more than 667,000 metric tons. Optimum’s software has also cut water use by over 200 million gallons to date.

“This confirms that Optimum Energy is making signification contributions toward saving customers energy, water, and money, and helping them reach their sustainability goals,” said President Larry Stapleton. “Climate change is one of the most important issues we face, and we’re proud to help forward-looking enterprises reduce their environmental footprint.”

Optimum Energy’s customer base, which includes a variety of facility types in North America, Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and Europe, has grown by about 750 percent since 2009. Just over a third of current HVAC optimization installations are in pharmaceutical manufacturing (36 percent), followed by higher education (19 percent), and healthcare (17 percent) facilities and campuses. The remainder includes manufacturing, tech, telecom, hospitality, retail, and other sectors.

The savings data are tracked in real time via a counter displayed on Optimum Energy’s home page. The data draws from an installed based of 624,900 tons of chiller plant capacity in facilities around the globe from 2009 to the present. Because the counter reflects only currently active sites on the OptiCx^® platform, the total savings Optimum has achieved for customers is actually much higher.

Commercial buildings and manufacturing facilities account for almost half of the energy consumed in the U.S. at a cost of about $400 billion annually, according to the EPA. HVAC systems typically account for 40 percent of that energy consumption.

While many businesses have energy-efficient systems, many don’t, and even newer systems don’t operate at the most effective and efficient levels. Typically, Optimum Energy’s optimization solution reduces an HVAC system’s energy usage by 20 to 30 percent, and it can reach up to 50 percent, with a payback between 1 and 5 years. 

Publication date: 10/25/2018

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