CSM Energy Management System Data Visualization Tool

1 Overview of system
The Colorado School of Mines energy managenent program is interfaced throgth Staefa System II. A copy of CSM-
DVT is included with the construction documents as exhibit C.don(CSM) plant facilities department is interested in
developing a data visualization software package to assist them in managing their energy demand, consumption, and
costs. Architectural Energy Corporation (AEC) has proposed the system outlined below to help CSM achieve this
goal. The proposed system will be developed to provide desired outputs previously developed by CSM. Figure 1
shows a simple schematic of the data flow from the buildings to a central server. The server acts as a repository for
all current and historical building data. The values on the server are stored in binary format for both size and secur-
ity considerations. The data visualization program can be run by any other computer (with the proper log-on per-
missions) on the same LAN as the server.

Existing system Staefa 2000 cre- Automated program

reads AI points ates ASCII files on on local computer
from buildings local computer creates “real-time”
and meters binary files on server

Existing
Staefa
System

Data visualization program can

be run by any of the machines
on the same LAN as the server.

Figure 1. Layout of proposed data flow

2 Tasks
This section describes each of the tasks required for the CSM project, hereafter referred to as the data visualization
tool (DVT).

2.1 Staefa Data Conversion

PC
The first step in the development of the data visualization tool will be to
convert the ASCII files created by the Staefa 2000 system to binary
files located on the server. The exact format of these files will be de- Server
termined by AEC and CSM personnel at a later date. It is expected that
there will be individual data files for each channel organized in a fash- PFD Data Directory
Daily files
Weekly files
Monthly files
Annual files
Archived historical files
Figure 2. Example file locations
ion as shown in the figure to the right. It is estimated that a maximum of 500 channels of data will converted to bin -
ary format.

In addition to the Staefa data, the readings of the main electrical and steam meters from PSCo and Coors will need
to be converted into a binary format that can be read by the DVT. The student will be responsible for determining
the format of this data and generating the necessary conversion routines.

It is also expected that a certain degree of parameterization will be incorporated into the binary data files. This in-
volves ensuring time-synchronization among all the data.

The majority of this task will be accomplished by a student intern already hired by CSM. Visual Basic will be the
primary programming language for this task and others. CSM will need Visual Basic installed on the server desig-
nated for storing the binary files. The student intern should also be proficient with this program.

2.2 kW and Total kWh Usage Monitoring & Recording

This section discusses the efforts associated with monitoring the electrical consumption on the CSM campus. The
first three tasks are treated as “prototype” tasks on which the remaining tasks will be based.

2.2.1 Electrical Usage Monitoring and Recording

This task is geared towards the monitoring of individual meters. The screen shown below represents the initial con-
ception of the appearance and functionality of the user interface. The user can select a meter to view for a particular
day and sees not only the instantaneous kW reading for each 15-minute period but also the coincident outdoor air
temperature and average building indoor temperature. Other features of this screen include:

Configure meter: This button brings up a screen that allows the meter to be associated with a building and a
series of indoor temperature sensors.

Show predicted: This button shows the predicted energy consumption for the day, allowing the user to determ-
ine if the building is operating above or below “normal”.

Show demand: This button causes the maximum permitted base lines (e.g., on-peak and off-peak) to be dis-
played, along with color coding of the graph area to show which peak period is active at a given time.

View building kWh: This button brings up the screen shown in Figure 4.

2.2.2 Total kWh Usage for Each Building

This task involves monitoring the total energy consumption for a given building over a month (or, more specifically,
over a given billing period). The example screen (Figure 4) is similar to the Figure 1 except that the user chooses a
building rather than a meter, and two graphs are displayed showing different sets of information. Features not
shown but appropriate for this screen include billing verification and warnings based on abnormal or high energy
consumption.
Figure 3. Interface for task 1 (showing electrical kW demand monitoring by meter)

Figure 4. Interface for task 2 (showing kWh usage by building)

2.2.3 Total kWh Usage for Campus
The total kWh usage for campus will be viewed using a screen similar to that shown in Figure 4.

2.2.4 Electrical Utility Cost Management

The electrical utility cost management will consist of two components: the first will be a “rate wizard” used for en-
tering electrical rates (see examples in Figure 5), the second will be a series of routines for providing disaggregated
bills for the various electrical meters on the campus.

Figure 5. Example screens from Rate Wizard

2.3 Steam & Condensate Monitoring & Recording

The Steam condensate monitoring and recording tasks will be approximately the same as the electrical monitoring
tasks, involving the following screens:

Buildings Steam and Condensate Usage Monitoring and Recording

Campus Steam Monitoring and Recording

CSM Steam and Condensate Metering Cost Management

Coors Steam Utility Line Monitoring, Recording, and Cost Management

3 Costs
The table below shows the estimated costs for the various tasks.

Level of effort (person weeks)

Project Senior Program-
Task Heading Sub Task Cost
Manager Engineer mer
Staefa data conversion Management of CSM student 0.1 0.25 0.5 $2,240
kW and Total kWh Meter Level 0.1 0.5 1 $4,200
Usage Monitoring & Building Level 0.1 0.5 1 $4,200
Recording Campus Level 0.1 0.5 1 $4,200
Electrical Utility Cost Management 0.1 0.5 0.5 $2,980
Steam & Condensate Building Level Usage 0.1 0.25 0.5 $2,240
Monitoring & Campus Level Usage 0.1 0.25 0.5 $2,240
Recording Metering Cost Management 0.1 0.25 0.5 $2,240
Coors Steam Utility Line Cost Management 0.1 0.25 0.5 $2,240
Totals 0.9 3.25 6 $26,780
Hooshang Salehizadeh