Real-Time Energy Management

Rudin Management, a major NYC commercial real estate firm, deployed a real-time energy management (RTEM) system across its portfolio of Class A office buildings to address rising operational costs and sustainability goals. This case demonstrates CEMS' scalability for offices, where data cabling upgrades can unlock 10-20% savings without major rewiring.

Design and Technologies

The RTEM system, branded NantumOS, employed a multi-layer architecture: sensors (current transformers for amperage monitoring), edge computing for local processing, and cloud analytics for visualization. Key components included WiFi-enabled thermostats, CO2/occupancy sensors, and integration with existing control panels via Modbus. Data aggregated every 15 minutes, feeding dashboards for anomaly detection—e.g., alerting to voltage drops from unbalanced loads.

Fire safety equipment linked via BACnet for coordinated shutdowns during emergencies, while data cabling ensured low-latency transmission to avoid interference with lighting circuits.

Implementation and Challenges

Rollout spanned 2012–2023 across 20+ properties, starting with pilot sites like 3 Times Square (2.8 million sq ft). Integration required retrofitting legacy panels, with challenges including data silos from disparate HVAC vendors and cybersecurity for cloud uploads.

Blackouts in 2022 caused temporary gaps, resolved by adding battery-backed edge nodes. Training for facility teams emphasized interpreting dashboards, such as correlating occupancy data with lighting maintenance schedules for parking lots.

Results and Energy Savings

Analysis of Con Edison meter data (2012–2023) showed $5 million+ in cumulative savings, with 9.4% average annual normalized reductions in occupied buildings and 13.6% in non-occupied ones. HVAC setpoint adjustments based on turnstile data cut peak amperage by 15%, preventing overloads. Lighting design optimizations, like dimming in low-occupancy zones, yielded 20% efficiency gains.

Summary

RTEM's strength lies in its granularity, linking occupancy to PLC-driven controls reduced unnecessary runtime, educating managers on load balancing.

The challenges highlighted the need for hybrid (edge-cloud) designs in urban grids prone to fluctuations.

This case demonstrates CEMS' scalability for offices, where data cabling upgrades can unlock 10-20% savings without major rewiring.