Site Controls
Energy Management System
How Big 5’s Financial Analyses Prove Siemens EMS to be a Smart Investment.
Answers for infrastructure.
A proven system
for retail chains
Developed for multi-site chains,
Siemens Site Controls can deliver
considerable energy savings for
large and small retail companies.
There are roughly 900,000 retail stores
across the U.S., and collectively, they make
up the largest commercial consumers of
electricity. Couple this with rising energy
costs and a stagnant economy, and it
becomes evident retailers need a solution
to curb energy consumption. To get the
energy savings they want, chain store
operators have started looking to Siemens
for the solution.
Siemens developed Site Controls™
Energy Management System (EMS) to
substantially reduce energy costs for
large and small retail chains. Designed for
multi-site chains with over 100 locations,
Site Controls is a Web-based solution
that can cut costs by 15 to 30% across
an enterprise. It allows corporate offices
to manage their stores with minimal
administrative overhead. In fact, it’s
proven to be a smart investment for
many restaurants, banks and Fortune
500 companies.
Starting in early 2010, Tom Robershaw,
Assistant Treasurer of Big 5® Sporting
Goods, began assessing the financial
benefits of adopting Site Controls into a
handful of stores. Big 5 is located primarily
in the Southwest region of the U.S., and
it currently has over 400 locations nationwide, with stores averaging 11,000 square
feet. Growth projections are around 10 to
15 new stores a year, so it’s critical to Big 5
that it can regulate energy consumption
across the company.
Site Controls gives operators
real-time intelligence into condition
of sites and key equipment.
Challenge
Energy is a controllable expense, but
controlling it is not always simple. Because
store managers must focus on operational
aspects such as scheduling, customer
requests and promotional activities,
seemingly simple tasks like overseeing
temperature and ensuring signage
illumination can easily be overlooked.
When analyzing the electricity use of Big 5
stores across the chain, Robershaw found
performance differences from store to
store. In fact, there were several stores
he dubbed “outliers” due to having the
highest kilowatt-hours per square-foot
usage. And it was unclear why these
outliers were using more energy than
their peers. Therefore, Robershaw had
to ask how Big 5 could reduce energy
consumption on a company-wide scale,
and more importantly, how it could do
this cost effectively.
Retrofitting lighting systems and upgrading
HVAC units was one possible answer to the
questions, but with the number of stores
in the chain, this did not prove to be the
most cost-effective solution. As Robershaw
notes, it’s hard to know the exact savings
that retrofitting and upgrade projects
deliver. Therefore, it needed an EMS that
could provide trend data, historical comparisons as well as real-time information.
Quantifiable data is integral to Robershaw
and the decisions he makes. He states,
“Being in finance, we’re really focused on
the return on investment (ROI), and trying
to get a quick payback on our investment
of capital expenditures and investment
in technology.”
Siemens proactive enterprise-based management vs. traditional approaches
+10
+5
Uncontrolled Load
Growth of 1% - 2%
+0
Annual kWh
percentage
change vs.
baseline
Set it and forget it
(typical approach)
-5
-10
Alarm-based
”reactive” mgt.
Since partnering with
Siemens and implementing
Site Controls in 2010,
Big 5 has been seeing
notable energy savings.
As of 2012, Big 5 is finding
an average energy savings
of 15% across the company.
-15
Siemens Site Controls
Enterprise-based
Proactive mgt.
-20
-25
-30
Year 1
Year 2
Solution
In January 2010, after reviewing several
EMS options, Big 5 chose to work with
Siemens. Given Siemens reputation and
proven success with their clientele, Big 5
found Site Controls to be the most sensible
solution. More importantly, it made the
most financial sense.
Robershaw notes that Big 5 first implemented Site Controls in three “outlier”
stores in California, where energy costs are
considerably higher than other areas of the
country. Nine months later, Big 5 rolled out
Site Controls to another 10 stores. Because
of the financial and operational benefits
proven by Site Controls, Big 5 will continue
to use the system in all of their new stores.
Since new stores require new HVAC and
lighting systems that can be controlled and
monitored, it only makes sense to ensure
they all function efficiently from the start.
By expanding Site Controls into a range
of stores, Big 5’s decision makers gain
centralized control. And even though
there are temperature and lighting setpoints for the chain, individual stores can
provide personal input when necessary.
Year 3
With regard to existing locations, Robershaw states the plan is to institute Site
Controls into “outlier” stores in each
district. He explains that because every
district has one or two stores that are
inexplicably using more electricity than
others, Big 5 will implement Site Controls
to understand what’s going on and
bring those stores in line with the rest
of the chain.
Results
Since partnering with Siemens and implementing Site Controls in 2010, Big 5 has
been seeing notable energy savings. As of
2012, Big 5 is finding an average energy
savings of 15% across the company.
Today, Big 5 stores with Site Controls are
operating efficiently. An advantage the
system offers is that it eliminates tedious
functions from a manager’s day-to-day
tasks, letting him or her focus on the
customer experience instead. He or she
no longer needs to be concerned about
lighting levels, temperature setpoints or
signage illumination. Having centralized
control means Big 5 improves operational
efficiency throughout their stores. Robershaw proudly states one of the beauties
of EMS is that “it takes out the human
element.” He adds, “With EMS, we can
control for all of those factors.”
“We selected Site
Controls because
[Siemens] had
a good retail
clientele that they
had worked with
before. And we
liked the folks
and the pricing.”
— Tom Robershaw,
Assistant Treasurer
Big 5 Sporting Goods
Adopting Site Controls has made it easier
for Big 5 to calculate payback when investing in capital expenditures. So if lighting
and HVAC retrofits and upgrades are made
to a store, Big 5 can look at that store’s
energy usage leading up to the introduction
of the new technology and immediately
thereafter. Robershaw notes that he can
simply pull up a graph, look at before &
after energy usage and quantify if his payback assumptions were realistic. Speaking
on this benefit of Site Controls, Robershaw
says, “We can really just focus on the ROI
of the new technology we put in there.”
Improved awareness and better line of
sight have also had a financial impact.
Using Site Controls, Big 5 now has the
ability to respond to minor issues before
they escalate into bigger problems. For
instance, decision makers can access
real-time information about the performance of a rooftop unit in a particular
location, and if anything about the unit’s
performance raises concerns, they can
act immediately. Site Controls has allowed
Big 5 to be more proactive on facility
maintenance throughout the company,
leading to greater cost savings.
And Siemens will continue to ensure
efficiency and savings for Big 5. Siemens
conducts monthly calls regarding key performance indicators (KPIs). Through these
KPI consultations, Siemens makes sure Big
5 stores are operating along the company’s
expectations. Of this aspect of customer
service, Robershaw states it helps Big 5
“stay focused on maintaining the originally
anticipated benefits and identifying any
new problems or opportunities.”
Big 5, like most large chains, finds energy
to be among its biggest expenses. And
like most large chains, it has districts
with some stores using more energy than
others. That’s why it uses Site Controls to
resolve problems. As a result, Big 5 can
bring their stores in line with corporate
standards, all while saving energy and
maintaining customer satisfaction.
Highlights
■■
Can cut energy costs by 15
to 30% across an enterprise.
■■
Centralized control eliminates
tedious day-to-day tasks for
store managers.
■■
Makes it easier to identify and
respond to problems with
HVAC and lighting.
■■
Continued support from
Siemens ensures each store’s
energy use is aligned with
company expectations.
Siemens Industry Inc.
Infrastructure & Cities Sector
Building Technologies Division
Retail & Commercial Systems
9225 Bee Cave Road
Bldg. B, Ste. 100
Austin, TX 78733
Office: (512) 306-9400
Fax: (512) 421-6624
The information in this document contains general descriptions of technical options available,
which do not always have to be present in individual cases. The required features should therefore
be specified in each individual case at the time of closing the contract.
© 2012 Siemens Industry, Inc. • (9/2012) Part #118-4219 P10
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