Multi-utility energy data and analysis lies at the heart of winning over your bo ard of directors believes Paul

Akrill, Operations Director at IMServ Lack of quantifiable benefits and insufficient cost savings are the primary barr iers to investing in energy management. But according to Paul Akrill, Operations Director at IMServ Europe, the best way to address these obstacles, and win ove r your board of directors, is with multi-utility data and careful analysis. Milton Keynes, England, United Kingdom, September 20, 2013 -- A survey carried o ut by independent analyst firm Verdantix has revealed that a lack of quantifiabl e benefits and insufficient cost savings were stated as the primary barriers to investing in energy management. But according to Paul Akrill, Operations Directo r at IMServ Europe, the best way to address these obstacles is with multi-utilit y data and careful analysis. The Verdandix survey is carried out annually and questions 250 heads of energy i n 13 countries and across 20 industries. It revealed that 33% of respondents ide ntified compliance with legislation as the most important factor and 32% ranked cost savings as the primary driver for spending on energy management. Better ene rgy data management was revealed as the most common spending theme, with 96% of 250 corporations believing they need to enhance the volume, quality and frequenc y of energy data collection and reporting. IMServ Europe is one of the UKs largest independent energy management providers a nd works closely with many FTSE 250 organisations and companies within the comme rcial and industrial sectors, processing around 20 million data items per day. P aul explains the dilemma many companies face: Big data, dubbed the new oil by the World Economic Forum, can improve an organisati ons decision making, but only if customers can access energy information in a mea ningful format. The ability to see your energy consumption is critical to truly un derstanding how you use energy and where you could potentially make savings. One of the biggest hurdles in our experience is the onerous task of wading throug h all the claims that vendors make and trying to prove how these technologies wi ll work for you. Often the most efficient and sensible approach is to gather dat a on energy use before an energy management programme, using a visualisation too l such as IMServs Energy DataVision (EDV). Then, implement your energy management programme, whether behavioural, technical or both, on a limited scale. Then ene rgy managers can measure and verify the performance of these energy management i nitiatives to build a business case to present to their CFO for a wider roll out across the rest of a business portfolio. As well as installing multi-utility metering, IMServ provides organisations with the ability to graphically present their energy related data in ways that are s imple to comprehend and which aid analysis. Presenting the data in a multitude o f ways, the companys powerful web tool, EDV makes it accessible to a wide variety of stakeholders. The use of highly visual dashboards engages and informs staff about energy usage and supports corporate behaviour change programmes. Paul concluded: We run many trials with companies, usually on a risk-free basis, to test energy management initiatives and use the data we collect to help them c onvince their board of directors that energy management investments have a viabl e ROI. Basing these business cases on hard facts that are directly applicable to the companys situation makes the case much more convincing. Typically, once a co mpany has been able to quantify its energy usage, savings can be made by combini ng behavioural and infrastructure changes. These energy savings can range from 1 0% to 30% which represents a significant amount of savings. And in some cases, this highly-analytical, fact-based approach proves that a comp

any might already be doing everything it needs to do and there is not an argumen t for more spend on additional energy management technology. We recently worked with a well-known high street retailer with strong energy and green credentials where new technology would not have brought sufficient cost savings because staf f behaviour was already of such a high standard. Rising energy costs and increasing pressures on organisations to monitor and man age their energy usage more effectively is driving the need to embrace energy in telligence. Corporate Social Responsibility, the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme 1, along with legislation such as the 2011 Energy Act (which made provision for th e arrangement and financing of energy efficiency improvements) and the ECs Energy Efficiency Directive 2012 are all fuelling the requirement for organisations to monitor and visualise their energy performance in greater depth than ever befor e. About IMServ: IMServ Europe Ltd is one of the UKs largest independent energy data management pr oviders.The company offers carbon and energy management solutions, helping organi sations across all sectors to save energy, reduce costs and control carbon emiss ions. IMServ offers an all-inclusive portfolio that covers data collection, analysis, reporting and carbon management.To date over 180,000 sites in England, Scotland a nd Wales are benefiting from its solutions. For interviews, comment, photography, or interest in by-lined articles please co ntact laura@kisscom.co.uk Contact: Justine Smith KISS Public Relations Milton Keynes,England 0-122-391-1123 justine@kisscom.co.uk http://www.imserv.com