Controls & Automation
Venstar Surveyor EMS now installed at more than 13,000 locations across North America
February 28, 2011
Venstar, a thermostat and energy management systems supplier, has announced its Surveyor Energy Management System (EMS) is now installed at more than 13,000 locations in North America, including Family Dollar and other retail stores. Using Surveyor, combined, the chains’ energy use was reduced by 1.3 billion kilowatt hours–equivalent to taking 185,057 cars off the road and eliminating more than 2.1 billion pounds of CO2 emissions, it says.
February 28, 2011 By Alyssa Dalton
“Now with more than 13,000 individual store installations, Surveyor has saved its retail chain customers millions in energy costs and reduced their carbon footprints,” said Steve Dushane, president and CEO. “Using Surveyor, the average-sized small-box chain store customer can realize savings of up to 25 percent off its energy costs the first year. In addition to the dramatic cost savings and CO2 emissions, customers typically have a return on investment (ROI) on their Surveyor system in less than 18 months.”
What is it?
Surveyor empowers small-box retailers and other multi-location businesses to remotely monitor, control and manage their HVAC and lighting/electrical and mechanical systems in all their stores, giving them unprecedented visibility into their energy usage. Designed specifically for small-box retail chains with hundreds to thousands of locations, Surveyor provides powerful energy management tools for energy and facility managers responsible for managing multi-location companies.
How does it work?
Each piece of the user’s energy-consuming equipment has sensors installed that communicate to the user’s Surveyor system via the Internet. The sensors can be added to “virtually any manufacturer’s equipment, allowing users to retrofit their existing equipment without buying new equipment.” For added flexibility for mobile users, the Surveyor iPhone app allows users to monitor and control the system on the go.
According to Venstar, other benefits include:
• A single person can remotely control energy usage for thousands of stores using a desktop computer, laptop, telephone or iPhone;
• Users can make global changes to stores by state or region, or can make changes to individual stores, allowing for optimal store temperatures and lighting, resulting in energy savings and comfort for customers and employees;
• Extensive data mining, diagnostics, and analysis empower users to manage their stores by a variety of criteria, including weather conditions;
• User-defined security levels provide effective company-wide access to the system without compromising security.
“Using Surveyor is not just about cost savings,” said Marilyn M. Morse, vice president of facilities management for Family Dollar. “Being a green company is very important to us. Surveyor helps us make informed energy decisions for our stores’ energy usage and make a positive environmental impact.” Based in Matthews, N.C., Family Dollar has more than 6,800 stores in 44 states, all of which are equipped with Surveyor.
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