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Controlling Campus Energy Consumption via the IP Network – A Feasibility Study for Reducing Energy Consumption via Cisco’s EnergyWise®

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Business leaders, including the University of Michigan leadership, are defining sustainability initiatives that reduce their electrical power consumption and CO2 emissions in an effort to not only reduce energy costs, but to also be respectful of global environmental concerns. To assist business leaders, IT suppliers are delivering products that consume less energy while offering new IT delivery approaches such as data center virtualization to reduce cooling and power demands. The combustion of fossil fuels to supply energy to commercial buildings resulted in the emission of 277 million metric tons of carbon equivalents in 2005. This represents roughly 17% of all U.S. carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for that year. How much energy savings could a “smart building” that networks all of the disparate building control systems realize?

Cisco Systems has taken a broad approach to energy management by delivering a power command and control architecture called Cisco EnergyWise which seeks to provide business and IT leaders with the tools to measure, manage and control the power consumption of all devices connected to the campus network. In addition, Cisco Network Building Mediator seeks to connect facility heating, air conditioning, lighting, security and other non-IT systems—systems that consume the largest proportion of corporate energy—in an effort to provide IT leaders with the tools and means to support their organization’s management of its overall energy consumption.

This Masters project will describe, as a real case study using the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE) and Stephen M Ross School of Business (RSB), the current environmental challenges that confront the University of Michigan IT leaders and assess EnergyWise and Network Building Mediator as technologies to manage facilities in alignment with overall sustainability initiatives. The result of the project will be a business case with identified costs and ROI expectations, a Documentary Video Case Study, and a communication of recommendations and findings to UM executives.

Sponsor(s)
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Research Areas
Buildings
Urban Systems and Built Environment