TALKING HEADS Chris Hurcombe
Towards a streamlined new normal Facebook and Twitter say that at least half of their employees will work from home forever. News-grabbing headline or good for business?, wonders Chris Hurcombe
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hile the Governmentenforced lockdown has required offices to close, digital platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Hangout were there to open up virtual offices instantly. Businesses, over the last three months have embraced these digital platforms and formed new ways of working. Could COVID-19 be the trigger to change our current working routine and status quo? Could bringing digitisation of processes, systems and communication channels to the fore become the new normal? Many businesses already had home working measures in place with digital platforms for voice and video communications as well as secure infrastructure for remote virtual private networks. However, it wasn’t the norm across the board, but since the Government lockdown it was forced upon us all and it has quickly become an embedded culture. But will this culture stick? Pre-COVID-19, some businesses were reluctant to change and embrace new technologies. We believe that not only will COVID-19 fundamentally change the way in which we do business but it will also change the way we manage energy consumption. Innovative software as a service (SaaS) platforms and IoT devices have been on the radar for businesses for the last few years, but not all businesses were keen to change current processes or adopt them due to financial constraints or a lack of understanding of the actual business benefits from embracing these digital platforms. Previously, some businesses and staff would shun new solutions as a fear for job security, but COVID-19 has flipped this – we now embrace tech more than ever. Technology and digital platforms could help us to do our job better, faster and sometimes without the need to leave our workstations. Energy procurement, bill validation and energy management are prime examples.
Hurcombe: 'could COVID19 be the trigger to change our current working routine and status quo?'
‘Digital technology is helping businesses do more than keep teams communicating while working from home’ All three activities rely on a number of departments, colleagues and third-party suppliers providing intelligent energy solutions. Procurement requires the sign off of the finance manager and the procurement team to place the order while the energy manager and TPI/broker forecast and identify the best procurement deal(s) for the business. Bill validation is similar but with the requirement of an extra third party bill validation provider. Energy management adds in the FM and maintenance teams, the staff who can influence how a building operates, the IoT providers, and SaaS analytics platform providers.
The need to manage communications For all three activities there is a great deal of ‘people’ power not to mention the need to manage the communications with all third parties. This is one area that can be digitised. There are SaaS platforms that provide all this functionality and the EaaSi platform is one such example. It is important to realise that digital platforms can aid businesses in their management of energy consumption and costs, procurement practices as well as ease cash flow. Let’s start with procurement. A digital platform will consume your energy bills and allow you to forecast consumption based on previous use and a deviation as advised, then automatically put the contract online for suppliers to bid for some or all of your
Chris Hurcombe is CEO of EaaSi (Energy as a Service Interactive) and Catalyst Commercial Service
energy supply (gas, water, electricity, HH, NHH etc) needs. The TPI/broker is removed from the equation and all the calculation of identifying the best deal is done programmatically and delivered to the energy manager and finance manager in a report that is easily understood. It splits out commodity and non-commodity costs for ease of reference. Next comes bill validation. A digital platform will seek the data direct from the supplier without any human involvement. This database-to-database process reduces time to collect data and cuts the number of paper bills. The latter would require the energy manager or office manager to attend site and collect and scan something staff don’t wish to do in the new normal if they’re working from home. The digital platform normalises the bills programmatically and any missing data or anomalies are instantly found. For example, the platform sends a request to the supplier’s database for missing data. Digital platforms remove the need for a third-party bill validation provider whose primary role is to process bills manually before inputting the data into their software platform. This could eradicate paper bills, so no need for the postal delivery either. Finally, there is energy management. This is not a simple process to digitise but with AMR and smart meters the data flow removes any need for someone to attend site and undertake a meter reading. With IoT devices and intelligent BMS for example, data from building activities can sit alongside meter data. Digital platforms can interpret and deliver actionable insights from which maintenance teams or remote facilities management teams can make changes to building system operations for energy efficiency improvements. With all the data in a database, these digital platforms can deliver reports on compliance against efficiency standards and, in the new normal, air-quality and maintenance reports to ensure the building is COVID-secure. In the new (office) normal, digital technology is helping businesses do more than keep teams communicating while working from home. Digital technology can dramatically improve the processes and functions for business. For energy managers, energy procurement and finance teams this means a streamlined, data-driven process to procure, validate, manage and monitor energy consumption and spend digitally and programmatically.
34 | ENERGY IN BUILDINGS & INDUSTRY | JULY / AUGUST 2020
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