overview

District Energy of St. Paul operates the largest metropolitan hot water district heating system in the United States. This system contains metering wires which communicates, on an hourly basis, with a central computer at the District Energy plant.

client value proposition

District Energy customers had expressed interest in obtaining metered information on a regular basis to trouble-shoot their equipment, forecast budgets, and ensure their buildings were running efficiently. District Energy wanted to develop a detailed automated reporting system that would provide greater value to its customers.

implementation

Created ClearStory®, a multi-tiered Graphing application.

Designed and developed statistical analysis packages for use in ClearStory®.

Integrated the ClearStory® system with District Energy's current data warehouse system.

development time: 6 months.

user benefits

Users can access (depending upon their subscription level) data up to the previous hour in a variety of graphs. Extensive filtering mechanisms have been implemented so that a customer can focus on periods of a day, days of the week, and more.

results & real value

District Energy's customers have been using the ClearStory® system for two years. At least three of their customers have used the system to fine-tune their heating and cooling systems—saving thousands of dollars in operating expenses—and District Energy (and its sister company, Market Street Energy) have increased their customer base as a result.