Optimal Monitoring, a firm describing itself as “a thought-leader in energy management software”, has been nominated as one of three short listed finalists for the Wright Commission Award – an annual competition run by the Retail Energy Forum (REF) – with its EMMA AI (Artificial Intelligence) solution.
The awards take place on 5 November 2019 in Westminster, London.
The REF is a collective of businesses with a mission to support the UK’s transition to a low carbon economy. Its annual Wright Commission Award highlights new, exciting and innovative ideas in the energy management space. The awards were set up in commemoration of Bill Wright, a champion for energy, innovation and energy reduction who worked for many years at The John Lewis Partnership, and who passed away in May 2017.
Optimal Monitoring is the only energy management finalist. The firm says its software empowers organisations to make smarter decisions about utilities, energy consumption and the impact on corporate social responsibilities. It is seemingly proven to deliver substantial savings in many sectors including retail, logistics, manufacturing and the public sector. Its latest solution not only gathers and interprets data but analyses and communicates recommended solutions direct to those responsible for actions within a building management team. No longer do Energy and Facilities Managers have to analyse data and drive implementation, says Optimal – EMMA AI “delivers the intelligence to perform this task whilst continually learning and evolving for future cost savings, increased scalability and long-term sustainability.”
EMMA AI is, says the firm, “a state-of-the-art solution that identifies anomalies and critically, sends simple-to-implement instructions straight to those tasked with managing the efficiency of estate buildings”. And this apparently means one energy manager can easily oversee many more sites. “Faster rectification means time and cost savings resulting in untold commercial benefits in terms of resource management, carbon efficiency and financial gain.”
Duncan Everett, Optimal Monitoring Managing Director, comments: “MMA AI is changing the way that companies operate, allowing more to be achieved with less time and cost consumption. Using artificial intelligence to constantly analyse energy and utility consumption, our system can make suggestions to overcome any specific site issue – directly to individuals with hands-on responsibility, such as facilities managers and site engineers. This allows Energy Managers more time to concentrate on wider company energy management and long-term goals. Additionally, EMMA AI can significantly reduce the cost of current operating behavioural programmes and delivers the added advantage of maintaining and improving future energy management outcomes. The platform can easily be added into an existing estate management helpdesk and entry and operating costs are very low – it’s a win-win situation.”
Michael Prager, Optimal Monitoring Chairman, concludes: “To the best of our knowledge, EMMA AI is the most advanced instance of artificial intelligence in energy management – a world’s first. Nobody wants data, they want solutions – EMMA AI provides this to the right employees at the right time, with positive proof of how implementation has improved energy efficiency. Securing a place as just one of three overall finalists, supports our belief that EMMA AI represents a real step-change in energy management.”