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Optimum Energy maintains a strong security focus by, yet again, passing the AICPA SOC 2 Audit in the Trusted Services Criteria

Optimum Energy maintains a strong security focus by, yet again, passing the AICPA SOC 2 Audit in the Trusted Services Criteria

Published
29 June 2021

We are extremely pleased to announce that Optimum Energy has yet again passed AICPA SOC 2, Type 1 audit of our systems and organization controls relevant to security and availability.  This effort included months of reviewing and providing evidence that not only do we have established policies and procedures, but those are closely followed.  The auditor’s review touched every department in the organization, all hosting environments including Digital Fortress, GCP and AWS, all vendors that are in contact with customer or employee data, software development, HR, and a deep-dive through security policies and procedures. The SOC 2, Type 1 audit is a very powerful example of our commitment to our customers, their data, and the availability of OptiCx.

For more information about our cybersecurity click here.

Optimum Energy’s total customer water savings have just surpassed 400 million gallons

Optimum Energy’s total customer water savings have just surpassed 400 million gallons

Published
02 June 2021

We are tremendously excited to announce that our total customer water savings have just surpassed 400 Million gallons. The collective cost savings translates to over $200 million dollars and a carbon reduction achievement of more than 1.35 Million metric tons. Optimum’s software has also reduced energy use by over 1.9 billion kWh to date. This savings data is tracked in real-time and viewable via a counter displayed on the Optimum Energy home page.

The data draws from Optimum Energy’s software installations across four continents, optimizing the cooling and heating of over 310 Million ft2 of space in a variety of facility types. From pharmaceutical labs to semiconductor fabs, universities to hospitals, office buildings to data centers and more, customers around the world continue to rely on Optimum Energy’s software solutions to help them meet their financial and sustainability goals.

We are excited to welcome Kristin Yao, our new Mechanical Engineer.

We are excited to welcome Kristin Yao, our new Mechanical Engineer.

Published
12 May 2021

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We are excited to welcome Kristin Yao, our new Mechanical Engineer. Kristin has a BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington. Prior to Optimum Energy, Kristin acquired hands-on experience with HVAC systems during an internship with the Seattle commissioning company Wilson Jones Commissioning. Kristin has engaged in the commissioning of new buildings, troubleshooting of mechanical and fire safety systems, and evaluating HVAC and architectural plans. When she is not immersed in HVAC technology, Kristin is on the slopes enjoying snowboarding or, heads down and pushing the limits of her video game skills. Just to add a little life balance, Kristin also started vegetable gardening this year.

Growing campus meets thermal energy needs without new power production

Growing campus meets thermal energy needs without new power production

Published
27 April 2021

An enduring partnership enables UT Austin to deliver innovation, efficiency and energy savings.

This article originally appeared in Districted Energy Magazine

Juan Ontiveros, PE, Associate Vice President for Utilities and Energy Management, The University of Texas at Austin; and Ben Erpelding, PE, Chief Technology Officer, Optimum Energy

In 2007, The University of Texas at Austin (UT) was on the brink of massive change. With the campus expanding and its cooling systems at capacity, UT’s energy management team built a new chiller plant – and then took a chance on cutting-edge optimization software, betting that it would help keep costs down and conserve resources. It was the first step in what turned into a 13-year journey to implement increasingly complex and innovative energy efficiency measures across a steadily growing campus.

The initial chiller plant optimization project led to an ongoing engineering partnership between the UT Utilities and Energy Management (UEM) team and Optimum Energy that is reducing costs by $15 million a year and has turned the university into one of the world’s most efficient utilities.

Screenshot of chilled-water network operations, The University of Texas at Austin. This graphic gives the UEM team a real-time snapshot of what
is happening and allows it to immediately see and address issues.

By combining efficiency measures with two thermal energy storage (TES) systems, UT is managing load growth, saving money and energy, and supporting the university’s sustainability goals. It has managed to reduce the chilled-water system’s overall energy usage and avoid investing in new power production capacity – even as the campus has grown by over 30 percent.

The UT and Optimum teams’ collaboration and methodical – almost religious – approach to gathering accurate data have allowed them to stretch the boundaries of what’s possible with optimization, building on each successful incremental change until, in 2019, UT achieved an average efficiency of 89 percent for all systems.

Read full article here

Optimization helps Thermal Energy Corporation sustain system reliability during growth—with substantial savings and an impressive payback!

Optimization helps Thermal Energy Corporation sustain system reliability during growth—with substantial savings and an impressive payback!

Published
15 March 2021

We’re excited to announce our latest customer success case study, with Thermal Energy Corporation!

Thermal Energy Corporation (TECO), which operates the largest district cooling system in North America, has seen its peak chilled water demand increase by 9,000 tons over the past four years with an additional increase of 9,000 tons forecasted over the next three years. TECO found that increasing efficiency with Optimum Energy is the most cost-effective way to manage growth while meeting its mission to provide reliable, economical thermal services to customers on the Texas Medical Center campus in Houston.

Optimum Energy deployed our OptimumLOOP® optimization solution, as well as our Plant Diagnostics platform enhancement to help the TECO team with their business continuity efforts. Within the first seven months of optimization, OptimumLOOP reduced TECO’s chiller plant energy consumption by 6%, saving nearly 10.5 million kWh and $356,000 in utility costs. The efficiency gains mean that TECO can keep the entire plant within its existing CHP capacity, a key component of their reliability plan, which is critical to the hospital customers they serve.

For more information on how Thermal Energy Corporation is on track to save more than $500,000 in the first year, click here to download our newest case study.

Optimum Energy’s total customer savings surpass $200 Million

Optimum Energy’s total customer savings surpass $200 Million

Published
06 January 2021

We are extremely proud to announce that our total customer savings have just surpassed the $200 Million mark. The collective cost savings translates into energy savings of over 1.8 billion kWh and carbon reductions of more than 1.1 Million metric tons. Optimum’s software has also cut water use by over 380 million gallons to date. The savings data are tracked in real time and are viewable via a counter displayed on the Optimum Energy home page.

The data draws from Optimum Energy’s software installations across four continents, optimizing the cooling and heating of over 210 Million ft2 of space in a variety of facility types. From pharmaceutical labs to semiconductor fabs, universities to hospitals, office buildings to data centers and more, customers around the world continue to rely on Optimum Energy’s software solutions to help them meet their financial and sustainability goals.

This savings milestone is truly an exciting start to 2021. Stay tuned for more good things to come from Optimum Energy.

Optimum Energy awarded Ecovadis Bronze Medal for 2020 Sustainability

Optimum Energy awarded Ecovadis Bronze Medal for 2020 Sustainability

Published
19 November 2020

Optimum Energy is proud to announce that Ecovadis, the leader in business sustainability ratings, has awarded us their Bronze Medal 2020 Sustainability rating, placing us in the top 50% of companies they assessed. The sustainability rating is a testament to our focus on ethical and sustainable business practices. It’s also confirmation that at Optimum Energy we don’t just help our customers meet their sustainability goals, we practice what we preach. For more information on Optimum Energy’s mission and the values that drive us, visit our About page. And to see how we are helping our customers reach their sustainability goals, visit here, or check out the savings counter on our main page.

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An enduring partnership with UT Austin delivers innovation, efficiency and energy savings

An enduring partnership with UT Austin delivers innovation, efficiency and energy savings

Published
23 September 2020

We’re excited to announce our latest customer success case study, with the University of Texas at Austin.

University of Texas at Austin

Our partnership with the University of Texas at Austin has lasted for more than a decade, and during that time we have helped them achieve what seemed impossible: reducing their chilled water system’s overall energy usage as the campus grew. The long-term phased approach we took together combines industry-leading chiller plant optimization software, powerful cloud-based analytics, and a dedicated team of support engineers, all working hand-in-hand with the UT Austin operations team to support their mission. Together, OptimumLOOP and the OptiCx platform now run the University’s chiller plants at an incredible 0.59 kW/ton system-wide efficiency across 63,000 tons of cooling capacity, saving almost 30 Million kWh per year, reducing CO2 emissions by 72,000 tons per year, and contributing to a peak load reduction of 4.2 MW.

For more information on how we have built this successful partnership with UT Austin, and the amazing efficiency milestones we’ve helped them reach, click here to download our newest case stud