The Offices of South Coast Plaza Just Got Greener
Costa Mesa, Calif. (PRWEB) June 16, 2014 -- Three office towers at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, already among the greenest in the country, are now greener with the installation of the patent-protected LOBOS (Load Based Optimization System) Demand Response system. The system, developed by Enerliance Inc., which was recently acquired by Yardi Systems adds intelligence to large-scale air conditioning systems, making it possible to automatically curtail energy consumption in response to peak electric grid congestion.
During a Southern California Edison commissioning test, the buildings equipped with the breakthrough technology of LOBOS delivered 1 megawatt of automated demand response to the Southern California electrical grid. That was three times the amount that had been expected by Southern California Edison.
”I am pleased the LOBOS system performed so well; it more than met our expectations,” said Gary Spore, Director of Engineering and Facilities at South Coast Plaza.
In the fall of 2012, South Coast took advantage of incentives from Southern California Edison Co. to install the LOBOS automated system in order to help control energy usage and costs and to be prepared for future rate changes. Edison pays up to 100 percent of the cost to install fully automated demand response technologies such as LOBOS in qualifying buildings.
“We have verified we can reduce energy levels on demand without disrupting facility occupants or operations, which is the key for sustainable demand response participation,” said Spore.
Scot Duncan, P.E., Enerliance founder, applauds the effort.
“LOBOS is delivering owner-friendly, tenant-friendly demand reduction which benefits the community, owners and occupants alike. This is a great example of the facilities community working with the utility to prevent brownouts and blackouts, reduce the need to build new power plants, and to manage energy costs for the facility.” Duncan said.
Being good environmental citizens is nothing new for South Coast Plaza. The three towers were the first Class A office buildings in California, and three of the first four buildings in the United States to be awarded LEED Gold certification by the US Green Building Council for Operations and Maintenance in 2009. The green initiative was rewarded with a letter of acknowledgement from the Obama Administration in recognition of the significant reductions in CO2 and water consumption achieved inside the towers.
The three South Coast Plaza buildings include two of the tallest buildings in Orange County, the 21-story Plaza and Center Towers, and the 17-story Park Tower with a total square footage of 1.5 million. With LOBOS Automated Demand Response, the next time Southern California Edison issues an alert, the South Coast Plaza office towers will have the ability to add 1,000 kilowatts of power back onto the grid.
About Enerliance: Enerliance, founded in 2005 and acquired by Yardi Systems in 2014, is the company behind the Load Based Optimization System (LOBOS), an intelligent optimization system for large-scale air conditioning systems that offers improved comfort, energy efficiency and fully automated demand response capability that improves bottom lines for building owners and occupants.
LOBOS delivers more than 32 megawatts of fully automated demand response capability to the grid along with more than $5 million in annual energy savings.
Enerliance has earned numerous industry accolades, including recognition by CIO magazine, one of the most highly regarded publications in the information technology industry, as one of the 20 most promising utilities solutions providers in 2013. For more information, visit http://www.enerliance.com.
About South Coast Plaza - Office Division: South Coast Plaza’s Office Division is the center of urban activity in Orange County. It encompasses the finest in office buildings, cultural arts, restaurants and retailing, representing a business and cultural core that is the heart of Orange County’s downtown.
South Coast Plaza's Office Division totals approximately 1.5 million square feet of office and commercial space including the 21-Story Plaza Tower, 21-Story Center Tower, 17-Story Park Tower, 7-Story California Bank & Trust. The center also includes the 400-Room Westin South Coast Plaza Hotel, Orange County’s Theatre District, South Coast Repertory Theatre, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, and the Renée & Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. http://www.officesofsouthcoastplaza.com
Ray Pustinger, Enerliance, http://enerliance.com, +1 (949) 383-4850, [email protected]
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