Mindful Energy Management without a Second Thought
I grew up in a frugal household long before frugality was trendy. My father’s favorite sayings were, “Money doesn’t grow on trees,” “Shut off that light if you’re not using it,” and “Shut the door, I’m not paying to air condition the county.”
My father would have thought Herman Miller’s new Energy Manager is a great idea.
Energy Manager automatically turns selected electronics (e.g., task lights, printers, chargers) off when an infrared occupancy sensor under the work surface senses a cluster of workstations is unoccupied. When a person sits down to work, an occupancy sensor detects their presence and turns on the devices in the cluster. Ten minutes after a person leaves, the devices automatically turn off.
Energy Manager, when Convia-enabled (connected to a programmable gateway), can also create reports on workstation occupancy and energy consumption. This is a huge jump in accuracy over the “bed checks” companies have relied on. “The more accurately you can measure occupancy, the better you can manage it,” says Todd Thompson, Advanced Development Manager, Programmable Environments Lead at Herman Miller.
Occupancy information collected and reported by Energy Manager is giving companies insights into not only square footage requirements, but also traffic patterns and departmental adjacencies.
Some companies are keen on saving energy and others are keen on the return on investment, but one thing is pretty clear: Energy Manager is a simple device that can save electrical energy.
Now if only someone would figure how to make money grow on trees.
By Christine MacLean
