What if someone invented a simple, affordable device you quickly attach to your car to save you gas? Genius, right?

Well then, check this out. It’s Herman Miller’s new Energy Manager—a simple, affordable device you quickly attach to your Herman Miller systems furniture (new or retrofit) to save you electrical energy, 24/7.

Energy Manager is an easy solution to a major problem: A lot of energy and money is being wasted in facilities today. Chances are if you look around your facility, you’ll see too many workstations unoccupied for hours at a time with task lights, printers, computers, and chargers turned on, needlessly consuming energy, day and night.

That’s why Herman Miller developed Energy Manager. Part of the company’s Programmable Environments initiative, it makes your systems furniture smarter and it gives you more control over your environment.

Here’s how. Energy Manager controls two of the four circuits of power in a cluster of workstations. When a person sits down to work, an occupancy sensor detects their presence and turns on the devices in the cluster plugged into those two circuits. After the person leaves, the devices automatically turn off.

The results can be dramatic—and valuable to you and the environment. For example, take battery chargers that are always left on. Small potatoes, right? But 5% of energy is wasted on battery chargers not in use.

Energy Manager can also be connected to a Convia programmable gateway so it can measure and monitor occupancy data from every workstation—which workstations are occupied, when, and for how long during a day. Energy Manager uses this data to generate detailed occupancy reports that help you optimize floor plans to reduce real estate costs.   

Genius, right? The folks at Herman Miller’s LA showroom think so, too.

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