Building Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Performance Data Brought to You by Siemens Building Technologies
27 March 2008 - 1:30AM
PR Newswire (US)
GreenTouchscreen reveals sustainability concepts and their relation
to energy use in buildings BUFFALO GROVE, Ill., March 26
/PRNewswire/ -- In its raw form building energy consumption data is
not likely to reveal much to building owners, occupants or others
about its impact on the environment. Connecting the dots from
energy use in buildings to more sophisticated ideas like
sustainability require analytical skills that not everyone
possesses. To help more people understand and apply these concepts,
Siemens Building Technologies, Inc. now offers a powerful
interactive tool that analyzes building energy consumption data in
real time. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070904/SIEMENSLOGO ) Through
sophisticated integration to Siemens APOGEE(R) building automation
system, the GreenTouchscreen(R) from Quality Attributes Software,
Inc., (QAS) translates numerical building operational data into
visual information that helps even the casual observer understand a
variety of energy and sustainability related concepts. By
presenting building energy consumption data on an interactive
touchscreen housed in a kiosk in a building's foyer or mounted on
an accessible wall in a public space, Siemens can reveal the impact
of energy efficiency measures and behavioral changes to anyone
encountering the interface. Similarly, the interface can be
transmitted via the web making it available in classrooms or other
learning environments. The immediacy and accessibility of this
information can help people understand the role they can play in
saving energy in the spaces where they work, live, play or learn.
With this kind of information people are better equipped to
understand the relevance of their choices and change their
behavior. "Most organizations, whether they are public or private,
want to provide stakeholders with better information on their
sustainability and green efforts," said Siemens Building
Technologies' Richard Walker, senior national manager -
Environmental Solutions. "GreenTouchscreen offers us the ability to
not only provide information on energy use and climate
implications, but also on a broad variety of internal initiatives,"
he added. GreenTouchscreen(R) technology, developed by QAS
illustrates sustainability concepts by showing how much energy a
building is currently using, how much it has saved over time and
what that savings means in greenhouse gasses kept from the
atmosphere, pounds of coal left unburned or even hours of playing
X-Box. The GreenTouchscreen will also play a key role in Siemens'
Building Education program (an initiative that, among other things,
is introducing green engineering and sustainability curricula to
schools across the country). Siemens has plans to install these
screens in schools to help expose students and educators to this
exciting information and use it to inform themselves about their
school's energy use and its impact on their local environment. Next
fall for example, students attending the Henry Ford Learning
Academy's Power House High (now currently under construction) will
be able to attend classes with instruction guided by Siemens
curricula and supported by the GreenTouchscreen displays. As a
leading provider of energy and environmental solutions, building
controls, fire safety and security systems solutions, Siemens
Building Technologies, Inc., makes buildings comfortable, safe,
secure and less costly to operate. With U.S. headquarters in
Buffalo Grove, Ill., Siemens Building Technologies employs 7,200
people and provides a full range of services and solutions from
more than 100 locations coast-to-coast. Worldwide, the company has
28,000 employees and operates from more than 500 locations in 51
countries. For more information on Siemens Building Technologies,
visit: http://www.usa.siemens.com/buildingtechnologies
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070904/SIEMENSLOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Siemens Building
Technologies, Inc. CONTACT: Steven E. Kuehn of Siemens Building
Technologies, Inc., +1-847-941-6047, Web site:
http://www.usa.siemens.com/buildingtechnologies
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