BPLG deploys smart grid technology for greener Angouleme

PITTSBURGH, USA & LE MANS, FRANCE: BPL Global Ltd. (BPLG), a smart grid technology company dedicated to leading the transformation of energy efficiency and reliability, has been awarded a public tender in Angouleme by private housing landlord Vilogia Horizon to improve energy efficiency of 33 of their buildings with more than 1,000 apartments.

Vilogia Horizon is a subsidiary of the Vilogia group which manages 75,000 apartments in France. The landlord will see building energy consumption reduced while tenants save money on their utility bills and everyone will benefit from the reduction in carbon emissions and improved environmental impact.

The EasyGreen solution was selected over other products because of its exceptional ability to remotely monitor and affect consumer level energy consumption in near real-time from the building level down to the individual apartment level. In similar deployments, housing authorities and facilities managers have been able to realize up to 10 percent cost savings using BPLG’s EasyGreen solution.

“Our commitment to a cleaner environment and helping tenants save on their utility costs led us to select BPLG’s EasyGreen solution,” said Alain Cécillon, Managing Director of Vilogia Horizon. “We are excited to replicate their proven success in improving energy efficiency of apartment buildings. BPLG’s technology will help us comply with our regional energy efficiency plan and cost effectively meet our goals.”

BPLG offers facility managers, building owners and Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) a unique opportunity to increase building efficiency, cut costs and reduce carbon emissions. Through its EasyGreen solution, BPLG provides a complete facilities energy monitoring and management system that enables effective, integrated management of electricity, thermal energy, and water services.

This solution is coupled with an intuitive, web-based user interface that is accessible from any internet connected computer. From this portal, facility managers and building occupants gain near real-time visibility into energy use. Alarms can be set, sending alerts of leaks or excessive use and allowing a quick response to conserve energy and water.

“Europe is leading the green transformation and cities like Angouleme are recognizing the benefits and adopting leading energy efficiency technologies. Solutions refined in Angouleme can be leveraged to nearly 300 million households in apartment buildings across Europe and China,” said BPL Global CEO Keith Schaefer. “Visibility at both the user and facilities management levels mobilize action to save energy, save money and save the environment. BPLG is providing the tools that make it easy to do so.”

Success of the EasyGreen solution is growing throughout France. Several major housing authorities and facilities energy managers have deployed the EasyGreen solution since 2007. The solution combines software, communications and sensors to monitor and manage utilities throughout the facilities. The system is able to track water and electricity consumption as well as ambient and hot water temperatures in near real-time at a granular level.

Facilities managers gain an integrated view of all facilities under management. With the EasyGreen solution in place, the housing authorities quickly found that their buildings’ indoor ambient temperatures were set too high compounded with the fact that hot water arrived at their buildings under heated. With this knowledge they were able to revise contracts with their service providers and save a substantial amount in costs.

Significant savings were also realized as building occupants gained accurate, near real-time visibility of their utility use and reduced their consumption.

Unlike other energy efficiency web portal solutions, BPLG’s software is part of a broader platform enabling management of integrated distributed energy resources. “It is the unique integrated platform approach which brings higher value to customers of our EasyGreen solution,” said Pascal Julienne, President Executive Director, BPL Global Europe.

Also participating in the project are Solstice Grand Angouleme, a subsidiary of Covage deploying the FTTH network for the 33 buildings, Equitia delivering consulting services, and BOT providing legal counsel.