Direct Energy Business Signs Partnership Agreement with BuildingIQ for HVAC Energy Monitoring and Analytics Solution

PITTSBURGH and FOSTER CITY, Calif., June 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Direct Energy Business signed a partnership agreement with BuildingIQ to offer a cloud-based software solution to Direct Energy Business customers to reduce heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) energy costs, and to improve the carbon footprint in commercial buildings. The software uses advanced algorithms to learn a building's patterns and to develop a model to improve the building's HVAC energy performance.

The software works with a building's management system (BMS) to automatically fine tune temperature and pressure set points. The solution is deployed as a web-based SaaS product, a common delivery model for many business applications, and continuously obtains data on the local weather forecast, the occupancy for the building, energy prices, tariffs, and demand response signals. Based on these inputs, it runs thousands of simulations to arrive at the most efficient HVAC operating strategy for the next 24 hours.

"This solutions offering will give our larger customers the insights they need to take more control of their energy usage," said Todd Sandford, head of solutions, Direct Energy Business. "There is little to no upfront capital cost or expense, and the product can reduce HVAC energy expenses, resulting in a positive ROI in just a few months. This is another tool our customers can use for total energy management."

The software delivers automated control, not just reports and graphs, and provides a portal for a single operator to view and manage a portfolio of buildings. Additionally, there are sustainability benefits including several additional points for LEED, and up to five additional points for ENERGY STAR.

"When a building installs our Predictive Energy Optimization™ platform, it's not just the technology they are getting, but also expert monitoring from our team," said Michael Nark, president and CEO of BuildingIQ. "Our solution closes the loop between gathering data and acting on it, which means freeing up cash flow for Direct Energy Business' customers. From a business perspective, this low-risk, high-reward strategy for energy savings just makes sense."

About Direct Energy

Direct Energy is North America's largest provider of heating & cooling, plumbing and electrical services and a leading energy and energy-related services provider with over 6 million residential and commercial customer relationships. Direct Energy provides customers with choice and support in managing their energy costs through a portfolio of innovative products and services. A subsidiary of Centrica plc (LSE: CNA), one of the world's leading integrated energy companies, Direct Energy operates in 46 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia and 10 provinces in Canada. To learn more about Direct Energy, please visit www.directenergy.com.

About BuildingIQ

BuildingIQ is a leading provider of advanced energy management software that actively predicts and manages HVAC loads in commercial buildings. As the only supplier of patent-pending Predictive Energy Optimization^tm technology, BuildingIQ's cloud-based solution is powering energy and operational savings in buildings across the globe with reductions in HVAC energy costs by as much as 25 percent. BuildingIQ delivers measureable results and has received backing from tier one industry leaders including Aster Capital (backed by Schneider Electric, Alstom and Solvay), the Venture Capital unit of Siemens Financial Services (SFS VC), Paladin Capital and the Energy Division of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

As a leader in its industry, BuildingIQ has been recognized as a winner of the Bloomberg New Energy Pioneers Award, Fierce Innovation Awards' "Best in Show", EDC's Readers' Choice Award, named a Cool Vendor in Green IT and Sustainability by Gartner, a Top 10 Enterprise Smart Grid Leader by Groom Energy Solutions, featured in Verdantix's Green Quadrant and listed on the Global Cleantech 100 and AlwaysOn Going Green Global 200.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121004/MM87276LOGO

SOURCE Direct Energy