California Energy Commission Awards Plug Load Control Grant to the University of California San Diego, Johnson Controls, and BERT
KING OF PRUSSIA, PA. (PRWEB) MARCH 30, 2021
Project Will Quantify Plug Load Energy Savings Resulting from Integrated Plug Load Controls
BERT, the leading supplier of advanced smart plug control solutions for commercial buildings, announced that the California Energy Commission (CEC) awarded a $1,028,000 grant to the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) to demonstrate the benefits of integrating Bert’s smart plug controls into existing building energy management systems.
UCSD will install and integrate 2,500 Bert Smart Plugs with Johnson Controls Metasys® Building Automation System throughout 10 campus buildings. The project will demonstrate that the integration of advanced smart plug load controls with an existing building automation system reduces building plug load energy usage by 20% and facilitates load shifting.
The winning grant application was submitted by UCSD’s Center for Energy Research (CER). CER creates flexible demand solutions for the growing challenges of energy supply, distribution, and utilization. “Bert was the logical partner because of their extensive integration experience. The BERT/Metasys solution will help UCSD manage and reduce energy consumption more dynamically in response to grid and building needs,” says Dr. Jan Kleissl, CER Director and Professor in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering.
“The project award validates BERT’s strategy of adding value to existing energy management systems by enabling these systems to manage, monitor and control plug loads. At UCSD, our BACnet/IP Software Integration Gateway, BERT Connect, enables rapid and cost-effective integration into Johnson Controls Metasys system,” says BERT CEO Scott Yetter.