Energy Information Systems (EIS), which can monitor and analyze building energy consumption and related data throughout the Internet, have been increasing in use over the last decade. Though EIS developers describe the capabilities, costs, and benefits of EIS, many of these descriptions are idealized and often insufficient for potential users to evaluate cost, benefit and operational usefulness. LBNL has conducted a series of case studies of existing EIS and related technology installations. This study explored the following questions: (1) How is the EIS used in day-to-day operation? (2) What are the costs and benefits of an EIS? (3) Where do the energy savings come from? This paper reviews the process of these technologies from installation through energy management practice. The study is based on interviews with operators and energy managers who use EIS. Analysis of energy data trended by EIS and utility bills was also conducted to measure the benefit. This paper explores common uses and findings to identify energy savings attributable to EIS, and discusses non-energy benefits as well. This paper also addresses technologies related to EIS that have been demonstrated and evaluated by LBNL.

The groundwater flow and transport model of the Faultless underground nuclear test conducted at the Central Nevada Test Area (CNTA) was accepted by the state regulator and the environmental remediation efforts at the site have progressed to the stages of model validation and long-term monitoring design. This report discusses the long-term monitoring strategy developed for CNTA. Subsurface monitoring is an expensive and time-consuming process, and the design approach should be based on a solid foundation. As such, a thorough literature review of monitoring network design is first presented. Monitoring well networks can be designed for a number of objectives including aquifer characterization, parameter estimation, compliance monitoring, detection monitoring, ambient monitoring, and research monitoring, to name a few. Design methodologies also range from simple hydrogeologic intuition-based tools to sophisticated statistical- and optimization-based tools. When designing the long-term monitoring well network for CNTA, a number of issues are carefully considered. These are the uncertainty associated with the subsurface environment and its implication for monitoring design, the cost associated with monitoring well installation and operation, the design criteria that should be used to select well locations, and the potential conflict between different objectives such as early detection versus impracticality of placing wells in …

Industry and EPRI experience at several plants has shown on-line monitoring to be very effective in identifying out-of-calibration instrument channels or indications of equipment-degradation problems. The EPRI implementation project for on-line monitoring has demonstrated the feasability of on-line monitoring at several participating nuclear plants. The results have been very enouraging, and substantial progress is anticipated in the coming years.

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