Zuckerman Gravely Saves Over $50,000 with offerings from Direct Energy Business

Washington, D.C. – Zuckerman Gravely Management Inc. (Zuckerman Gravely), a family-owned commercial real estate management company, worked with Direct Energy Business, their natural gas supplier, to realize more than $50,000 in savings through a total energy management program in their 12-story commercial office building located at 1400 I Street in Washington, D.C. The building has approximately 40 tenants, and several more commuters that use the building for the McPherson Square metro station. Zuckerman Gravely has been in commercial real estate for more than 30 years and has over two million rentable square feet of commercial office and retail space located primarily in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area.

Through the energy program created by Direct Energy Business we expect to save between $50,000 and $75,000 a year in energy costs, which is a rapid return on our investment,” said Zuckerman Gravely’s Controller Kelly James. “The program we initiated involved Demand Response and Panoramic Power. Both of these tools gave us more control over our energy usage, enabled us to reduce costs, and we were able to pass along those savings to our tenants.”

Two years ago, Zuckerman Gravely began participating in the Direct Energy Business Demand Response program where they earn revenue for committing to reducing their energy usage during periods of peak demand, with additional payments dispersed when they are called on to reduce consumption. In addition to this revenue, the Demand Response energy curtailment events helped Zuckerman Gravely reduce their peak load contribution by 11.5 percent, enabling them to secure a lower price on electricity.

Installed in December, Panoramic Power®, a wireless device-level energy monitoring solution, has provided real-time visibility into the building’s energy usage through 93 sensors that were placed on wires in the breaker box of the building. These sensors monitor the building’s electricity usage down to the device level, and provide the visibility necessary to find and eliminate energy waste, optimize operations and even predict and prevent equipment failure. 

Once installed, the sensors sent energy data to PowerRadar™, a cloud-based analytics dashboard. From this central dashboard, the company was able to identify that the building’s heating was running in the evenings and on weekends when the building was unoccupied. By adjusting the heating levels during off hours and weekends, they reduced their energy consumption by 30 percent, saving an estimated $6,800 per month.