We are excited to announce Tagup has been selected as an approved contractor for Con Edison’s Real-Time Energy Management (RTEM) pilot program. Con Edison is one of the nation’s largest energy companies and serves 3.6 million customers in New York City and Westchester County. Joining Con Edison’s RTEM contractor ecosystem underscores our commitment to making energy efficiency improvements easier and more financially accessible for building owners. Through this partnership, eligible facilities are able to stack two layers of savings for reducing energy consumption with our AI-powered HVAC optimization technology: lower operating costs and incentives from Con Edison.

What is the Con Edison Real-Time Energy Management (RTEM) pilot program?

Con Edison’s RTEM pilot program offers incentives to eligible facilities for energy savings associated with operational energy conservation measures identified by RTEM systems. RTEM systems are combined hardware and cloud-based software solutions that work with your existing building automation (BAS) or management system (BMS) to continuously monitor equipment performance, detect faults, and identify energy efficiency opportunities. Eligible facilities include commercial, non-profit, or multifamily buildings that have an average electric demand of 100 kilowatts or consume at least 800,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) per year.

Accepted sites can earn incentives of up to 50% of the cost of implementing energy conservation measure(s) plus the RTEM costs. Incentives can be earned for a three-year period and vary based on system and energy type:

• Systems controlled by automated system optimization: $0.35 per kWh of electricity saved; $5.00 per therm of gas saved; $80.00 per MLb of secondary Con Edison district steam savings.
• Systems monitored by RTEM fault detection systems: $0.20 per kWh of electricity saved; $2.50 per therm of gas saved; $40.00 per MLb of secondary Con Edison district steam savings.

Con Edison has assembled a diverse ecosystem of contractors to help eligible facilities unlock energy savings and incentives offered by the RTEM pilot program. We are proud to be selected as a participating contractor in the program.

Unlocking stackable savings with Tagup's HVAC optimization technology

Beacon, our AI-powered HVAC optimization software, integrates directly with a facility’s BAS or BMS to optimize HVAC system performance. Beacon uses machine learning to predict how changes in operating conditions (building load demands, utility rates, weather conditions, etc.) will affect system performance, and then continuously adjusts setpoints to maximize operational efficiency. This dynamic control strategy ensures HVAC systems operate at peak efficiency without sacrificing occupant comfort. Commercial deployments of Beacon have reduced energy consumption by 10%-20% versus benchmark control strategies, with peak savings as high as 30%.

With Beacon, eligible facilities can leverage the first set of incentives from Con Edison’s RTEM pilot program: systems controlled by automated system optimization. Accordingly, with Con Edison’s RTEM pilot program, monetary savings from Beacon’s resultant reductions in energy consumption are twofold:

• Reductions in operating costs: Reducing energy consumption by up to 30% in turn lowers operating costs by up to 30%.
• Con Edison RTEM pilot program incentives: For every unit of energy saved through this reduction in energy consumption, building owners unlock $0.35 for electricity savings, $5.00 for gas savings, and $80.00 for steam savings.

Furthermore, as the participating contractor, Tagup applies for incentives on any accepted facility’s behalf, allowing building owners to earn incentives with no additional investments in time or costs.

Example: The New York Times building

Consider a well-known New York City landmark: the New York Times building, located at 620 Eighth Avenue. According to the NYC Energy & Water Performance Map, the building’s energy use is approximately 46% electricity, 30% natural gas, and 24% district steam. From these numbers, we can infer that the New York Times building uses electricity for cooling and natural gas for heating. 

According to Local Law 84 data, the New York Times building consumed 18,823,513 kWh of electricity in 2023. If we assume that 60% to 75% of this consumption comes from operating the cooling system, then energy use associated with the cooling system alone is conservatively 11,294,108 kWh (18,823,513*60%). If the New York Times building were to reduce cooling system electricity consumption by 10% (translating to a reduction in 1,129,411 kWh), then the building would be eligible for incentives of up to $395,000 (1,129,411*$0.35). Additionally, as outlined in the NYC Accelerator building snapshot tool, projected annual bill savings from a 10% reduction in electricity consumption total approximately $337,000.

The New York Times building can also optimize its heating system. According to Local Law 84 data, the building consumed 467,600 therms of natural gas in 2023. If we assume that 80% to 90% of this consumption comes from operating the heating system, then energy use associated with the heating system alone is conservatively 374,080 therms (467,600*80%). If the New York Times building were to reduce heating system gas consumption by 10% (translating to a reduction in 37,408 therms), then the building would be eligible for incentives of up to $187,000 (37,408*$5.00). This brings the building’s total potential incentives to $582,000 (recall that incentives can be earned up to 50% of the cost of implementing energy conservation measure(s) plus the RTEM costs).

These figures reflect potential incentives for only a 10% reduction in energy use for the cooling and heating systems. Beacon has been shown to reduce HVAC energy consumption by up to 30%, empowering building owners to realize even greater energy savings and incentives. Even further, accepted sites are eligible to earn incentives for a three-year period.

Lower operating costs and unlock incentives today

While many of the energy efficiency upgrades building owners must make to realize these incentives require high upfront costs and operational disruptions (e.g., upgrading building systems, improving building envelope, installing renewable energy systems, etc.), Beacon’s AI-powered HVAC optimization is neither costly nor disruptive. This innovative approach empowers building owners to unlock substantial incentives quickly, seamlessly, and without the downtime commonly associated with traditional energy efficiency upgrades.

To learn more about how Beacon can help you reduce building operating costs and unlock utility incentives, request a demo today.