Building upon continuous improvement efforts since 2006, new capabilities will drive total energy savings over 30 percent for leading retailer
Michaels Stores, Inc., the largest arts and crafts retailer in the United States, recently rolled out a series of advanced extensions to its Siemens Site Controls Energy Management System (EMS). Since deploying the Siemens system in 2006, Michaels has seen substantial reductions in energy consumption across its building fleet of more than 1,000 stores. The additional savings created by the new advanced-capability deployments are expected to bring total EMS-related savings to more than 30 percent.
“Energy is our second highest store-level line item expense behind labor,” said Robin Moore, vice president for store development and construction at Michaels. According to Moore, results have been spectacular. “Through regular KPI reviews and process improvements provided by Siemens’ Client Services team, we have been able to sustain and increase our energy savings over time, and these new extensions will take those savings even further. We have been very pleased with both the advanced technology and the consultative approach provided by our longstanding partnership with Siemens.”
The fleet-wide expansion was preceded by a thorough system analysis after a 30-site pilot and subsequent 200-site expansion. A comprehensive measurement and verification study following these deployments validated the savings delivered.
The extensions include:
• Intelligent Demand Control Ventilation (i2DCV), which enables global enthalpy with existing HVAC units without expensive hardware retrofits.
• Psychrometric controls, which dynamically adjust temperature set points to factor in both temperature and humidity while maintaining customer comfort.
• Lighting automation upgrades, which enable more precise control of lighting circuits such as employee areas and stocking zones.
The extensions will provide Michaels a cash-on-cash payback of 20 months, and an ROI exceeding 90 percent. In addition, the investment will drive further reductions in Michaels’ carbon footprint, the environmental equivalent of 5,600 cars from the road each year.
“Considering the significant results Michaels experienced from the initial deployment, further gains might seem tough to realize,” said Marcus Boerkei, Siemens Retail & Commercial Systems (RCS) general manager. “However, these results reflect the continuous improvement approach we take with all of our clients. Unlike the traditional EMS ‘set-it-and-forget-it’ mentality, our approach is to build a collaborative partnership with retailers. We meet regularly with our customers for KPI reviews to maintain our initial savings, while deploying new innovations over time to drive gains even further. Our rapid R&D cycle allows us to generate new enhancements in a matter of months versus years, and most of these new capabilities are delivered remotely via the Web-based Site Controls Data Center.”
For more information, visit www.siemens.com/rcs.