Case Study

Siemens (New York)

Quick Summary

Siemens was awarded an Energy Performance Contract (EPC) for four communities in the state of New York: Clifton Park, Cohoes, Troy, and Cortlandville.  Siemens identified smart streetlight retrofits as one of the early projects based on the clear, measurable energy efficiency benefits. As the communities convert to smart LED, they are able to realize tremendous energy savings, and then leverage these savings to fund future smart infrastructure projects including sustainable buildings, optimized energy-efficient HVAC systems, and more. 

TerraGo StreetlightOps software was utilized to rapidly deploy and efficiently maintain thousands of lights, including Ubicquia smart lighting controls,  across all four New York municipalities. These new, smart light fixtures have brought monthly energy costs down approximately 75%, from $28 per light to $8 per light, producing savings that will be reinvested into other smart infrastructure programs.

TerraGo StreetlightOps helped Siemens track progress and ultimately accelerate energy savings for these communities. TerraGo’s built-in data analytics and reporting enabled Siemens to continuously monitor key performance indicators and deliver timely reports to community stakeholders.

Challenge:
  • No applications to manage deployment planning, monitor crews, or track progress across communities
  • No easy, automated way to share project status updates among Siemens and other stakeholders
Solution:
  • TerraGo StreetlightOps mobile apps for crew phones and tablets; web applications for supervision, analytics and reporting
  • Web application with built-in analytics and on-demand reporting features enable Siemens to track and report progress
Results:
  • Management now has a real-time view of all crew work, any issues identified, and the status of installation and maintenance work orders
  • StreetlightOps makes it easy to track crews, monitor progress, and provide daily or weekly reports to all project stakeholders

The Challenge

Undertaking such a large project across multiple geographies and different municipalities, Siemens faced numerous challenges with monitoring deployment, tracking progress, reporting against milestones, and sharing data on a timely basis. They had no easy way to track the progress of the overall project, resulting in manually producing progress reports every few weeks or months, instead of on-demand, automated metrics daily. This caused delays in identifying and resolving project bottlenecks.

“TerraGo’s ability to present a birds-eye view of the entire scope of work across all four communities was invaluable in helping us keep these programs on-time and on-track.”

– Shadrach Treat, Energy Performance Services, Market Lead, Siemens 

The Solution

Siemens was able to solve all of their key challenges with the deployment of TerraGo StreetlightOps. The mobile and web apps presented a single pane of glass with a real-time view of operations. Progress reports used to be done by hand, compiled from pencil and paper, which took a significantly longer time, and was also error-prone. StreetlightOps makes it easier to track performance metrics every day, and provide accurate, weekly reports.

The Results

The project’s success has been marked by on-time completion and tremendous energy savings. All four communities ( Clifton Park, Cohoes, Troy, and Cortlandville) are fully deployed. TerraGo StreetlightOps has contributed the following to bottom-line results:

  • Faster rollout means accelerated energy savings. Siemens presented a reduced energy cost and carbon footprint which is being delivered on-time.
  • Real-time view means better visibility and control. Management can monitor field work to manage progress and resolve issues before they impact success.
  • Dashboard reports enable on-demand insights and more timely progress reports for Siemens and all stakeholders, helping bolster community support and customer satisfaction.

“Siemens is committed to helping our community customers achieve their energy savings goals. The TerraGo StreetlightOps reporting features help us monitor progress and manage performance, so we can keep these projects on track to help communities realize the benefits that will help shape a smarter, more sustainable future.”

– Shadrach Treat, Energy Performance Services, Market Lead, Siemens