G-Cloud 12 success for SSE Energy Solutions

Co-ordinated by the Crown Commercial Service, the G-Cloud framework enables public sector organisations to access the latest government-approved cloud software and services without the requirement for an open tender process.

The G-Cloud framework is part of The Digital Marketplace, an online service for public sector organisations to find people and technology for digital projects, established by the UK Government in 2012. The framework operates as a commodity-based, pay-as-you-go service, comprised of three lots for cloud computing – cloud hosting, cloud software and cloud support.

For the first time SSE Enterprise’s Business Energy Intelligence (BEI) platform will be included in the cloud software category, providing public sector clients with access to a cloud-based energy visualisation platform.

BEI is data agnostic, letting users easily compare and visualise energy data from multiple sources including main and sub-meters electricity, gas, water, renewables and BMS energy meters. The platform enables users to compare in terms of kWh, CO2 and cost. Includes advanced and bespoke reporting plus Managed service option.

SSE’s BEI platform enables users to carry out various types of data discovery and analysis through interactive reports. These reports provide actionable information that can be easily modified and customised to help end users access the information they need and in turn, drive better business decisions.

The energy visualisation platform is user friendly and has been designed for self-delivery with remote training available to potential clients. Alternatively, clients have the option to implement a bespoke managed service, whereby a dedicated Energy Manager will analyse your data, highlight excess energy consumption and advise what you can do to save energy and money.

In addition to BEI, SSE Enterprise have five additional services from the Energy Management Centre listed on the framework, including:

• Condor – an alarm management platform used to monitor critical building assets. The alarm is transferred into Condor which starts an escalation process, with customised messages sent to a recipient with a unique code so the recipient can interact with the escalation system.
• Compliance – our compliance module ensures parameters are at standard by running frequent checks and comparing them to an agreed standard. An autocorrect feature allows parameters to be automatically switched back to the agreed standard should a check identify an incorrect parameter.
• Plant Exercise Routine – our automated plant exercise routine can schedule seasonal checks of HVAC plant without the requirement for an engineer to attend site. Once in control mode, detailed reports of plant performance are produced to advise whether plant is operating as expected or not and identify units that need attention.
• Time Clock Switching – making the most complex of switching arrangements easy to understand and configure. The tool allows for multiple buildings, plant and zones to be grouped and a command sent to the BMS controllers that make automatic adjustments.
• Remote Planned Preventative Maintenance (Remote PPM) – a PPM regime can be tailored to suit the individual needs of a building with 4 different reports available. By regularly checking the operation and control efficiencies of building assets connected to the BMS, the requirement for engineers to attend site to carry out checks is reduced.

Many of these services benefit from remote-check capabilities, helping to reduce maintenance touch-points and the need for building managers or engineers to physically attend a site. With the potential likelihood of further restrictions relating to Covid-19, this feature will be key to ensuring that a building estate’s energy use can be effectively and safely managed over winter.

The 12th iteration of the framework, G-Cloud 12, commences on 28 September 2020 for a duration of one year.