Sustaining the Smart City

“Cisco Energy Management Suite is a key project in reducing energy costs across our 700-plus buildings, aiding our evolution into a smart city and making savings for reinvestment.”

Andrew Mouat, Principle Officer Carbon Management, Glasgow City Council

Glasgow, Scotland, leads the way in shaping a welcoming, safer and greener city of the future. Better management of IT energy use is key.

Glasgow is set to officially become a ‘Future City.’ The council has a reputation for getting results, including the best ever Commonwealth Games. Sustainability is central to that aspiration; increased IT energy efficiency was sought.

The Energy IT app from the Energy Solutions Group (ESG) was chosen to monitor the council’s IT power usage in real time. It reported carbon and cost savings weekly. Devices that fell below agreed efficiency levels would be instantly flagged. Identifying usage patterns helped refine IT policies.

Solution

Cisco Energy Management Suite

Unobtrusive energy management: The Energy IT app is based on the Cisco Energy Management Suite. The software was installed in just hours; users were completely unaffected.

All-round advice all-inclusive: The ESG service includes advice on developing the business case, drawing on its extensive building management expertise.

Expert support at all levels: Access, which provides specialist IT and property services to Glasgow City Council, offers first line technical support, with remote assistance from ESG.

Results

Cisco Energy Management Suite has gone live on 19,000 devices in the council’s 239 schools. Soon it will manage another 18,000 devices in the corporate network. A pilot ran on 9,200 devices in 29 secondary schools. In six months, IT energy use dropped nine percent. That’s a one percent fall in the council’s IT energy use, with positive ROI in five months and first-year savings of £330,000.

Learn More

Learn more about Cisco Data & Analytics at the Smart Cities Innovation Summit in Austin. Join our breakout session on Tuesday, June 14, at 11:30 am to hear more about our work with the City of Paris.

Join the Conversation

Follow @KevinOttCisco, @CiscoEnergyMgmt, and @CiscoAnalytics.

Learn More from My Colleagues

Check out the blogs of Mala Anand, Mike Flannagan, Jim McDonnell, James Jamison, and Bob Eve to learn more.