Why is Green Button Not Used for Managing Energy?
Summary
The global quest to meet energy transition goals has motivated governments to promote tools that expedite energy efficiency improvements. An example is Green Button Data (Green Button), introduced by the U. S. Department of Energy in 2012.
Unfortunately, the people in real world operating environments who actually manage energy have not adopted Green Button. For energy managers, Green Button is a Red Light.
Why? What’s missing that keeps energy consumers from using Green Button Data? What data do consumers really need to make actual energy improvements?
Green Button certainly gets some things right. Reporting electricity and natural gas consumption data in a standardized format is helpful. However, other attributes are not so useful. Green Button data is dependent on chronically inaccurate utility reports, cannot convey critical information quickly enough, and is difficult to integrate with third party applications for detailed analyses. Green Button does not give actionable insights.
Despite these limitations, several jurisdictions have adopted the Green Button standard. Ontario for example, has mandated Green Button implementation for all the irregulated electricity and natural gas utilities.
The disconnection between the people who make energy policies and the people who make real energy improvements must be corrected. Policy makers need to understand Green Button’s design flaws and take corrective action. Otherwise, the urgent global energy and carbon emissions quest will be shelved.
Assessing Green Button Data Attributes
Standardized but Not Comprehensive
Green Button presents electricity and natural gas data in a standardized format. This has proven beneficial for using many utility and third-party applications. However, the data can only be read and used with additional software, either from a third party or by someone with special data analysis capabilities. A normal energy consuming organization, going into a utility portal to access Green Button directly, is unable to use the data there in its pure form. While the standardization is helpful, in almost every case the data is not useable without additional steps.
Green Button excludes diesel, gasoline, or propane consumption. This doesn’t help energy consumers reliant on multiple fuel sources.
Green Button only provides consumption data but not energy demand. Thus, Green Button cannot provide the comprehensive energy analysis needed for load balancing or peak demand management.
Not Granular or Timely Enough
Green Button reports interval data. This is a big improvement over data that has historically been available. With hourly, or even 15-minute interval data, consumers can identify inefficient energy use. Trends and consumption pattern scan be much better understood.
However, the granularity of Green Button Data depends on the utility. Utilities will not meet users' needs if they only report weekly or monthly data or summaries.
Aggregated historical Green Button Data can help consumers plan energy efficiency measures and evaluate past performance. However, facilities that require dynamic energy adjustments, such as manufacturing plants or data centers, need real-time energy data. Green Button cannot report appliance-level or circuit-level data. Consumers that run large equipment or complex operations cannot identify specific inefficiencies, underperforming systems or optimization opportunities.
Green Button Data cannot provide real time information when required. Month-end, or even day-after data are not frequent enough to be useful for many large energy consumers.
Chronically Inaccurate Utility Reports
Green Button provides a consistent format that encourages utilities to standardize their reporting processes. Long-term improvements in data accuracy are fostered. In many jurisdictions, Green Button has improved data transparency between utilities and consumers.
However, Green Button is not robust enough to detect utility data discrepancies. Utilities' metering and reporting practices can contain errors[1]. Data discrepancies undermine reliability for precise energy modeling. Research has highlighted significant anomalies in Green Button data, with discrepancies of up to 10 orders of magnitude[2]. Inconsistencies impair decision-making and erode trust in data reliability, particularly for organizations relying on precise models for carbon reporting or energy procurement strategies.
Limited Integration
Green Button faces challenges integrating advanced energy management systems, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, or predictive analytics tools. Incorporating advanced AI-driven energy management platforms into Green Button requires additional manual adjustments or custom Application Programming Interfaces (APIs),increasing costs and complexity.
Lack of Contextual Data
When Green Button is integrated with other tools and platforms, it provides much richer insights for users. However, Green Button does not incorporate weather, occupancy or other operational data. It is not possible to correlate those influential factors with consumption. Energy pricing is also missing, so Green Button can’t be used for financial analyses.
This lack of context limits the utility of Green Button for businesses in competitive energy markets that need to make cost-driven or environmental impact decisions.
Implications of Design Flaws for Energy and Carbon Management
Green Button limitations significantly impact all those with a stake in good energy management. Accountants, procurement officers, energy managers, policymakers, executives and plant operators all require good data for informed decision making. Inadequate data, particularly in complex operations like manufacturing plants or data centers, can lead to missed opportunities for cost savings and interfere with efforts to optimize energy efficiency.
Inadequate Green Button data can result in incorrect carbon footprint reports, undermining sustainability efforts and potentially leading to regulatory non-compliance.
Policymakers and energy managers require comprehensive data for effective strategic energy planning. Incomplete data can result in suboptimal policy decisions. Inaccurate or delayed data can erode consumer trust, reduce engagement in energy-saving behaviors and deter investment in energy-efficient technologies.
Conclusions
Green Button Data provides a standardized approach to accessing energy usage information. However, it has limits.
Green Button would be more widely used if it provided:
- More granular data;
- Real-time or near real-time reports;
- Accurate and consistent data;
- Standardized measurement practices and regular audits for improved reliability;
- Advanced energy management systems integration;
- Comprehensive information from weather, occupancy, and operations datasets;
- Energy pricing data for financial analyses.
If Green Button improved users’ experiences and actionable insights, people would actually use the platform to drive proactive energy management outcomes.
Energy policy makers must remember that energy users implement energy reductions. Make Green Button useful for them. Repair the disconnect that is preventing required action on energy efficiency.
References
[3] Lower your energy bills with Green Button | ontario.ca
[4] Green Button | Ontario Energy Board
