Royal Opera House: Energy Monitoring Case Study

When London's Royal Opera House decided to measure the electricity consumption of the Linbury Studio's stage lighting equipment, they opted for a MeasureMyEnergy system, provided by industry consultancy :entertaining sustainability.

With 36 key circuits across two separately located major distribution boards to monitor – plus mains incomers at 630Amps per phase – the modular nature of the  MeasureMyEnergy system proved perfect for the job.

Tim Atkinson, Technical Director at :entertaining sustainability, said: “After a site visit to establish exactly what needed measuring, we put together a package that allowed the Lighting Systems Team to monitor the electrical consumption of the Linbury Studio in real time over the internet.”

A 12- or 24-channel Power Distribution Monitor (PDM) with network access sits alongside each distribution board, with current clamps feeding data to the unit from each subcircuit. Given the size of the mains incomers, :entertaining sustainability elected to supply a prewired Modbus unit to monitor the overall supply and pass that data to the PDM. Data is then sent via the building's internet connection to MeasureMyEnergy's Global Management Platform.

With each channel on a PDM configurable as three-phase or single-phase, the ROH has gained maximum data granularity by separating the data for each dimmer phase, enabling them to drill down into which areas of the stage systems are using most and least power.

Installation was carried out by the ROH's in-house team, and was led by Robin Barton from Lighting Systems. “We first saw the system at PLASA Focus,” Robin said. “It's simple to install – all you need is a data connection and two 13A sockets. Any suitably qualified staff should have no problem installing the system. The data is immensely valuable – it's like a like an ECG for the Linbury Studio.”

All recorded data can be interrogated by ROH Lighting Systems staff – wherever they are - through the online platform, allowing consumption between productions, circuits or even weeks to be compared. Automatic alerts can be set up to email key staff members in the event of unexpected usage – for example if equipment is left on overnight, or the PDMs themselves are switched off or unplugged.

Monitoring sensors are also available for water, gas, renewables generation, ambient temperature, etc. and can be added into the system at a later date if required by the ROH, along with further electricity monitoring.

Download: Royal Opera House: Energy Monitoring Case Study PDF.

You can read more about the system potential here. For more information on MeasureMyEnergy systems from :entertaining sustainability, contact tim [at] entertainingsustainability.com.