Building intelligence in and out of water

• Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics
• Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Computing

• Buildings

• Facility Management
• Maintenance

• Building Automation & Control
• Building Energy Management
• Energy Management System

• Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
• Data Science Services
• System Integration

The Shedd Aquarium, a national historic landmark in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., first opened its doors to visitors in 1930. Today almost 2 million guests visit this national historic landmark annually. The aquatic environments in the original aquarium contain more than 1.5 million gallons of water, including a 90,000-gallon exhibit created in 1971 to reproduce a Caribbean coral reef. Over the years the aquarium has undergone expansions to accommodate other large exhibits, more than doubling its original size to cover 422,000 square feet. A facility this size has multiple challenges with regard to energy use in maintaining diverse environments for visitors, staff, and more than 32,500 aquatic animals. In 2013, decision-makers committed to an ambitious goal of cutting the aquarium’s energy consumption in half by 2020. This commitment to sustainability extends into every part of Shedd Aquarium — from water-conserving exhibits and energy-efficient lighting to green gardens and the food its inhabitants eat.

The Shedd Aquarium is a national historic landmark located in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. It first opened its doors to visitors in 1930 and now welcomes almost 2 million guests annually. The aquarium houses more than 32,500 aquatic animals in various environments, including a Caribbean coral reef, a Pacific Northwest coastal environment, and a Philippine coral reef. The facility spans 422,000 square feet, more than double its original size, and contains more than 1.5 million gallons of water. In 2013, the aquarium committed to reducing its energy consumption by half by 2020 as part of its commitment to sustainability. This commitment extends to all aspects of the aquarium, from water-conserving exhibits and energy-efficient lighting to green gardens and the food served to its inhabitants.

Shedd Aquarium partnered with Schneider Electric to achieve its sustainability goals. Schneider Electric provided its EcoStruxure™ Building Solution, which includes EcoStruxure Building Operation, EcoStruxure Energy Expert, VFT Drives, and a Turnkey Solar Solution. The solution leverages the aquarium's existing building management system, sensors, and meters to push data points to EcoStruxure™ Building Advisor every five minutes. This system automatically identifies the root cause of problems and identifies energy cost-avoidance opportunities daily. The EcoStruxure Building Advisor solution also offered the tools needed to implement a fault detection and diagnostics solution that would comply with Commonwealth Edison’s (ComEd’s) monitoring-based commissioning (MBCx) criteria. In 2015, Schneider Electric began leveraging Shedd Aquarium’s existing building management system by installing variable frequency drives and extensive electric submetering. Today, information from all data points is pushed to the cloud-hosted EcoStruxure Building Advisor every five minutes for systems modeling.

• EcoStruxure Building Advisor provides Shedd Aquarium with intelligent control, management flexibility, and meaningful analytics.
• The solution gets the right information to the right person at the right time, enabling more informed decision-making.
• EcoStruxure Building Advisor identifies energy-saving opportunities and suggests possible causes and specific actions to remedy problems.

• Target energy savings of 50% by 2020.
• Cut energy consumption in half by 2020, saving enough energy to power 750 homes annually.