REGEN president Mark Kerbel

Scarborough’s Centennial College and Regen Energy Inc. have joined forces to test and evaluate REGEN’s new plug-and-play load management device that will help commercial customers reduce their electricity demand and save money without adding any extra effort to facility managers’ busy schedules.

This feat is accomplished through REGEN’s patent-pending methodology of dynamically self-organizing electrical equipment so that they smooth out their cumulative electrical demand without the need for external market or pricing signals, nor operator adjustments.

This is a ground-breaking application of self-organizing/emergent systems theory in the field of building equipment controls.

REGEN’s small controllers are intended for commercial customers who see both electricity consumption and their demand charges on their monthly bills. Controllers are attached to loads that cycle on and off, such as compressors, pumps and air conditioners.

REGEN controllers communicate wirelessly with each other frequently, exchanging information about their attached loads. Each controller makes its own decision whether to permit or temporarily back off its attached load for the next few minutes, with the overall effect being a continuous smoothing of the building’s electrical demand without curtailing loads for any abnormally lengthy periods.

The result is a reduced demand load and a savings on the demand portion of the customer’s electricity bill without any degradation in quality of service.

Compared to existing conventional building automation systems and equipment retrofit projects, REGEN offers an easy-to-install and far more affordable option to reduce demand. More significantly, it does not require any ongoing operational effort by the facility manager.

Because the system is modular, REGEN controllers can be added easily as a customer’s facility expands.

Supported by a $95,000 Technology Fund grant, REGEN controllers are being installed in pilot facilities and tested under live conditions. Energy experts at Centennial College’s Applied Research Centre are analyzing baseline and REGEN-controlled equipment load patterns at these pilot facilities to quantify the specific benefits of this novel technology.