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Energy efficiency is often discussed in terms of technology, automation, and software platforms. However, real and sustained energy savings depend just as much on people as on systems.
This is where energy awareness and energy culture become decisive factors.

Energy culture refers to the collective behaviors, habits, and level of understanding people have regarding energy use—how energy is consumed, how it affects operating costs, and how it impacts environmental performance.

Organizations that succeed in reducing energy consumption over time are those that combine accurate data, clear communication, and human engagement.

The Human Factor in Energy Management

Buildings and facilities consume energy for lighting, heating and cooling, IT equipment, production processes, and a wide range of auxiliary loads. While systems supply energy, people ultimately control how it is used.

Individual preferences and habits strongly influence consumption:

• Lighting left on beyond working hours

• Heating or cooling set for maximum comfort rather than efficiency

• Equipment left in standby mode overnight

• Windows opened while HVAC systems are operating

Even in highly automated environments, users interact with energy systems daily. Employees, maintenance teams, cleaning staff, and external contractors all contribute—directly or indirectly—to overall consumption.

For this reason, an Energy Management System must go beyond pure monitoring and automation. It must support understanding, accountability, and informed decision-making.

Making Energy Visible: The Foundation of Energy Awareness

You cannot change what you cannot see.

Electrex energy monitoring solutions provide real-time and historical visibility into energy consumption at multiple levels:

• Entire sites or buildings

• Individual zones, floors, or departments

• Specific loads such as HVAC, lighting, or production equipment

Key Electrex functionalities enabling awareness:

• Multi-circuit and sub-metering using Electrex energy analyzers

• High-resolution data acquisition for accurate load profiling

• Time-based analysis (working hours vs non-working hours)

• Trend analysis and baselining to establish reference consumption

By turning energy into measurable, visual data, Electrex helps organizations connect everyday behaviors with real consumption and cost impacts.

Identifying Realistic Efficiency Measures and Targets

Energy awareness initiatives must be realistic to be effective. People cannot be asked to reduce consumption if systems are inefficient, faulty, or poorly configured.

Electrex systems support energy professionals by enabling:

• Detection of abnormal consumption patterns

• Identification of equipment operating outside expected schedules

• Comparison of similar areas, buildings, or production lines

• Verification of savings after corrective actions or upgrades

Product capabilities supporting this phase:

• Embedded logic and alarms in Electrex devices to flag anomalies

• Built-in PLC functionality (Ladder logic) to link energy data with process or operational states

• Digital and analog inputs to correlate energy use with occupancy, machine status, or environmental conditions

This ensures that efficiency actions are technically justified and that employees are supported by properly functioning systems.

Transparency and Communication Across the Organization

Energy awareness grows when people are informed, not blamed.

Electrex monitoring platforms enable transparent communication by providing:

• Clear dashboards with simple KPIs

• Consumption trends compared to targets

• Normalized indicators (per m², per hour, per unit produced)

• Portfolio-level and local views

These insights can be shared through internal reports, dashboards, or intranet portals, making energy performance understandable even for non-technical staff.

Importantly, Electrex data supports constructive feedback:

• Highlighting improvements, not just deviations

• Explaining causes, not just results

• Showing how individual actions contribute to collective outcomes

From Monitoring to Engagement: Gamification and Benchmarking

Once basic awareness is established, organizations can take engagement further through benchmarking and gamification.

Electrex solutions enable:

• Fair comparisons between similar sites or departments

• Periodic scorecards for internal coordinators or energy champions

• Ranking based on objective, automated data

Because Electrex devices collect data consistently and reliably, comparisons are:

• Objective

• Auditable

• Free from manual reporting bias

Gamification is not about competition for its own sake, but about recognition, motivation, and shared progress.

Including All Stakeholders in Energy Culture

Energy culture extends beyond core employees. Maintenance teams, cleaning services, and external operators all influence consumption patterns.

Electrex monitoring allows organizations to:

• Analyze consumption outside standard operating hours

• Define clear operational guidelines

• Verify compliance through data, not supervision

This ensures that everyone interacting with the facility contributes to the same energy objectives.

Electrex: Enabling Energy Culture, Not Just Energy Monitoring

Electrex solutions are designed to act as a bridge between technology and people.

By combining:

• Accurate energy measurement

• Built-in control and logic capabilities

• Integration of process and environmental data

• Clear visualization and benchmarking

Electrex enables organizations to move from passive monitoring to active energy awareness and a sustainable energy culture.

Energy efficiency is not achieved by technology alone.
It is achieved when people understand energy, trust the data, and are empowered to act—every day.

Contact me to schedule a call! I will be glad to answer any questions you may have.

About us

Since 1993 Electrex designs, develops, manufactures and markets, Made in Italy, instruments and software for energy  management and control.

The Electrex solutions are used in the Energy Efficiency and Energy Automation applications, for the industrial, commercial, public, civil, and renewable energy sectors allowing a rapid return on investment.

The solutions provided up to now allow the management of over 560,000 measuring points and more than 1,020,000 points are controlled via Energy Automation applications.

Electrex, one of the first companies to operate in these sectors, has acquired over the years a considerable experience and competence that few other companies can claim to have. With over 40% of the staff dedicated to R & D, we demonstrate our strong commitment to innovation and continuous improvement in order to anticipate the needs of our customers.