Penrith City Council is using a Data Management System (DMS) to monitor its water and energy usage. The DMS enables the western Sydney Council to save at least three weeks a year in data collection.
Using the system, all staff can view Council’s consumption data as soon as a bill has been processed for payment. This enables Council to monitor water and energy use as soon as data comes in, as the system is built to calculate trends, measure performance against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and highlight any facilities where consumption increases beyond a set range.
Reports can be produced to provide an overview of Council’s resource consumption across all facilities by facility type or individual asset.
Sustainability Coordinator Bernadette Riad said the software improves what was often a lengthy process.
“In the past, we monitored our energy and water consumption manually with the information from our bills, then manually calculated savings, trends and greenhouse emissions,” she said. “It was a time consuming process, and by the time we had all the information we required, it was already out of date.”
In 2005, Council used its existing finance system to develop the DMS. The system commenced operation in 2006, although for the first few billing periods it was only used by the Sustainability Team.
Full rollout of the system commenced in late 2008, although it continues to be upgraded with new asset streams, such as the vehicle fleet for fuel usage and street lighting.
It has also been integrated with Council’s TechnologyOne IT solution.
Developing the DMS as an application of an existing system had a number of benefits, such as the ability to use existing information. In addition, staff and management were already familiar with how to use it.
Developing the DMS inhouse also meant that it could be tailored to the individual needs of Council.
TechnologyOne Executive Chairman Adrian Di Marco said all councils should start looking towards computer systems to save time and efficiency.
“Every organisation should start this tracking now because it is inevitable that environmental reporting will soon be as common as the need to comply with HR and financial regulations,” he said.
For further information contact Bernadette Riad on (02) 4732 7629.
