MEA tracking energy loss for Ridge Rock

CARP – Hours before Carp’s Ridge Rock Brewing Company was set to open for the day yesterday (July 27), the team from Modern Energy Advancements (MEA) was working with the team from KU Power Group to install state-of-the-art equipment that will allow the popular brewery and eatery to track every single drop of power it uses to run its business.

As legislation approaches forcing businesses to track their energy use, MEA provides a wide variety of commercial enterprises with the ability to easily and accurately track their energy use in real time while offering energy management solutions guaranteed to save businesses money and make them more efficient.

In the Ridge Rock kitchen and brewery room downstairs, MEA’s Information Technologies and operations manager Shawn Lebrun works with KU Power Group electricians, training them how to install MEA’s wireless energy monitoring equipment, hardwired right in to the brewery’s electrical systems.

In the brewery’s board room, MEA CEO Kelly Nych, COO Matt Trudeau and marketing and administration manager Melissa Meek sat down with West Carleton Online to speak about the project underway in the Ridge Rock and what MEA can do for its clients, such as making their business compliant with upcoming regulations, while also saving them thousands of dollars in energy efficiency and monitoring.

“KU Power approached us, looking for energy monitoring solutions,” Meek said. “Ours is plug and play and they want to find energy monitoring solutions for all their clients.”

KU Power Group’s President Jake Sinclair is also a part owner of the Ridge Rock. After meeting with MEA several times, he saw an opportunity to partner with MEA and become their product’s official installer. On Monday, his team was learning how to install MEA’s equipment, and when that was done, his brewery would reap the benefit of 24-hour energy monitoring; tracking deficiencies; and reaping the savings from that knowledge.

Nych has been in the construction industry for all his adult life, but with coming government legislation and his hands-on knowledge, he saw the opportunity energy monitoring could provide businesses such as manufacturing, hotels, restaurants, food retail and multi-site commercial businesses.

“Energy usage is a major concern these days,” Nych said. “Especially with energy prices where they are. I just figured it was a viable way to make money and save the planet at the same time.”

He launched MEA in 2023, and his team is now working on building its client list.

“It’s very big in the United Kingdom right now,” Meek said. “Lots of mandates for large commercial companies to have this reporting, so we feel that is coming to Canada. Actually, we’re starting to see some mandates hit. Businesses with 50,000 square footage are now required to show reporting to the government. And that’s what our technology does. Real-time monitoring and data collection. We have a whole suite of technology that we use. The Eniscope is the main hub, but we have cues to monitor refrigeration temperatures. We have air sensors to measure temperatures, humidity. It can even monitor occupancy.”

“We monitor gas and water too,” Trudeau said. “We’re making the invisible, visible. The big takeaway is our accuracy. We can monitor to 0.2 per cent, while your typical hydro metre on any building monitors to 0.8 per cent. So, we’re a great deal more accurate and collection of data in real time is super important too.”

Being able to act in the moment you get the data is a far greater asset for a business than reacting a month later, after you get a bill that only provides a vague amount of information, detailing total amounts of energy used and not defining how and where.

“Our reaction is limited,” Trudeau said of responding to a monthly bill. “We consume energy and pay for it after the fact. Our reaction is limited. We react by turning off light switches or guessing, essentially. This takes all the guessing out of it. You’re able to not only react and correct your actions. We’ll verify what you’re being charged. It’s making the invisible, visible. We live in a wasteful continent. We’re the only continent in the world that uses forced-air heat.”

“It’s just wasteful,” Trudeau said, turning back to business operations. “For businesses, all that waste adds up. Across the board, on average, there’s a potential waste of up to 30 per cent on any commercial operation. But the key is being able to see it. Visualize it.”

Operating costs for any business continue to rise. Upcoming Canadian regulations starting Jan. 1, 2027 will soon require commercial businesses to report energy use.

“Energy reporting is made simple by way of our technology and our solutions,” Trudeau said. “It avoids the need for an energy manager and energy managers are all the rage right now. Any business that is forward thinking and looking to lessen their carbon footprint or become Net Zero by a certain year, the target in a lot of places is 2040, the more attainable goal is 2050 typically is what I’m seeing, I think that if we’re going to go on that track, you have to be able to see what your using first and then limit that usage based on what we really need, instead of what we thought we needed.”

Being under 10,000 sq-ft, the Ridge Rock isn’t necessarily the target client MEA is looking to help, but it is definitely an opportunity to show off MEA’s capabilities.

“I think it’s a great place to start,” Meek said. “It’s high production. They have machine equipment running 24/7. They have outdoor lights that don’t even have switches. The owners and managers may say that’s not much electricity usage, but we’re going to be able to see that, and show them it might be a lot more than they think. Just by installing a simple switch to turn them off or sensors, we can save them a lot just there.”

“Basically, anyone who uses energy can benefit from our product and our solutions that we offer,” Trudeau said. “The key to Ridge Rock and why we think it’s a good marriage for us and KU Power as a showcase facility is that we’re combining both a restaurant and a brewery here. It shows the diversity of our product within one building.”

The occupancy of a restaurant is something that can change a lot during the course of one business day, and monitoring that can unveil savings.

“We’ve got roughly 12 people in this building right now,” Trudeau said. “Temperature is set for 12 people and about six hours from now, we are going to have likely about 80 people in this building, and with 80 people the HVAC system is going to be operating differently than it is right now. We can fine-tune the controls to ensure you’re using your equipment within your facility to produce what you need to produce, but also to keep everyone comfortable and to limit your energy usage. So, we’re not compromising production of any sort, whether it be on the restaurant side or the production of beer. We’re optimizing what is already in place, and that’s the key here. We’re not asking you to change your equipment or find more efficient equipment. We’re showing you how to take your current equipment and make it more efficient for you.”

On Monday, MEA and KU Power were installing two Eniscopes with the Eniscopes being the brains of the operations. A suite of products is being distributed throughout the building to monitor different pieces of equipment within the building. MEA will monitor temperature, airflow, occupancy and any device that requires energy to power it.

That equipment will start tracking data immediately after installation, which is expected to only take a few hours once installers are trained.

“We should be up and running within a five or six-hour period, based on the size of the install,” Trudeau said. “That will include a live dashboard that will immediately start collecting data at that point.”

The Ridge Rock install is also being used to train KU Power staff on how to properly install the equipment for a client.

“We wanted to be here to help them answer any questions,” Meek said. “And then, the KU power team will handle the installs. We will come, get the client on the dashboard. Make sure they’re connected, and they can monitor their energy use, and it is visible so they can log in from any device anywhere they want.”

This isn’t MEA’s first install, though. The team, led by Lebrun, have already installed their systems in a number of different manufacturing facilities and are currently working with an airport on a potential project, to name a few, as some of the larger facilities begin work on being energy compliant with the government in time for that 2027 deadline.

Meek can even see value for a business like a campground or other multi-user businesses to install MEA equipment.

“They will be able to visibly see, for example at a campground, what each site is using,” Meek said. “So that down the road, you could have a baseline that’s included in the price of your stay.”

“In order to prove our findings, the data collection is important and necessary,” Trudeau said. “We like to look at this as essentially a smart watch for your building.”

Trudeau says, having Nych as CEO, will be a benefit for MEA’s clients.

“The one thing about Kelly, is he is meticulous in his attention to detail,” Trudeau said. “So, in his construction career, if he’s going to do something, he does it right. And he does it as efficiently as possible. Bringing that to this type of mindset is important as well. He’s not going to look for shortcuts or the easy way around things. That isn’t as beneficial as finding the solution.”

Trudeau says the best part of hiring MEA and its energy monitoring solutions is it is a no-capital expenditure.

“Essentially, we are able to prove to you we can save you a certain amount of money,” he said. “X amount of spend per month, with a guarantee in place. It costs you nothing in the end because your savings will outweigh your payment towards our services, which includes the monitoring and monthly insights and advice.”

Clients receive monthly reports and MEA equipment is warrantied for 10 years.

“We’re able to show payback at a five-year period,” Trudeau said. “Then it just grows after that at a rate of seven per cent per year, as well. Return on investment can be under a year and another good point with that is there are many, many programs available for rebates.”

Some of those programs include the IESO Peak Performance Program, the Clean Economy Investment Tax Credit Program and the Save on Energy Retrofit Program.

“In some cases, more than 80 per cent of your initial cost and or cost towards this project is completely covered by the government between grants and rebates,” Trudeau said. “So, there’s a huge opportunity here, and if not taken, it’s a huge opportunity missed.”

Currently, MEA offers a free waste report for those who have questions about energy monitoring.

“We guarantee our findings,” Trudeau said. “We offer free waste reports. So, for anyone looking to have a conversation, there’s no cost associated to what we can show you in the beginning. We offer a proposal site survey, all at no cost, with a free waste report.”

For more information on MEA and its energy monitoring services, visit their website here.