EMAIL INTERVIEW – Mark Ellsworth and Ken Sinclair

Mark Ellsworth is Vice President of Sales and Chief Revenue Officer for Bractlet. He has more than 25 years’ experience in sales, sales management and corporate leadership and has worked with small start-up firms to Fortune 500 companies. Prior to joining Bractlet, Mr. Ellsworth held executive positions in sales and marketing at companies including Draker, Solar Power Technologies, and Smarter Security Systems.

Sinclair:  Can you describe the services that Bractlet provides and what sets you apart in this space?

Ellsworth:  Bractlet provides an energy savings platform comprised of hardware and software that looks at, on average, 80 million data points per month in a single building. That collection and analysis of such a massive amount of data allows us to develop highly accurate building simulations – integrated with a vast database of energy savings measures – to identify as many savings opportunities as possible. By conducting interactive, virtual simulations on a variety of savings measures, we can accurately figure out a client’s true energy savings in the future. That’s a level of transparency no one else can provide today.

The other thing that sets Bractlet apart is the amount of customization we offer our customers. Most companies take an “a la carte” approach to energy savings. We take a comprehensive and holistic view of a building’s operations and offer everything from non-capital, quick payback plans to longer term, more capital intensive savings measures. So our clients have a full menu of options from which to choose. We don’t offer a one-size fits all approach. Rather, we focus very keenly on the specific needs of each customer and work with them to customize a savings model that’s right for them.

Sinclair:  Do you offer anything beyond the energy savings platform?

Ellsworth:  Yes. We also have the ability to implement and finance the savings measures based on what the customer would like to do. We can also analyze the impact of those measures on an ongoing basis, making adjustments as needed to ensure savings are maximized.

Sinclair:  Do you guarantee the results of your work?

Ellsworth:  Absolutely. Our energy savings platform does proactive, real time verification of how the results are working once they are implemented. It’s a pro-active, real time system that can alert both the client and Bractlet if any savings measures are going adrift or if changes are occurring due to some external circumstance or equipment malfunction.

Sinclair:  How does Bractlet incorporate the BAS integrator into your process?

Ellsworth:  Our message to the BAS integrator is that we can typically find an additional 5%-10% energy savings in your client’s building by reprogramming the building automation system. That means we can give them the opportunity to go back to their client, with us as a partner, to further reduce energy costs in the building with no out of pocket cost to the customer. The energy reduction offered through the savings measures generated by the Bractlet platform would pay for the programming work needed to be implemented by the BAS integrator. Typically, the integrator could make $30,000-$50,000 or more per building off of a Bractlet energy savings project.

Whatever the BAS looks like, we are going to get the best results from it because our platform will help us understand how the building will operate at maximum efficiency without sacrificing creature comforts. Our platform removes the guesswork by determining how the BAS should be programmed, what the sequence of operations should be, what the schedule should be, when things should be turned on and turned off, and so on.

As a side note: if a BAS does not exist, we will implement one, because it is a key component in maximizing energy savings in a building.

Sinclair:  How accurate is your analysis?

Ellsworth:  We believe we have the most accurate system in the world for understanding energy savings, and that’s due to our predictive building simulations. Because we are looking in real time at so much data in a building, we can detect small changes such as occupancy, weather, structural changes, and so on, that can affect a building’s energy use. With the sheer amount of data we’re processing, we are constantly analyzing in real time the effect on energy those changes are having, and that leads to very finely tuned results.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]Sinclair:  How do you price for your technology & services?

Ellsworth:  There are basically two components to our offering. First, we implement our hardware and software platform, and it takes about eight weeks to accurately determine the recommended savings measures in a building. Customers can pay us for our detailed analysis, either directly or through a three-year shared savings option, in which case they would have no out of pocket expense.

Second, customers have the option to have Bractlet implement whatever recommended savings measures they choose, and/or have Bractlet finance that work. Either way, the energy savings can pay for all of the savings measures that are implemented. If the customer would like to have us guarantee the energy savings, and/or if they would like to know in real time how the savings measures are working, both now and in the future, then they would want to keep the Bractlet energy savings platform in place. That way, they have the ability to take corrective action for any issues that arise or any changes that occur in the building that might affect energy usage.

Our platform can also look at a building’s energy use over time and identify potential savings measures the customer may want to implement in the future. When you have a system with real time monitoring that proactively alerts you to changes and problems, you can maintain a very high level of energy savings. And over time, it can help you find new ways to save energy.

Additional background:
Brochure
Sample proposal and FAQ

Case studies:
Manufacturing Facility Energy Savings Case Study
Health Care Facility Energy Savings Case Study
University Energy Savings Case Study