Zeller Realty – Nalin Deshpande – 2015

Goals

Zeller Realty Group (Zeller Realty) hired Nalin Deshpande for the summer to perform portfolio-wide interval data analysis. Prior to Deshpande’s arrival, Zeller Realty partnered with a Chicago-based sustainability firm that provided access to an overwhelming amount of utility and energy data from 18 properties in the Mid-West. All of this data was housed in an online energy dashboard and was ready to generate insights. Zeller Realty wanted Deshpande to inspect instances of operational inefficiencies across over 7 million gross square feet of office space.

Solutions

Deshpande served as an extra helping hand by meticulously analyzing the data set. He used excel-based tools and focused on finding unexpected spikes on weekends and on weekdays after business hours. Deshpande found an event with unusually high demand spike on a Sunday for an Indiana based property, which cost the company over $6,000. As a result of his scrutiny, two properties in Chicago also acknowledged instances of missed extra HVAC tenant bill backs.

Deshpande also analyzed energy signature scatter plots for each property in Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. While visiting properties in Indiana, Minnesota and Colorado, he brought to his host company’s attention possible capital expenditure projects and got the ball rolling for two projects in Minneapolis and Denver.

Potential Impact

His preliminary findings across the portfolio amassed energy-saving opportunities of 154,000 kilowatt hours. Also, his efforts helped chief engineers strengthen their positions in the ongoing Zeller Energy Challenge. His work over the summer is expected to produce additional results as more anomalies observed during interval data analysis receive confirmation through ongoing investigations.