Now Installed at More Than 13,000 Retail Locations, Surveyor Energy Management System From Venstar Is Saving Millions for Retail Chains

Energy Use Reduced by 1.3 Billion Kilowatt Hours, Equivalent to Taking 185,057 Cars Off the Road and Eliminating More Than 2.1 Billion Pounds of CO2 Emissions


CHATSWORTH, CA--(Marketwire - February 24, 2011) - Venstar®, a leading thermostat and energy management systems supplier, today announced that its Surveyor® Energy Management System (EMS) has saved millions off of retail chain customers' energy bills at more than 13,000 locations in North America. Combined, chains' energy use was reduced by 1.3 billion kilowatt hours, which is equivalent to taking 185,057 cars off the road and eliminating more than 2.1 billion pounds of CO2 emissions. Designed for small-box retail chains, Surveyor is installed in more than 13,000 locations throughout North America, including Family Dollar and other big-name retail stores.

"Now with more than 13,000 individual store installations, Surveyor has saved its retail chain customers millions in energy costs and reduced their carbon footprints," said Steve Dushane, president and CEO of Venstar Inc. "Using Surveyor, the average-sized small-box chain store customer can realize savings of up to 25 percent off its energy costs the first year. In addition to the dramatic cost savings and CO2 emissions, customers typically have a return on investment (ROI) on their Surveyor system in less than 18 months."

Marilyn M. Morse, vice president of facilities management for Family Dollar, said, "Using Surveyor is not just about cost savings. Being a green company is very important to us. Surveyor helps us make informed energy decisions for our stores' energy usage and make a positive environmental impact." Based in Matthews, N.C., Family Dollar has more than 6,800 stores in 44 states, all of which are equipped with Surveyor.

About Surveyor EMS

Surveyor empowers small-box retailers and other multi-location businesses to remotely monitor, control and manage their HVAC and lighting/electrical and mechanical systems in all their stores, giving them unprecedented visibility into their energy usage. Designed specifically for small-box retail chains with hundreds to thousands of locations, Surveyor provides powerful energy management tools for energy and facility managers responsible for managing multi-location companies.

Benefits include:

  • A single person can remotely control energy usage for thousands of stores using a desktop computer, laptop, telephone or iPhone®.
  • Authorized users can make automatic and on-demand changes to HVAC, lighting, electrical and mechanical systems.
  • Users can make global changes to stores by state or region, or can make changes to individual stores, allowing for optimal store temperatures and lighting, resulting in energy savings and comfort for customers and employees.
  • Users can adjust HVAC, lighting/electrical and mechanical systems to meet specific store or regional requirements, resulting in dramatic energy cost savings.
  • Custom, standard and exception reporting, along with real-time live views into stores, gives users increased business intelligence about their stores' HVAC, lighting/electrical and mechanical systems.
  • Extensive data mining, diagnostics, and analysis empower users to manage their stores by a variety of criteria, including weather conditions.
  • Surveyor can also send out automatic customized email reports that allow designated executives and regional managers to know the energy usage and condition of the equipment at their stores.
  • Exception reporting helps identify any stores that are unusually warm or cool inside. This can indicate problem areas, including malfunctioning or broken equipment. By being able to proactively service and repair equipment, facilities managers are able to reduce maintenance costs while ensuring a minimum of down time.
  • User-defined security levels provide effective company-wide access to the system without compromising security. 

How Surveyor Works

Each piece of the user's energy-consuming equipment has sensors installed that communicate to the user's Surveyor system via the Internet. The sensors can be added to virtually any manufacturer's equipment, allowing users to retrofit their existing equipment without buying new equipment. Some of the biggest manufacturers in HVAC, including Carrier and York, have Surveyor controls available as a factory-installed option. For added flexibility for mobile users, the Surveyor iPhone application provides users the ability to monitor and control the Surveyor system on the go.

Availability

Venstar sells its Surveyor Energy Management System direct to its customers. For more information, visit: www.venstar.com/Surveyor
Email: sales@venstar.com
Telephone: 818-812-9930

About Venstar Inc.

Founded in 1992, Venstar Inc. is a leading thermostat and energy management system (EMS) supplier, known for providing value to its customers via ease of use and installation, proven cost savings, improved energy efficiency, quality and reliability. Venstar's Surveyor is a leading energy management system, typically saving small-box retailers 25percent of their energy costs, which translates to millions of dollars in savings and dramatic reductions in C02 emissions. Surveyor currently controls the energy usage of more than 13,000 retail locations across the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Canada. Venstar is one of the largest thermostat suppliers in the world and designs and produces Venstar-branded products, as well as OEM thermostat products for the biggest names in HVAC.

Web site: www.venstar.com

Contact Information:

PR Contacts:

Teri Sawyer
T&Co. PR
714-536-8407