Korea-Micro Energy Grid (K-MEG) to conduct energy efficiency project at Wayne County’s Guardian Building

Project to lead to increased building performance and reduced energy bills

DETROIT, MI—Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano signed an agreement with Korean research and business development program, K-MEG, to perform an energy audit, develop a plan for improved efficiency using system controls and automation, and complete capital improvements to the Guardian Building.

“Wayne County is excited to form a partnership with K-MEG to improve the energy efficiency at the Guardian Building,” said Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano. Over the next year, K-MEG and Wayne County will be working together to upgrade the control and automation system for the Guardian Building’s utility operation systems, leading to reduced utility costs,” Ficano added.

K-MEG is a consortium of Korean companies that have agreed to use the Guardian Building as one of its pilot programs in the United States. Wayne County will recognize a savings in utility cost between 10% - 20% annually. The estimated $1.3M project cost will be absorbed by K-MEG and there is no cost to the County.

The ten month Guardian Building energy efficiency project is scheduled to run from September 2013 until June 2014. It will mainly focus on electricity and gas energy conservation while aiming to also conserve other utilities. These goals will be achieved by active control and building energy management.

Energy efficient solutions will be integrated with networking and communication technologies, smart grid technologies, Building Automation Systems (BAS), Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS), intelligent Demand Response (DR), decentralized power sources, renewable, and cyber security. Once this pilot is complete, global energy efficient business models should be developed.

K-MEG is made up of 125 Korean companies including Samsung C&T, KT Corporation, Nara Controls and Ecosian, which are all involved in this project.

For more information about Wayne County’s international partnerships, visit the Wayne County EDGE website at waynecounty.com/edge.