Collecting Business Value from Energy Data

October 28, 2013 | Renee Boucher Ferguson | Data, AI, & Machine Learning

Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, the Nordic Countries, Spain, the U.K., and the U.S. all use them, and in some instances mandate them. The smart meter movement has spread around the globe. The trouble is, the reams of energy data that they produce and store are often inaccessible or indecipherable to energy managers.

And smart meters are just one initiative in the emerging field of big energy data analytics that looks to manage electricity, gas, oil and water.

On the website of energy analytics startup Pilio, CEO and cofounder Catherine Bottrill says that it is a combination of technology, economics and politics that are instrumental in environmental problem-solving. But another necessary ingredient, says Bottrill, is providing people "the wherewithal and motivation to change." She and Pilio cofounder Russell Layberry combine behavioral science with energy analytics to help organizations better understand — and manage — their energy use. The heady goal with Pilio: the development of ideas and practices that will shift society toward greater environmental consciousness, says Bottrill.

Catherine Bottrill talks with Renee Boucher Ferguson, MIT Sloan Management Review contributing editor, about the state of energy analytics — and how to get better at managing and accessing data.

Purchase Options

PDF $6.95

PDF + Permission to Distribute $5.90

Educator and Student Discounts Available. Learn more »

SELECT c.parent_id, c.format_id
                    FROM products AS p, products AS c
                    WHERE p.prod_id = c.parent_id AND
                        c.avail_id IN ('A','B','D') AND
                        c.type_id = 'V' AND
                        (
                            c.sku = 'collecting-business-value-from-energy-data' OR
                            if(c.format_id = 'Certificate', '', p.url_friendly) = 'collecting-business-value-from-energy-data'
                        )
                    LIMIT 1

SELECT `products`.`parent_id`
FROM (`transaction_lines`)
JOIN `products` ON `products`.`sku` = `transaction_lines`.`sku`
JOIN `product_categories__products` ON `products`.`parent_id` = `product_categories__products`.`prod_id`
WHERE `products`.`avail_id` = 'A'
AND TO_DAYS(transaction_lines.updated_at) < (TO_DAYS(NOW()) - 90)
AND `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` IN ('276')
GROUP BY `products`.`parent_id`
ORDER BY COUNT(*) DESC
LIMIT 6

SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position
FROM (`media`)
WHERE `foreign_key_table` =  'products'
AND `foreign_key_column` =  'prod_id'
AND `foreign_key_value` =  '2865'
AND `kind` =  'image_600x600'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`

SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position
FROM (`media`)
WHERE `foreign_key_table` =  'products'
AND `foreign_key_column` =  'prod_id'
AND `foreign_key_value` =  '2865'
AND `kind` =  'gallery_image'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`

SELECT *
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `avail_id` IN ('A', 'B', 'C', 'H')
AND `parent_id` = '2865'
AND `type_id` = 'V'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`, `title`

SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position
FROM (`media`)
WHERE `foreign_key_table` =  'products'
AND `foreign_key_column` =  'prod_id'
AND `foreign_key_value` =  '2866'
AND `kind` =  'thumbnail'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`

SELECT `product_categories__products`.`cat_id`
FROM (`product_categories__products`)
JOIN `product_categories` ON `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` = `product_categories`.`cat_id`
WHERE `product_categories__products`.`prod_id` =  '2865'
AND `product_categories`.`parent_id` =  1
AND `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` NOT IN (1, 261)

SELECT `cat_id` AS id, `parent_id` AS parent, `status_id`, `name`, `description`, `url_friendly`, `page_title`, `meta_keywords`, `meta_description`, `position`, `updated_at`
FROM (`product_categories`)
WHERE `cat_id` != 1
ORDER BY `parent_id`, IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`, `name`

Loading Time: Base Classes	0.0005
My Controller Construct	0.0003
Build Nav	0.0005
Controller Execution Time ( Products / Route )	0.0552
Total Execution Time	0.0557

0.0003	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0003	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0003	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`carts`) WHERE `cart_id` = 'c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4' ORDER BY `created_at` DESC
0.0002	SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS cat_id FROM (`product_categories`) WHERE `status_id` = 'A' AND `url_friendly` = 'collecting-business-value-from-energy-data' AND `parent_id` = 1
0.0105	SELECT c.parent_id, c.format_id FROM products AS p, products AS c WHERE p.prod_id = c.parent_id AND c.avail_id IN ('A','B','D') AND c.type_id = 'V' AND ( c.sku = 'collecting-business-value-from-energy-data' OR if(c.format_id = 'Certificate', '', p.url_friendly) = 'collecting-business-value-from-energy-data' ) LIMIT 1
0.0002	SELECT `parent_id` FROM (`products`) WHERE `prod_id` = 2865
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `products`.`prod_id` = '2865'
0.0004	SELECT * FROM (`authors`) JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id` WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` = '2865' ORDER BY `sort` ASC
0.0002	SELECT `cat_id` FROM (`product_categories__products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '2865'
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`product_flags__products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '2865'
0.0001	SELECT `sku` FROM (`products__xsell`) WHERE `prod_id` = '2865' ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`
0.0233	SELECT `products`.`parent_id` FROM (`transaction_lines`) JOIN `products` ON `products`.`sku` = `transaction_lines`.`sku` JOIN `product_categories__products` ON `products`.`parent_id` = `product_categories__products`.`prod_id` WHERE `products`.`avail_id` = 'A' AND TO_DAYS(transaction_lines.updated_at) < (TO_DAYS(NOW()) - 90) AND `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` IN ('276') GROUP BY `products`.`parent_id` ORDER BY COUNT() DESC LIMIT* 6
0.0002	SELECT `parent_id` FROM (`products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '701'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `products`.`prod_id` = '701'
0.0003	SELECT * FROM (`authors`) JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id` WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` = '701' ORDER BY `sort` ASC
0.0002	SELECT `parent_id` FROM (`products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '3943'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `products`.`prod_id` = '3943'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`authors`) JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id` WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` = '3943' ORDER BY `sort` ASC
0.0001	SELECT `parent_id` FROM (`products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '3049'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `products`.`prod_id` = '3049'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`authors`) JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id` WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` = '3049' ORDER BY `sort` ASC
0.0001	SELECT `parent_id` FROM (`products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '3433'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `products`.`prod_id` = '3433'
0.0003	SELECT * FROM (`authors`) JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id` WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` = '3433' ORDER BY `sort` ASC
0.0001	SELECT `parent_id` FROM (`products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '3497'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `products`.`prod_id` = '3497'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`authors`) JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id` WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` = '3497' ORDER BY `sort` ASC
0.0001	SELECT `parent_id` FROM (`products`) WHERE `prod_id` = '4191'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `products`.`prod_id` = '4191'
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`authors`) JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id` WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` = '4191' ORDER BY `sort` ASC
0.0003	SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position FROM (`media`) WHERE `foreign_key_table` = 'products' AND `foreign_key_column` = 'prod_id' AND `foreign_key_value` = '2865' AND `kind` = 'image_600x600' ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`media`) WHERE `media`.`media_id` = '1308'
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`mime_types`) WHERE `mime_types`.`extension` = 'jpg'
0.0001	SELECT * FROM (`media_metadata`) WHERE `media_id` = '1308'
0.0002	SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position FROM (`media`) WHERE `foreign_key_table` = 'products' AND `foreign_key_column` = 'prod_id' AND `foreign_key_value` = '2865' AND `kind` = 'gallery_image' ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`
0.0003	SELECT * FROM (`products`) WHERE `avail_id` IN ('A', 'B', 'C', 'H') AND `parent_id` = '2865' AND `type_id` = 'V' ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`, `title`
0.0001	SELECT `c`.`format_id`, `c`.`price`, `c`.`sale_price` FROM (`products` AS c) WHERE `c`.`prod_id` = '2866' LIMIT 1
0.0002	SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position FROM (`media`) WHERE `foreign_key_table` = 'products' AND `foreign_key_column` = 'prod_id' AND `foreign_key_value` = '2866' AND `kind` = 'thumbnail' ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`
0.0003	SELECT `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` FROM (`product_categories__products`) JOIN `product_categories` ON `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` = `product_categories`.`cat_id` WHERE `product_categories__products`.`prod_id` = '2865' AND `product_categories`.`parent_id` = 1 AND `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` NOT IN (1, 261)
0.0004	SELECT `cat_id` AS id, `parent_id` AS parent, `status_id`, `name`, `description`, `url_friendly`, `page_title`, `meta_keywords`, `meta_description`, `position`, `updated_at` FROM (`product_categories`) WHERE `cat_id` != 1 ORDER BY `parent_id`, IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`, `name`
0.0003	SELECT * FROM (`product_categories`) WHERE `status_id` = 'A' AND `parent_id` = 1 AND `cat_id` NOT IN (1, 261) ORDER BY `name`
0.0002	SELECT * FROM (`site_settings`) WHERE `option_key` = 'announcement'

HTTP_ACCEPT	/
HTTP_USER_AGENT	Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)
HTTP_CONNECTION
SERVER_PORT	443
SERVER_NAME	mit-sloan.rarebirdinc.com
REMOTE_ADDR	216.73.216.159
SERVER_SOFTWARE	Apache
HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE
SCRIPT_NAME	/index.php
REQUEST_METHOD	GET
HTTP_HOST
REMOTE_HOST
CONTENT_TYPE
SERVER_PROTOCOL	HTTP/2.0
QUERY_STRING
HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING	gzip, br, zstd, deflate
HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR

session_id	5f4f1b6f6173ec2e6ced2f546c323940
ip_address	216.73.216.159
user_agent	Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)
last_activity	1750081104
user_data
cart	Array ( [cart_id] => c7cb1f60b1991fc910e95171646762e4 [subtotal] => Array ( [Physical] => 0 [PDF] => 0 [Zip] => 0 [Audio] => 0 [Video] => 0 [Digital Replica] => 0 [eBook] => 0 [Certificate] => 0 [Print Sub] => 0 [Digital Sub] => 0 [Combo Sub] => 0 [Shippable] => 0 ) [item_count] => Array ( [Physical] => 0 [PDF] => 0 [Zip] => 0 [Audio] => 0 [Video] => 0 [Digital Replica] => 0 [eBook] => 0 [Certificate] => 0 [Print Sub] => 0 [Digital Sub] => 0 [Combo Sub] => 0 [Shippable] => 0 ) [contains_books] => 0 )

base_url	https://mit-sloan.rarebirdinc.com/
index_page
uri_protocol	AUTO
url_suffix
url_allowed_suffixes	Array ( [0] => html )
language	english
charset	UTF-8
enable_hooks	1
subclass_prefix	MY_
permitted_uri_chars	a-z 0-9~%.:_\-
allow_get_array	1
enable_query_strings
controller_trigger	c
function_trigger	m
directory_trigger	d
log_threshold	4
log_path	/var/www/mit-sloan.com/logs/
log_date_format	Y-m-d H:i:s
cache_path
encryption_key	pIck\|3j@rZ
sess_cookie_name	ci_session
sess_expiration	7200
sess_expire_on_close
sess_encrypt_cookie
sess_use_database	1
sess_table_name	sessions
sess_match_ip
sess_match_useragent
sess_time_to_update	3000
cookie_prefix
cookie_domain	.mit-sloan.rarebirdinc.com
cookie_path	/
cookie_secure
global_xss_filtering
csrf_protection
csrf_token_name	csrf_test_name
csrf_cookie_name	csrf_cookie_name
csrf_expire	7200
compress_output
time_reference	local
rewrite_short_tags
proxy_ips
globals	Array ( [org] => SMR [company_name] => MIT Sloan Management Review [cs_address_1] => 238 Main Street E48-570 [cs_address_2] => [cs_city] => Cambridge [cs_state] => MA [cs_zip] => 02142 [cs_phone] => 617-253-7170 [cs_fax] => 617-258-9739 [cs_hours] => 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. [EST] Mon. - Fri. [cs_email] => smr-help@mit.edu [triliteral_email] => orders@triliteral.org [mit_issues_email] => smr-issues@mit.edu [order_confirm_email] => smr-noreply@sloan.mit.edu [webmaster_email] => webmaster@rarebirdinc.com [inventory_recips] => developer@rarebirdinc.com [meta_description] => MIT Sloan Management Review's online store [meta_keywords] => [copyright] => Copyright © Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2025. All rights reserved. [ga_account] => [recaptcha] => Array ( [public_key] => [private_key] => ) [enable_users] => [doc_root] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web [media_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/media [data_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data [csv_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/csv [ini_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/ini [pdf_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/pdf [certificate_pdf_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/certificate_pdf [audio_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/audio [video_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/video [zip_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/zip [epub_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/epub [mobi_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/web/../data/mobi [cli_path] => /var/www/mit-sloan.com/application/controllers/cli [title_suffix] => - MIT SMR Store [seo] => Array ( [default_title] => MIT SMR Store [og_image] => http://mit-sloan.rarebirdinc.com/assets/images/mit-smr-social-default.png ) [default_meta] => Array ( [description] => MIT Sloan Management Review's online store [keywords] => [copyright] => Copyright © Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2025. All rights reserved. [author] => MIT Sloan Management Review ) [main_site_url] => http://sloanreview.mit.edu [license_agreement_pdf_url] => /pdf/MgmtReportLicensingAgreement.pdf [permission_to_copy_min_qty] => 5 [adminbghex] => #c9c9c9 [adminfghex] => #e9e9e9 [adminac1hex] => #a9a9a9 [default_product_thumbnail] => /assets/images/MITSMR_cover.jpg [default_product_cover] => /assets/images/MITSMR_cover.jpg [sendgrid_api_key] => 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 )
template	Array ( [default_layout] => layouts/application [enable_view_path_comment] => 1 )
sfg	Array ( [debug] => 0 [log] => 1 [notify] => 1 [timeout] => 10 [test_mode] => [remote_host] => api.sfgnetwork.com [remote_port] => 443 [remote_uri] => /websvcapps/services/https/process_xmlrpc.php [remote_method] => process_xmlrpc [services] => Array ( [ecommerce_order] => Array ( [user] => 122f2eb252faa4e4b86193e483bd2b52 [pass] => 21598fa307e843648856f0c3f41bfbc5 ) [product_status] => Array ( [user] => 1ec0e02302ef35e38fb75f6d13670357 [pass] => 36375bce7741df326faec39f71240d5e ) ) )

Collecting Business Value from Energy Data

You may also be interested in:

Big Data, Analytics and the Path From Insights to Value

Strategic Measurement for High Performance

GE's Big Bet on Data and Analytics

The Jobs That Artificial Intelligence Will Create

Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action

A Noble Purpose Alone Won’t Transform Your Company