Condition monitoring at Centrica estates
The following case study for a major UK client illustrates the potential cost savings that clients including Broadgate Estates can enjoy.
Centrica was formed in February 1997 following the demerger of British Gas plc. The
Centrica property portfolio is diverse and volumous as it supports a business which is truly a
conglomerate undertaking many different activities. Buildings totalling nearly 3 million ft2
(~280 000 m2) across more than 300 properties include not only offices and call centres, but also data
centres and power stations. 
The challenge laid down to SPM Maintenance by Centrica was simple with the following targets set:
- 15% reduction in energy usage over 3 years;
- Reduce maintenance base costs year on year;
- Extend and preserve asset life;
- Deliver significant uptime for building operations;
- Provide a united maintenance strategy to all properties within the portfolio;
- Guaranteeing a pay-back of 3 years or less
The cost to implement the system in 2005 was £1.4m ($2.6m). The estimated savings for year one was in the region of £1m ($1.9m), which gave a comfortable pay back of 18 months with year on year savings. The pay back achieved was twice as fast as originally signed-off.
Furthermore, the system with its reliance on state of the art technology has greatly reduced the need for skilled engineering labour which is not only costly, but in severely short supply, in London and the southeast in particular.
Financial Justification
| Project cost | £1 400 000 | $2 668 680 | €2 088 986 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reduction in maintenance | £ 547 600 | $1 043 835 | €817 092 |
| Reduction in Energy | £ 328 967 | $627 076 | €490 862 |
| Reduction in reactive spend | £ 139 642 | $266 185 | €208 364 |
| Total Savings | £1 016 209 | $1 937 097 | €1 516 319 |
| Pay back time | ~18 moths | ||
| Currency comparisons according to Quote.com 2006-11-08 | |||
Comparison of Savings against Budget
Case study: New build property
Grove Park, a 100,000 ft2 (9 290 m2) new build property, went on-line during 2005. This was the first property for Centrica to apply CBM from occupation. After initial commissioning and gaining sign off the CBM revealed that 75% of all monitored pumps, fans and motors were failing. Could this have been the much discussed bath tub curve relating to reliability? All failings were substantiated as installation failures, design failures, or manufacturing short falls, which would have been hard to highlight without CBM. The result of these findings provided instantaneous payback on the initial installation cost.
Case study: On Line Thermal Monitoring
In November 2004 on-line thermal monitoring was to be trialled at a Centrica site in the southeast, due for installation in January 2005. In December 2004 a major failure occurred in the main site switchgear, causing the site to lose a days operation. The cost of repair equated to £85k ($126k) plus the disruption to more than 300 staff. The cost of the on line monitoring system would have been £20k ($30k) and this failure would have shown up long before a flashover occurred.