Venstar's Surveyor Helps Reduce Energy Costs by 25%

Venstar's Surveyor

CHATSWORTH, Calif., Oct. 28, 2020 — Venstar® today announced that its Surveyor® Energy Management System is helping Learning Care Group Inc. (LCG) reduce energy costs by 25 percent.

With 900 school campuses, LCG is the second-largest for-profit childcare provider in North America and is a leader in early education for children aged six weeks to 12 years old.

“With Venstar’s Surveyor, we cut our energy costs by 25 percent while setting a good example of sustainability for our students,” said John McNiff, senior director of Procurement and Category Management at Learning Care Group Inc.

“Our Venstar energy management system gives us unprecedented visibility into and control of the energy usage at our schools,” added Kristyn Hamilton, facilities coordinator at Learning Care Group Inc.

LCG’s eight unique brands include La Petite Academy, Childtime, Tutor Time, The Children’s Courtyard, Montessori Unlimited, Everbrook Academy, Creative Kids Learning Center and Pathways Learning Academy.

Challenge: Reduce Energy Consumption While Maintaining Comfort and Control

Responsible for the HVAC management, McNiff was challenged with finding an energy management system to meet the company’s sustainability goals and cost-saving initiatives.

Energy management objectives included:

Remotely monitor and control HVAC and lighting
Reduce energy usage and costs by improving energy efficiency and sustainability
Maintain the health of the HVAC equipment
Enact effective monitoring and reporting processes

Solution: Venstar’s Surveyor Energy Management System

McNiff chose Venstar’s Surveyor as it is the leader in multi-site energy management and is able to provide remote monitoring and control of HVAC equipment and lighting with proven reduction in energy usage. Surveyor is compatible with leading manufacturers’ HVAC equipment, which is very beneficial for multi-site companies that have a variety of brands.

LCG’s energy management deployment consists of Surveyor controls and sensors installed in each HVAC unit to monitor its efficiency and ensure its viability. The average campus is 8,000 square feet and typically has 4–6 HVAC units.

Surveyor manages the HVAC systems to control indoor comfort and efficiency. Lighting control panels independently control interior and exterior lighting zones. A highly secure Internet gateway transmits data from each school’s equipment controls and sensors to the corporate data center for remote management via the Surveyor website.

Results: 25 Percent Cost Reduction in Energy Used

Venstar’s Surveyor delivers a consistent 25 percent reduction in energy usage and related costs. It also delivers a 3 percent reduction in maintenance costs for the schools.

Surveyor’s benefits include:

Visual reporting with live weather feed for consistent energy management
Remote monitoring and control using the Surveyor website
Fast-and-easy installation and set-up
Consistent energy management and indoor comfort
Global changes to simultaneously modify all locations
Customized daily exception reports
Emergency alerts that enable remote troubleshooting and fewer truck dispatches, reducing HVAC repair and maintenance costs
Capability to participate in utility demand-response programs for best rates
Ability for third-party service providers to also utilize Surveyor to manage both energy and lighting

When LCG had to temporarily close schools due to COVID-19, McNiff’s team was easily able to remotely change select schools’ thermostats and lighting control panels to unoccupied settings to contain energy costs and avoid wasting energy.

Partnering with Venstar has given LCG’s team the ability to meet return-on-investment goals. Working with utilities on rebates and incentives helped further reduce the overall investment.

About Venstar Inc.

Venstar Inc. is a leading thermostat and energy management system (EMS) manufacturer, known for providing value to its customers via ease of use and installation, proven cost savings, improved energy efficiency, quality and reliability.

Founded in 1992, 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.

Venstar’s Surveyor is a leading energy management system, typically saving small-box retailers 20–35 percent of their energy costs, which translates to tens of millions of dollars in savings each year and dramatic reductions in CO2 emissions. Surveyor currently controls the energy usage of 30,000+ retail locations across the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico.