Schneider Electric's "Energy" University tops 3,300 users

Launched in June of 2009, Schneider Electric’s Energy University–a Web-based learning program focused on energy management and efficiency–is growing in attendance, with more than 3,300 active users over the past five months. While I had heard of the e-learning initiative not too long after its announcement, it was only recently that I got the chance to check it out personally and find out more by interviewing Paul Hamilton, VP of the energy efficiency program at Schneider Electric, a global vendor of industrial automation and electrical products.

Besides sharing the numbers on enrollment, Hamilton talked up the program’s goal, which is to give energy efficiency education to a cross-section of professionals in industry. The need for such an e-learning site grew out of the company’s evolution over the last several years from an automation and electrical products giant into a global “energy management specialist” who can combine products and services to help companies manage energy. As part of that transformation, says Hamilton, Schneider realized the need for a general education about energy efficiency opportunities and approaches for people in industry.

“We realized we needed to first–educate our own people, and second—also educate our customers,” he says. “And through that realization, we arrived at the concept for Energy University.”

In coming up with the course materials and scope,  Schneider Electric wanted to keep things generic and largely “product agnostic,” says Hamilton.  This is because many product vendors had already done an extensive job of providing online information about the energy efficiency features of specific products. What was lacking, says Hamilton, was a set of Web-based courses that brought together technical basics, the financial rationale and metrics for efficiency investments, along with a grounding on how to proceed with audits, projects, and improvement initiatives.

“[The University’s focus] is on education that raise the level of awareness and capabilities around the topics in energy management,” says Hamilton. “There are really two types of users in the [University’s] audience. On the technical side, it’s the operating managers–it could be a facility manager, an industrial manager, or an IT manager. The other type of user is in general management or financial management.”

The University’s coursework tries to appeal to both types of users, while seeking to give them an understanding of energy management opportunities that lie outside their job expertise.  “Generally people know specific something [about energy] within their domain, but we are trying to broaden that,” says Hamilton.

The University is free and I found the registration to be simple. I was able to sign up in under 10 minutes. The course platform runs on Adobe’s Macromedia Breeze technology. Using the courses does require you to enable Java and disable pop-up blockers on your browser, so it’s important to reset to defaults after using the site to maintain good security.

I found the Breeze user interface to be quick and intuitive. More importantly, the course I took on “Energy Efficiency Fundamentals” offered a good mix of technical and non-technical information. For example, technology such as variable speed drives were briefly discussed, and the course gave a breakdown of the nine basic types of energy-consuming systems in industry. But the course also explained how to present energy efficiency projects in financial terms, giving background on metrics such as Internal Rate of Return (IRR). A couple of minor things that could be improved is the addition of some footnote links so you can find sources for some of the facts presented, as well as links for supplemental readings. But overall, I think the University is worth checking out as a resource for those looking to educate employees on energy management approaches.

As Hamilton sees it, one key is to give users an online education that stretches beyond their functional role, providing a balanced picture of what energy management involves. Says Hamilton, “it’s aimed at people who are interested in understanding–both technically and financially–how to manage energy.”