McNally Engineers, Ltd.
energy services / engineering

Jim McNally is focused on energy conservation. Reducing energy consumption in client facilities by 35%-to-50% is his goal. “Technology enables this. Consider lighting. Since 1975, power consumed by lighting has been halved and halved again. Recently, a 66% reduction was achieved with a compound fluorescent fixture retrofit [See Lighting Case study]. It can be done.” Energy conservation opportunities in buildings often result in cost-effective projects having 50% savings.

On-Target Energy Services:
"I've been fortunate to be involved in many, diverse aspects of building energy use. These include: control system design, energy monitoring system design, HVAC system design, energy analysis software development, energy engineering, and energy auditing. I've been associated with such prestige firms as GARD Inc., Lester B. Knight and Associates, Gamze-Korobkin-Caloger, and Siemens Building Technologies. On-Target Energy Services put it all together."

Pre-Wired Wattmeter:
The pre-wired Wattmeter was another of his inventions. [It is marketed as Enercept by Veris Industries, and Digital Energy Monitor by SBT. It is compatible with JCI Metasys.] The pre-wired wattmeter reduces installation labor costs by 90% and material costs by 50%. The pre-wired Wattmeter - part of the BudgetWorks system - is an industry standard.

Innovation:
Innovative answers to the problems at hand have been the constant thread in his career. Jim developed a utility monitoring service and patented processes [See below.] that greatly improve the accuracy and reliability of the service. While designing the HVAC system for a printing plant, he developed a waste heat recovery system for the plant. Recently, he developed a technique to statistically identify energy waste by reviewing energy use data alone. The pre-wired wattmeter was innovative. Budgetworks was innovative. The Budgetworks simulation engine was innovative.

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Energy Grants:
McNally Engineers' clients obtaining Energy Grants include:
    • Weiss Hospital, Chicago, Illinois
    • Evanston Twp. High School Dist. 202, Evanston, Illinois
    • Rich Twp. High School Dist 227, Park Forest, Illinois (3 campuses)
    • Maine Twp. High School Dist. 207, Park Ridge, Illinois (3 campuses)
    • C.C.S. District 146,Oak Forest, Illinois
    • Resurrection High School, Chicago, Illinois
    • New Trier High School Dist. 203, Wilmette, Illinois
    • Hoffer Plastics Corp, South Elgin, IL
    • Millennium Park Plaza, Chicago, IL
    • Nestle
    • Perkin-Elmer, Downers Grove, IL
    • Bell Flavors and Fragrances, Northbrook, IL
    • Philips
    • DSC Logistics, Des Plaines, IL
    • Gabriel Environmental Services, Chicago, IL
    • Dywidag Systems International, Bolingbrook, IL
    • The Phoenix Company of Chicago, Wood Dale, IL
    • Solberg Manufacturing, Itasca, IL
    • Children's Discovery Museum, Normal, IL
    • Chemring Energetic Devices, Downers Grove, IL
    • Village of Oak Lawn, Oak Lawn, IL
    • Midwest Printed Circuit Services, Round Lake Beach, IL

Budgetworks Energy Monitoring System:
The BudgetWorks system offered by McNally Engineers puts buildings on an energy budget. This system was shown to influence operator behavior causing money to be saved.

'Industrial Budgetworks'^TM -- the latest addition to the Budgetworks family -- helps manufacturers identify excess scrap, excess compressed air, as well as energy use and carbon per product in multi-step, multi-location, multi-vendor manufacturing processes.

Energy Analysis Software:
McNally was on the development team for NECAP- [NASA’s Energy-Cost Analysis Program]. It was a major advance in energy analysis software. It spawned other energy analysis programs including: Energy Plus, DOE2, BLAST, E-CUBE-III, and Trane Trace. The techniques developed here are used in the BudgetWorks baseline model.

Expert Witness/Litigation Support:
From time-to-time he provides expert witness services to the legal community. One case dealt with a malfunctioning Chiller System. In support of the plaintiff (a hospital), McNally identified the cause of the plant malfunction and provided cost-effective corrections. In another case, he was an expert witness for defense. A large Eastern U.S. shopping mall chain was accused on overcharging a tenant for electricity at over 50 locations. He assisted defense attorneys in developing their case by providing Watt meter technical expert knowledge.

Credentials:
    • A registered Professional Engineer
    • A Certified Energy Procurement Professional (CEPP)
    • A Masters in Building Science from University of Sheffield (Yorkshire, England)
    • A graduate of the University of Illinois in Architecture (Arch.)

Patents:
    • McNally, James T., "Energy/Cost Saving Calculation System (ECSCS)", 2005, [ U.S. Patent No. 7,451,017 ].
    • McNally, James T., et.al., "Weather Data Quality Control and Ranking Method", 2005, [ U.S. Patent No. 7,228,234 ].

Publications:
    • McNally, Jim, "Use Building Simulations to Set Real-Time Energy Budgets," TFM Show -2008, Energy-Efficiency Panel, April 23, 2008.
    • McNally, Jim, “How Churches Can Conserve Energy," Squidoo, 2007-2008.
    • McNally, Jim, “The Energy and Cost Savings Calculation System,” Web-based Enterprise Energy and Facility Management System, Chapter 34, Fairmont Press, 2006.
    • McNally, Jim, “Load Forecasting,” Web-Based Energy Information and Control Systems, Chapter 23, Fairmont Press, 2005.
    • Chen, M. & McNally, J., “The Importance of a Strategic Metering Plan,” Information Technology for Energy Managers, Chapter 12, Fairmont Press, 2004.
    • McNally, J.T., “Energy Analysis Programs,” Chapter 59, Computer Applications, ASHRAE Handbook, 1982.

Affiliations:
    • ASHRAE American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers
    • AMRA Utilimetrics [formerly "Automatic Meter Reading Association"]
    • AEE Association of Energy Engineers BOMA Building Owners and Managers Association -- Seminar speaker.