A holistic view into your building’s energy efficiency

The Energy Efficiency Directive target of 20% energy efficiency must be met in 2020, meaning Irish building managers are feeling the pressure to make significant operational changes.

Transparency is key. By having a clear vision of how a building functions, managers can get a strong idea of how much energy is being used and where essential savings can be made.

Joe Crawford, product manager of Schneider Electric Ireland, discusses how having all the correct information in one place can make a world of difference.

 

Taking stock

With such focus on improving our building’s energy usage, the tide appears to be turning in the uptake of smart technology. A recent report published by IDC Energy Insights revealed that the global smart buildings solutions market is expected to reach an impressive €9.4 billion by 2016.

The prospect of installing smart or intelligent technology is still a daunting prospect for building managers. Budgets remain tight, meaning businesses are tasked with doing more, for less. In addition, a clear gap exists between the ability to extract and generate data to then translating it into actions.

Ireland’s commercial building owners need to carry out an energy audit of their operations every four years starting in December 2015, under the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland’s Energy Auditing Scheme. Taking stock of a building’s energy consumption has never been more pertinent.

 

Bringing data together

Many businesses monitor their building’s energy usage via a series of spreadsheets and disparate systems. This disjointed approach makes the whole process far more complex and time consuming than is necessary.

The notion that building managers should be looking at each building application, such as HVAC and lighting, as separate from entities is one that Schneider Electric is keen to dispel.

The only way to truly become more efficient is to take a holistic view of your building by gathering all systems together on one platform. This enables the end-user to have a complete overview of functionality.

To do this, data simply needs to be organised into relevant, actionable reports which are tailored to each particular user.

 

Holistic management

Today’s building management systems are able to draw information from all parts of the building, as well as from external and third party systems. This presents a truly integrated, holistic view at the touch of a finger tip.

Traditionally, this level of integration has come at a premium cost meaning that only larger enterprises have adopted such solutions. However, even with significant investment, it hasn’t been possible to fully integrate it into all existing system.

In order to address these challenges, BMS systems for medium to large sized buildings, need to combine engineering, installation and services, ensuring that all facilities are energy efficient and easily manageable.

Building systems must also include an easy-to-use interface. This allows data to be managed via a PC, smartphone or tablet, giving building managers complete control, even when they are away from site.

A key feature of this, is to provide the valuable information to the right people at the right time, maximising energy savings by clearly indicating areas for improvement.

These changes offer end-users the potential to optimise a building’s operational performance. They help to manage maintenance proactively, reduce energy bills and improve employee comfort.

By connecting systems together holistically, users are able to create a complete picture of a building on one easy-to-use platform. This connectivity is crucial, as paired technologies help to reshape and automate all operations – giving building managers a single pane of glass through which they can view all procedures.

The post A holistic view into your building’s energy efficiency appeared first on UK Construction Online.