How to maximize energy savings in large buildings
The energy crisis left us dizzy with soaring costs. The impact on smaller family homes is already grave enough – needless to say that larger buildings spend at least ten times over, with even more increases in the future.
Automation is often still neglected in energy-saving measures for large buildings. However, investing in automating buildings at larger scales would be amortized in a few months at today’s energy prices. Learn what problems building automation can solve, and what benefits can it bring to facility managers, building managers, investors and others.
Example: Energy consumption of a convention center
Let’s assume that the price increase would mean spending about 6 million per year for heating. With such high amounts, every percentage of savings, no matter how small, will show immediately in the budget: Reducing annual consumption by 30% will save almost 1.8 million, which is a significant amount for any company.
This is only one small examples, but extreme price increases will affect all large commercial and public sector buildings – office buildings, manufacturing facilities, hotels, restaurants, schools and the like.
Save, save, save…
The government encourages this by giving recommendations to lower the minimum temperature in workplaces, offices, classrooms, etc. Everyone is aware that the problem with expensive energy needs to be solved now, but not with quick fixes. Long-term solutions are the way to go.
A 30% reduction in energy use for heating is easy to imagine and looks good on paper, but is often hard to implement in practice. A number of obstacles and problems lurk in the everyday use of buildings, especially in bigger scale operations. These can be overcome easily and in a short period of time, for example, with intelligent HVAC control.
A number of businesses and institutions have already tried to implement energy-saving measures such as improving insulation, replaced windows with tighter ones or switched to more efficient heat sources. These measures are a good step in the right direction, however, it would be that much more more effective if it was combined with building automation.
What prevents savings?
Let’s outline several problem situations that are easily eliminated by intelligent automation and its sustainable energy management:
Open windows while heating
You can heat as much as you want, but with windows randomly opened by employees or students, all your money will be heated out the window. Here, we offer a simple trick: the window contacts integrated into the smart system can be set to notify you to change the heating mode after a while with the window open, so that no energy is wasted.
Anyone can play with temperature settings
The government, the management of a company or the principal of a school can appeal as much as possible to respect the temperatures, but with classic thermostats, anyone can adjust the temperature to their liking regardless. Smart heating will regulate the temperature for you according to the set modes or the current needs of each room.
Wannabe smart features
Today, some install smart features, e.g. electric valves, that only pretend to be “smart”: they only react to the temperature and do not take other factors such as open windows into account. This creates situations where, when the window is opened, the system thinks the room is simply cold, so it heats even more. Business leaders might then have to remove handles from windows, which leads to employee dissatisfaction. A truly smart system connects the windows to the heating.
Heating at all times
Why is the school gym heated every day if it is only used three days a week? The intelligent heating system knows the schedule of a building’s occipants and heats each room only when needed. This increases energy savings and facilitates the work of whoever is responsible for regulating the heating in the building.
Vicious cycle
If the system starts heating the office late, employees will complain about being cold. That’s why they set the thermostat to, say, 75°F. In an hour the room is hot, so someone else opens the window. And we are back to wasteful and inefficient use of heating. On the contrary, the intelligent system is predictive and learns the real heating needs. It always starts heating the room so that it reaches the specified temperature at the selected time and does not heat unnecessarily.
Unfamiliarity with heating controls
The users’ inexperience with heating control elsewhere than at home often becomes a huge problem. Automation will maintain the desired temperature without them having to manually move any controls, which is more comfortable for everyone. In addition, there is less chance of damage to the control elements and significantly less risk of overheating the premises.
Advantages of intelligent heating
…for facility managers, building administrators, investors, operators, managers or installation companies:
The entire heating system is perfectly controlled. The temperatures in each room are as they should be. There is no one in the company gym? The heating automatically switches to energy-saving mode, as it reacts to the presence – or absence thereof – in a room.
Is the warehouse that is barely used unusually hot? Abnormal values will be alerted by the mobile App so that the problem can be identified.
If the integrated schedule or calendar shows a holiday or off-day, the temperatures in the building will be lowered across the board.
Who wants to remember or hunt down dates noted on pieces of paper or stickers? No one – so the system will remind you of the service intervals.
Is the pressure of the heating system off? The system will know immediately and alarm the responsible person, which prevents accidents and unnecessary costs.
Intelligent automation makes it possible to perform secondary measurements and thereby eliminate, for example, leaks.
These measures can be implemented in a short period of time – even wirelessly without cutting into the walls, and without limiting the operation of the building. Construction modifications will usually affect the operation of a company or institution, for example, it will stop students from attending their regular schedule.
The return on investment is all the more interesting at today’s pace of price increases. If a company invests thousands in hardware to automate a unit and saves one million in a year, the money will be returned in a month or two!
The system knows the requirements of individual rooms and can regulate the building accordingly, e.g. reduce the heat in certain rooms while maintain it in others. To achieve this, install dampers and enjoy effortless room-by-room heating control.
How do you, as a global manager, ensure that all branches are properly heated? The system makes it possible to connect several facilities or branches to collect information and statistics from each one for evaluation.
If a restaurant chain has 50 branches in the country and reduces heating consumption in each of them by 30% per month, it will come up with very interesting savings. The more buildings are connected, the more the savings multiply.
If you decide to implement intelligent shading to save even more enegry, you can easily connect it to the system. No need to invest in another control system. Intelligent shading can help make a building more sustainable in summer just as much as during colder months!
Companies installing intelligent automation will support their own business. Demand is growing and the energy crisis is increasing it.
Installation companies can use intelligent energy management on their own premises and even get the hardware at a discounted price.
Example: How to plan an intelligent heating solution for school
Climate control of the 1st floor via Air technology
With Loxone Air technology, there is no need to make structural modifications. Loxone Air electronic heads are installed on the radiators, which are compatible with common valves. If necessary, it is also possible to use valve adapters.
It is possible to use the heads themselves, which have a temperature sensor, to measure the temperature. However, for a more accurate measurement, it is recommended to use the Room Comfort Sensor Air to measure the temperature and air quality in the room.
To improve the wireless communication signal, we added 2 × Tree to Air Bridge, hidden in the slats.
- It is possible to set exact temperatures for classrooms during active hours, or maintain a lower temperature in the hallways during classes which saves costs. Within a few days, the system learns how and when to heat each room to the desired temperature. Plus, it knows when to start heating so that the temperature is at its optimum right at the beginning of each class.
- The Presence Sensor Air can be installed in all heated rooms. If someone remains in the room after the end of class, the sensor registers it and the system extends the heating time.
- A heating schedule is also set, which takes into account the schedule of classes, holidays, director’s days off or perhaps class trips outside the school building.
- The heating statistics overview is displayed in the App. Thanks to the possibility to monitor everything from anywhere, heating costs are always under control. This solution is extremely practical and safe, as it works without the need to use the cloud (due to data security).
- We recommend to activate automatic e-mails to the responsible person (school teacher) in the event of a malfunction, including the identification of a specific room and radiator.
Cost for all hardware used:
USD 4,311
(with Presence Sensors and Comfort Sensors USD 5,479)
(Click on the image to enlarge the floor plan.)
Climate control of the 1st floor via Tree technology
The Miniserver controls the heating valve actuators and a 1-wire sensor hidden under the button is used to measure temperatures. By adding magnetic contacts to the windows, we get information that the room is ventilated and after a certain time, the heating can be turned off automatically.
According to the schedule, it is possible to set the desired temperatures in the rooms and automatically switch to the eco mode for heating after the end of class.
Cost for all hardware used:
USD 1,341 (without Presence Sensors)
(Click on the image to enlarge the floor plan.)
Get In Contact
Send us a request for your next project as an end customer or a professional installer.
