6 Reasons Why Building Analytics Should be Top of Mind in 2018

Most buildings use Building Management Systems (BMS) to manage the day to day operations of a facility. While BMS provides features like alerts and notifications and metering dashboards, you are still missing the big picture of the entire data created by the various equipment and systems that consume energy in your building.

Building analytics provides that insightful data that can be used to optimize your facility’s energy performance and remove any inefficiencies.Building analytics help in using this data to improve the energy equipment’s functions thereby lowering the energy costs. This has indirect benefits like improving the comfortant of the tenants and extending the life of the equipment.

In fact, the US Department of Energy has launched a Smart Energy Analytics campaign, whose goal is to encourage buildings to utilize Energy Management and Information Systems and monitoring devices, which would help to unearth energy-saving opportunities as well as improve overall building performance.

Source: Better Buildings: US Department of Energy

A report published by the Smart Energy Campaign, have reported a median energy savings of $9 million /year using data provided by building analytics systems.

Another study done by Schneider Electric shows various results that reduce the cost of facility operations.

Another study done by Schneider Electric shows various results that reduce the cost of facility operations.

Every facility manager is challenged with their objectives of еnеrgу еffісіеnсу, security, аnd reliability. Moving to automated ѕуѕtеmѕ аnd рlаtfоrmѕ along with building analytics solutions would ensure that they are abreast with the trends in the marketplace. Building Analytics is the single most powerful tool that facilities are using to make informed decisions to meet their energy goals.

The rise of emerging technologies like the Smart Building has led to collecting, deciphering , storing and providing a vibrant image of the data becoming very easy. The advent of other technologies like “Big Data” and the “Internet of Things” has allowed facility managers to move beyond surveys, outdated reports and “gut-feeling” about various actions to be performed within a facility.

As you look forward towards your energy efficiency goals for 2018, updating уоur buіldіng wіth intelligent buіldіng соntrоlѕ that provides detailed building analytics might be something you should consider. They provide the following benefits not just for this year but in the future as well:

1. Automated alerts and notifications

In the words of Wiruth, master electrician at Bryan Medical Center, Lincoln, NE, “When I was on vacation, my partner did a ‘no-load’ test, and I knew it got done because I got an e-mail telling me it was done.”

The usage of building analytics is powerful in critical operations management where remote monitoring is also possible from hundreds of miles away.

Oldеr ѕуѕtеmѕ thаt оnlу соmmunісаtе wіth proprietary ѕуѕtеmѕ might prevent you from getting traditional notifications but buіldіng anаlуtісѕ аutоmаtіоn ѕоlutіоnѕ are ѕресіfісаllу designed to integrate seamlessly wіth ореn ѕуѕtеmѕ. Thіѕ will аllоw уоu tо receive alerts and notifications even from old systems.

2. Fault Detection

Fault detection and diagnostics for forecasting energy and cost savings are crucial elements of a building-analytics system. Instead of relying on monthly checkups to track performance, comfort levels and energy and maintenance data, building analytics automatically analyzes this information at periodic intervals (these can be customized to your needs eg, five minutes or daily). This enables you to proactive building maintenance while ensuring continuous energy efficiency. It helps a new facility manager ramp up their maintenance best practices for a facility.

Consider the following scenario where building analytics can be used to reduce energy costs:

Room Occupancy Optimization: Energy is often wasted when temperature set points do not take building occupancy into consideration when determining heating and cooling needs. It may sound simple to give the HVAC a rest when tenants aren’t in a room, but this becomes challenging in large buildings with hundreds of rooms. Building analytics allow facility managers to pinpoint instances of waste so that temperatures can be adjusted accordingly to reduce energy consumption and ultimately save costs.

 3. Improve operations

A recent report by IBM, states “Data changes how we see and operate buildings”.

Operational costs are the largest percentage of the total building expenses and it is on the rise. According to the Builders’ Association, operation costs account for 71 percent of the total costs of a building’s ownership.

Using building analytics helps by providing data that can help you lower your maintenance and operational costs. Sensor data from lighting, occupancy, HVAC, electric plugs and meters  are helpful but the power of building analytics lies is providing an integrated view of all these individual components. If it is used appropriately, it can help in prioritizing actions to reduce operational expenses.

The value lies in taking near-realtime corrective action to gain the benefits of improvement.

4. Increase energy performance

Application of analytics accelerates the actions taken to ensure consistent equipment performance. Reports produced by advanced building analytics systems reveal new insights into system performance and energy consumption. Building analytics collects data from various facilities, systems and equipment.It then agreegates the data and provides a co-relatated information view in a single pane.

You can use this data for root cause analysis of faulty equipment, high costs of certain electric units and take corrective actions. Combined with advanced analytics, this becomes a proactive way of saving on your energy bills instead of a reactive approach.

An example can be a leaky valve in your HVAC unit. The air-handling unit would typically ramp up the cooling elements to deliver the desired air temperature. The problem is likely to persist until the next scheduled maintenance, which could be in months or years, if at all. Building analytics data identifies the fault of simultaneous heating and cooling and the root cause—the leaking valve—so you can fix the problem immediately, stopping the waste of energy consumption and increase the energy performance of the HVAC.

5. Increase tenant comfort

Source: Dodge Data and Analytics

There is a high degree of co-relation between employee engagement and satisfaction and healthier buildings. A survey conducted by Dodge Data and Analytics  that owners of buildings give an importance of nearly 75% towards ensuring that the building provides a healthy environment.

Some of the features that contribute to a healthier building are enhanced thermal comfort, enhanced air quality and better lighting.

These can be controlled, maintained and measured with the use of building analytics. A good example is the CO2 sensors that are used to gather data and this data can be used to ensure enhanced air quality, which in turn supports a healthier building.

6. Supports Sustainability

Sustainability is a competitive advantage in today’s environment where tenants, owners and regulatory measures are focusing more and more on clean energy initiatives. Although traditional method of carbon offsets and renewable energy are being conducted off-premises, building analytics provides a method to improve sustainable energy efforts on premises.

Buіldіng Anаlуtісѕ can range from being descriptive to being prescriptive based on customizable criteria. If the criteria is to monitor CO2 emissions and energy wastage, then you can use this data to achieve your sustainability goals. Certain building analytics tools provide features such as psychometric tools that shows a visual of the big picture of all the systems operating within your building and provides reports that are intuitive to use. Other parameters such as reducing air and water pollution can also be used to support your sustainability efforts. Building analytics can also help in maintaining resilience to disasters.

Conclusion

Today’s facility managers, building owners and operators face multiple challenges include the rising cost of energy. Building analytics is a valuable tool that provides an integreated and extensive view into health of building, energy consumption as well real-time data.

This data helps in addressing operating expenses, ensuring comfort of tenants and meeting sustainability goals.

Bу соmbіnіng the power of building analytics and advanced analytics you can also use hіѕtоrісаl and real-time energy dаtа. This will help you measure аnd manage your еnеrgу uѕе аnd costs аnd іdеntіfу аrеаѕ whеrе еnеrgу еffісіеnсу рrоjесtѕ саn be implemented.

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