Companies around the world are trying almost everything to reduce energy costs and reduce their carbon footprint. They are remodeling buildings, changing lighting, and improving manufacturing processes with the help of artificial intelligence. But many businesses no longer have to deal rationally with some of their most important power lines: copiers, computers, and other devices that are always plugged into walls.
“There’s a common misconception that when you log off your computer at the end of the workday, it stops drawing any power,” says Greg Turner, chief technology officer of the Building Automation business at Honeywell, an international integrated solutions company. in automation, aviation, and energy transition. “Essentially, your computer draws energy overnight, resulting in a lot of energy being wasted and invisible. It is called a phantom load.”
In fact, all those connected computers, coffee machines, vending machines and a host of other common devices can account for more than 25% of a building’s energy use, and most of that energy output occurs when the space is unoccupied. . This wasted energy is an unproductive cost and an environmental concern, as buildings produce 37% of global carbon emissions.
Companies traditionally haven’t been able to do much about this wasted energy, other than posting signs asking employees to unplug devices when they’re not in use and hoping they’ll comply. Now, there’s a better solution: Connected Energy, a Honeywell Building Automation product that helps companies automatically monitor and control their energy use, down to the level of individual stores.
“When the last person leaves at night, you can remove the entire load immediately,” Turner said. “We are able to quickly implement energy savings.”
POWER CONSUMPTION CONTROL
Connected Power connects directly to the building’s existing wiring system and allows the building manager to control the power of individual outlets or all areas of the building from a digital dashboard. Power can be turned off manually or automatically based on preset schedules or data about building occupancy patterns. “We give companies the ability to understand their properties at a granular level and manage them at that same level,” Turner said.
This is especially important in an era where many workplaces have moved to mixed-use systems where certain rooms or floors may be unoccupied for days at a time. It also represents a new way of energy management in buildings where schedules change day by day, such as schools, hotels, and event venues. If the class is only used on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, for example, you can schedule the shops to open automatically only on those days.
According to Zoe Roth, Internet of Things research associate at 451 Research (part of S&P Global Market Intelligence), this demand-based efficiency has a sustainability benefit as well. “As smart building decision makers are increasingly driven by ongoing reporting requirements, avoiding energy waste is among the most important strategies to achieve decarbonization and net-zero goals,” he says.
In addition to saving energy, Connected Energy can capture important business information. For example, a hospital may notice that the outlet of a critical refrigeration unit is not drawing the expected amount of power and send an alert that the equipment may be out of order. Building operators can also see if a critical device is completely offline, perhaps because it was accidentally disconnected.
Tracking energy usage data can also help companies develop improved work schedules and identify new roles for different workplaces. For example, an office space full of cubicles may be better used as a co-working space with existing work areas moving to an underutilized part of the building.
“We are able to use occupancy and scheduling data, among other types of metrics, to determine when and how space is being used,” Turner said. “Without that information, you can’t see the cost of using the facility or know that waste is occurring.”
BUILDING SMART BUILDINGS
AccuTemp, an Ontario-based company that provides systems that allow businesses to measure and control lighting, heating, and energy use, was quick to see that Connected Energy can provide additional benefits when combined with a building’s adaptive ecosystem. For example, Connected Power uses temperature-sensing technology that can identify an overheated area and shut it down quickly to reduce the risk of fire. By integrating building monitoring into the building’s fire protection system, facility managers can reduce the likelihood of a fire threatening employees.
Data on how devices use energy can also be combined with other information to help companies optimize their energy management strategy. “The entire building can communicate with multiple systems,” said AccuTemp president Alex Voll. “When you add more components to your building automation, you get more control. You can meet your goals to work more efficiently and use quality facilities.”
Voll saw this impact firsthand when AccuTemp installed Connected Energy throughout its office building. “Before I got into this, I was under the impression that there was no way you could save by loading the plugs,” he said. “When we were able to schedule things to turn on and off, we saw immediate savings of over 40% on those devices.”
Click here to learn how you can control your energy use with Honeywell’s Connected Power.
Source link
