Cracking the Code Between Smart Building Technology and HVAC Systems

Multiple Combined Technologies

Many believe that a smart building has been enhanced with intelligent systems and implements green building concepts. That is far from the truth. A smart building uses a combination of multiple technologies, automated controls and decision-supporting software that provides a rapid and responsive environment.                     

Enhanced Efficiency & Effectiveness

Frequently, they help in enhancing the efficiency and operational effectiveness of building systems like HVAC, while also increasing reliability and robustness. Reduced energy consumption and greater operational efficiencies often result.

How Smart Buildings Work

Smart buildings achieve all this and more with the help of sensors. Sensors in combination with robust cloud software platforms help communicate, manage, automate and control the systems remotely 24x7x365.

Applied IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) mobilizes advanced technologies to monitor various environmental measures such as temperature, humidity, light and motion, to analyze the operational efficiency of building systems, and to optimize facility operations using data intelligence gathered in real-time. An example market report expects the smart building market to grow from an estimated USD 7.42 Billion in 2017 to USD 31.74 Billion by 2022, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 33.7% from 2017 to 2022.

HVAC: The New Frontier in Building Efficiency

It is a well-known fact that buildings consume about 40% of the energy consumption in the world. Out of this total consumption, HVAC systems represent the largest consumer class. This comes as no surprise because HVAC systems perform one of the most essential functions of delivering comfort to building occupants. A mission-critical function to be sure.

Controlling HVAC

The amount of energy that HVAC systems consume depends on many factors. The building location, climate, temperatures during the day and night, room occupancy, building age, windows and insulation, and so on, can drastically change the heating/cooling demands placed on the HVAC system. Automation and control of HVAC systems has become a complex task; high levels of energy efficiency can result if done correctly.

Energy Budgets

Figure 1 provides insight to a typical profile of energy consumption in a commercial building. HVAC and lighting stand out with estimated percentages of 39% and 25%, respectively, of the total energy budget in a building.

                                                                     Source: Fact Sheet of HVAC Energy Consumption

Low Hanging Fruit

LED retrofits have become popular to achieve greater energy efficiency in buildings. This low-hanging fruit has been relatively easy to capture due to the predictable ROI models obtained through quantifiable replacement and operating costs.

Bigger Benefits

HVAC represents a much larger energy-efficiency opportunity in buildings, but suffers because of the high complexity surrounding such an exercise. HVAC is the next, great frontier of achieving energy savings in buildings.

Smart Building Technology

Applying smart building technology to HVAC systems has vast potential in the enterprise. Technologies such as IoT can help you meet your current and future energy goals by giving the needed tools to take on such a task. Below, we take a look at different ways smart building technology can give you the critical edge in gaining maximum impact from your HVAC systems.

1. Energy Efficiency:

Smart Buildings can incorporate a variety of communication technologies that enable integration with various HVAC systems in a building. Available energy efficiency opportunities will depend on the current HVAC infrastructure installed within the building.

a. Remote Management/Scheduling

Many buildings have not been equipped with a Building Automation System (BAS). Older buildings or small/medium sized buildings may not justify the prohibitive expense of installing a modern BAS. Typically, these types of buildings have unconnected HVAC sub-systems that operate independently. As such, they rely on manual facility management, which can produce inconsistent performance with respect to energy budgets. Too often, for example, HVAC sub-systems can rely on manual establishment and modification of temperature setpoints.

IoT brings remote visibility to disconnected HVAC sub-systems. In a simple example, IoT devices can interface with stand-alone thermostats using standardized protocols such as BACnet and Modbus, and can present a cloud-interface for management and control of that thermostat. This effectively creates a type of virtual BAS. This example use case provides large energy savings opportunities in defined HVAC zones such as small retail spaces, construction or educational trailers, individual tenant spaces, or any commercial or industrial space featuring limited smart building functionality.

IoT can enable retrofit applications that target specific needs with surgical precision. Small, targeted IoT installations can produce outsized energy savings in facilities starved for technology.

b. Advanced Sensor Integration

Even the most advanced BAS has access to limited sensor data such as temperature and humidity. The automated HVAC control loops programmed therein are limited to the available sensor data set. Smart HVAC systems will increasingly incorporate additional sensor data to deliver maximum comfort to building occupants.

Is your office too hot or too cold? The fact that most would agree points to the insufficiency of the temperature data available to the HVAC system. Most heating/cooling zones don’t have enough temperature sensors. The limited temperature data they do have provides only a coarse level of temperature control. Additional temperatures sensors that cover the entire heating/cooling zone will provide fine-grained temperature controls.

This example of fine-grained temperature controls has arisen because of the need for better data in the HVAC control loop. Don’t get put off by the emphasis on tenant comfort. This example points to the current overhaul of the traditional model of HVAC infrastructure. Additional data based on weather forecasts, occupancy schedules, personal occupant preferences, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), or any additional comfort factor, can be aggregated in the cloud to provide advanced HVAC controls that leverage IoT.

c. Unit Efficiency

HVAC systems include various components. As noted, 39% of the building’s energy consumption is consumed by HVAC. This consumption can be further broken down into individual HVAC system components.

Critical HVAC Assets

Sadly, most organizations have little to no visibility into critical HVAC assets such as chillers, cooling towers and Roof Top Units (RTUs). Even if the HVAC system is controlled by a modern BAS, limited insight is available to individual HVAC unit efficiencies. Certainly, critical HVAC assets that operate outside of manufacturer’s specifications will have poor energy efficiency.

Granular Data

IoT can capture granular data from critical HVAC assets in a building. For example, inexpensive wireless IoT sensors can capture real-time operational data regarding supply/return temperatures, fan speeds, vibration, flow rates, compressor run times, pressure, total asset energy consumption, etc. The real-time capture of asset-specific data will enable insights into the true operational efficiency of critical HVAC assets. Energy efficiencies will follow naturally when unit inefficiencies are corrected with modern, real-time Asset Condition Monitoring (ACM).

2. Predictive Maintenance:

HVAC systems generally have regular maintenance schedules since they form the heart of any building. This includes general checkups, service and maintenance at pre-determined time periods and frequency. What happens, however, when a fault occurs in-between maintenance checks? Further, what happens when a visual inspection does not reveal the existence or potential occurrence of a catastrophic fault?

Major – Minor - Maintenance

As we all know, minor issues will grow into major issues. Smart building technology that provides real-time visibility into the operational condition of critical HVAC assets provides the best solution for early Fault Detection and Diagnostics (FDD) and predictive maintenance. Wouldn’t you like to know that your cooling tower was performing outside of the normal specifications established over the last 60 days? The potential for catastrophic failure could implicate costly emergency repairs and severe compromise of tenant operations. Concerns over energy efficiency will seem minor when these issues arise.

Artificial Intelligence

The aggregation of real-time data from critical HVAC assets using IoT will enable Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI can be used for advanced analytics that identify potential problems before they manifest.

In many cases, simple HVAC analytics will be sufficient. Real-time alerts and notifications can be programmed to signal warning conditions. For example, you can program alerts and notifications when the RTU airflow is compromised or vibration levels exceed programmable thresholds. These alerts can enable timely maintenance action to prevent catastrophic failures. The key here is access to real-time data that assesses the ongoing operational status of critical HVAC assets.

3. Real-Time Cloud Visualizations

IoT enables real-time dashboarding via a cloud platform. Anytime, anywhere access to real-time HVAC data is a game changer. It isn’t enough to see monthly energy consumption for a building. You need to go beyond the meter.

Power in the Palm of Your Hand

Always Connected

Conclusion

Smart Building technology will change your expectations of HVAC system performance in your building. While the potential for energy efficiency can surely be realized, the impact to your enterprise will be profound. Take control of your energy consumption and facility management budget with the tools that today’s IoT Smart Building Solutions provide.

Is this ‘Off the Wall”?

While this may seem to be directed more at commercial & industrial development, it holds major importance for residential development. Smart buildings and IoT are already influencing the way new homes are designed and built. Home buyer and renter awareness of what is becoming available is beginning to drive their expectations and demands. It may not be long before changing material science and technology combines to bring AI right into the way your business designs and delivers projects. Off-Site construction is clearly at the forefront as an enabler for such delivery. New homes will very soon be ‘Smart’ in numerous ways, including full incorporation of energy saving and TIoT (the internet of things) to deliver  major components. This is something that ‘Off-Site’. DfMA (Design for Manufacture & Assembly) will need to seriously consider as the industry moves forward.

Collaborative Partnering

Greater collaborative ‘partnering’ between architects, builders and  manufacturers is needed to accomplish this The greater speed, accuracy and quality that can result from manufacturing components in a dry, controlled factory environment, together with the ability tom incorporate (yet to be invented) ‘Smart Ware’  gives home builders perhaps the only way of achieving this, together with improved on-site build quality AND controlling costs.

Resistance Disappearing

While resistance to the change to DfMA has been the norm, the wish of most UK Builders to deliver excellent customer service and top notch homes is now driving an increasing number to choose Off-Site for their developments. Also, as ‘OffSite Hub” note, architects and designers are moving toward DfMA, something w have been encouraging for over 20 years. The emergence of LA Developers will only speed up this process.

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To assist them in doing so our “Easy Timber Frame “ now offers standard size modular timber frame elements for them to use as a design base, cutting down on technical design and engineering to produce win-win results.

Better all-round Savings