Connectivity is the Future of Building Management

Posted by Dalkia Solutions on Oct 8, 2019 10:32:57 AM

Cutting the energy consumption of a facility while increasing energy savings is the new standard of building management, rather than the exception. Over the last several years, n technologies have emerged to meet those goals, such as LED lighting and controls, which can cut energy bills by more than half while improving the quality and safety of the facility. But there’s so much more. Additional ROI-boosting features in LED lighting and other technologies prove that connectivity is the future of building management.

What is a Connected Building?

Connected buildings are smart buildings, supported by a network of devices using Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities. Sensors and sensing technologies in LED lighting, for example, can track the movement of people and assets. These devices, and the raw data they collect, can be leveraged for actionable insights.

People’s behavior and actions produce data. Wherever there are people, there is lighting. So new LED technologies are perfectly positioned to gather that data via tags, badges, beacons and various sensors. They transmit the data into the cloud, to be used by mobile and web-based software solutions to save the facility more energy and labor, improve safety and productivity, prevent theft, streamline operations and increase ROI.

A few examples of connectivity:

Connectivity Unlocks Opportunity

These just scratch the surface of a connected building’s possibilities. The IoT technologies not only conserve energy, they improve the results of the business that occupies that building. This transforms the building from an energy-efficient, productivity-driving asset.

According to Bettina Tratz-Ryan, research vice president at Gartner Inc., “Especially in large sites, such as industrial zones, office parks, shopping malls, airports or seaports, IoT can help reduce the cost of energy, spatial management and building maintenance by up to 30 percent.”

Christina Halfpenny, executive director of the DesignLights Consortium, points out that the number of connected buildings is projected to grow by a third by 2024. As Halfpenny puts it, “…it’s impossible to overstate the importance of the non-illumination, data side of lighting.”

Companies now can—and should—take advantage of these new connected technologies. They can go beyond energy savings and outperform their competitors with the endless possibilities, generating positive results to their ROI.

Taking advantage of a connected building’s technologies and putting them to their best use requires expertise. We partner with lighting manufacturers like Acuity, Eaton and others when designing our turnkey solutions for clients across a broad range of industries.

And lighting is just one aspect of our overall strategy for energy managed services—we tailor the technologies that will most benefit your facility, and provide the financial expertise to take advantage of all suitable rebates, incentives, finance and pricing models.

For example, an innovative business model gaining traction is energy as a service (EaaS), where the service provider maintains ownership of equipment and the customer pays for the services provided by the equipment, usually based on the energy savings realized on utility bills. The provider designs the project scope, finances the costs and monitors performance. The EaaS solution (with an energy savings potential up to 25-50%) enables organizations to implement energy and water efficiency projects with no upfront capital expenditure.

We can discuss with you all pricing models, like pay-for-performance contracts, energy savings performance contracts, power purchase agreements and on-bill financing, to help determine which works best for your facility.

There’s no better place to learn about these and other opportunities than the World Workplace conference, hosted by the International Facility Management Association (IFMA). “Take your facility and career to new heights,” and on your way up, stop by booth #1053 to learn about our services and turnkey installations. We’ll be there as Dalkia (Groom Energy Solutions), October 16–18, at the Phoenix Convention Center. Check out the conference site for full details.

Topics: Energy Efficiency, Energy Managed Services, LED lighting, Energy Cost, Digital Lumens, Digital Buildings