The future of controls and BEMS is already in sight

controls, BMS, BEMS, BCIA
Future gazing — Ian Ellis.

Ian Ellis, BCIA President, highlights the key trends in building energy management systems and points out that much of the technology of the future is already available — it just has to be applied intelligently.

Predicting the future is a pastime that is full of pitfalls. It would be easy to say that as far as building controls are concerned the next big thing is wireless, or IP-enabled building energy management systems (BEMS) or something similar. But picking out a single technology that will shape the way buildings and the equipment in them are controlled isn't so much a prediction as a bet.

The fact is that much of the ‘future’ technology of building controls and BEMS is already available and on the market. What is shaping tomorrow’s buildings is how those technologies are being applied and used. Lower costs and scalability are creating new opportunities for building controls to provide even more business-critical information to building owners and occupiers.

For example, metering has been required by Part L of the Building Regulations for some time. Many buildings therefore have numerous meters, but it is important to question what function those meters are really performing. Gathering data from them is time consuming, so automated monitoring and targeting (aM&T) is often recommended. In the past, this type of technology was relatively expensive, but in recent years we have seen systems being scaled in size and price to suit even small- and medium-sized commercial building projects.

In the future therefore, we can see that better use could be made of information from meters. And if you think that's not particularly sexy, consider the rising costs of energy and the growing body of legislation that are already forcing building owners and managers to keep careful track of their consumption.

Metering information can form the backbone of an integrated energy-efficiency strategy that will help a business improve the bottom line. What's more, there is already technology on the market to put data from meters onto a web-enabled front-end that delivers data in a familiar format for facilities managers.

The notion of web-enabled building controls is not a new one. But the delivery of this sort of system is changing very gradually. Putting the BEMS and IT for a building onto the same network can lower costs significantly — it’s cheaper to have one network than two. This is a challenge, however, because IT departments are understandably concerned with ensuring the security of the business network.

However, better understanding on the part of both IT experts and control-systems integrators is making this sort of development more possible, though not yet common. The trend is also being driven by clients who want their buildings to be more intelligent — to link their security systems to the BEMS along with items such as access control and demand controlled ventilation.

controls, BMS, BEMS, BCIA
Web-enabled control has great potential. BCIA members regularly come together at ConnectFest events to test interoperability of systems and share knowledge on important issues such as integration, web-enabled controls and other technical issues.

Building intelligence is certainly an important development. We are already seeing major HVAC equipment manufacturers installing controls into their products — creating intelligent kit. The BCIA itself has seen air-conditioning specialist Daikin and leading fan manufacturer ebm-Papst join its membership for precisely this reason; energy efficient products can only operate at their optimum performance with good control.

Looking to the near future, it is easy to see that refurbishment of buildings is set to be a big market for the entire construction sector. Bringing the existing building stock up to higher levels of energy efficiency will be an important step in meeting UK targets on reducing carbon and reducing our overall energy requirements. It is not difficult to predict that this will encourage a lot of building owners to take a good look at their controls and BEMS.

One of the key points to bear in mind about building controls is that they must be regarded as an investment, not simply a purchase. So often elements of the controls system are dropped in the early stages of a project to save capital costs. But retaining these elements can make a big difference to the long-term energy performance of buildings.

In the property market, portfolio managers are already asking why buildings don't perform as they are meant to. There is a shift away from Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) which show performance as designed towards Display Energy Certificates (DECs) which show actual performance. Why? Because ultimately property is a financial asset, and like any other asset its actual performance is much more important than the theoretical.

Perhaps the most significant prediction then is that we will see more attention paid to the long-term energy performance of a building, and that in itself will impact on what existing technologies will be more widely applied and on how they are used.

Ian Ellis is President of the Building Controls Industry Association and marketing managers for Siemens Building Technologies UK.

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