BMW moves to drive down energy costs
A range of measures being implemented by Honeywell Building Solutions at the vehicle distribution centre of BMW near Doncaster is significantly reducing energy consumption.
A continuing programme of improvements by Honeywell Building Solutions (HBS) at BMW’s vehicle distribution centre at Thorne near Doncaster is aimed at saving energy and enhancing the environmental credentials of the centre. HBS used data from BMW and feedback from its 8-strong maintenance team on site to create a control solution to help identify and eliminate waste at the centre. Recent measures include replacing 250 W metal-halide lamps with 125 W electrodeless fluorescent lamps to reduce energy consumption by 50% and increase lighting levels by 20%. Optimising the electronic control system has reduced overall use by 4%, and a scale watcher has been fitted to the hot-water calorifiers to reduce the hot-water boiler setpoint from 60 to 60°C. ‘When it was time to refurbish the site’s building control system, we wanted an advanced solution that would enable us to drive down energy consumption even further, without adversely affecting the performance of the VDC or the comfort of our workforce,’ explains Dave Stuart, maintenance and project manager with BMW. HBS installed an extensive network of gas, water and electricity meters and replaced existing controllers with XL500 control devices, managed via an Enterprise Buildings Integrator (EBI) supervisor front end. It provides integrated control of heating, lighting, ventilation and energy management. The web-based interface makes it easy to analyse a wide variety of data and make adjustments to enhance energy efficiency. The network of meters enable usage to be easily assigned to specific areas, departments or operations. A comparison is then made via EBI with other metered sectors, enabling energy waste to be identified. Energy-saving opportunities are exploited via the building-management system, resulting in reduced energy consumption, lower overheads and less environmental impact.
Related links:
