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“Architects know that buildings can be designed to require less than half the energy of today's average U.S. building, with no additional cost."

- Edward Mazria,
  architect, author and educator

New Buildings

There is tremendous opportunity to change the face of building engineering. By 2030, half of all buildings on Earth will have been built after 2000. With all the new buildings going up, there’s no reason to not make them energy efficient from the start. It’s estimated that with proper planning and integrated building management systems in place, new buildings can reduce energy consumption by as much as half, perhaps even more.

Existing Buildings

As for existing buildings, CO2 reductions of 30% can typically be achieved with a simple solution: creating one intelligent control center that integrates all the systems that run a building onto one platform. With an integrated building management system (iBMS), HVAC, lighting, ventilation, security and all the other systems can be monitored and controlled from one computer screen.

Simplifying system management

Many buildings can’t even measure the energy use of their systems, and you can’t manage what you can’t measure. Consolidating system management with an iBMS solution makes building energy management simpler and creates a safer, more comfortable indoor environment. Simplicity is the key.

An operator can program automatic actions for the heating, lighting, security, etc. based on the iBMS’s constant monitoring. For example, an iBMS at a movie theater could integrate ticket sales information for each salon to adjust HVAC requirements to exactly the number of people in theater and integrate showtimes to provide “just-in-time" HVAC so the owners never waste energy heating, ventilating or cooling an empty room.

The Benefits of iBMS

Upgrading systems takes time and money. But owners get even more time and money back in return. The venue for this year’s UN Climate Change Conference is a perfect example. Working with Schneider Electric, they upgraded to modern, highly efficient equipment, installed timers on their heating and lighting systems, and made many other small changes throughout the facility. This first phase of the energy-upgrade has already added up to a 20% reduction in CO2 output and yielded more than €270,000 in saved cost each year. Read more about the project here.

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