Industrial Automation Magazine India

Building automation systems help organisations monitor and control energy use

Published on : Saturday 07-10-2023

Sunil Jayaram, Head Building Solutions, Electrification Business, ABB India.

Estimates vary, but buildings account for 30-40% of energy consumption. How does building automation contribute to energy efficiency?

Climate change and growing shortages of resources are the big challenges of our time. Following the areas of transport and power generation, building technology is the largest consumer of energy. Heating, cooling and lighting in residential and office buildings make up approximately 40 % of the energy consumed in the industrial nations, a share that leaves a lot of scope for energy optimisation.

With the help of building automation systems, organisations can actively monitor and control their energy use, encourage responsible use, and so lessen their carbon footprint. The best indoor climate control maximises customer satisfaction and employee productivity. Building automation makes sure that residents have a comfortable space, which boosts satisfaction and overall efficiency.

To conserve energy and power, smart buildings are built using building automation system software. The smart building constructions are designed in such a way that they can adjust building activities such as ventilation, heating air conditioning and others automatically. The numerous benefits of building automation systems have led to increasing consumers’ interest and demand for smart buildings.

What are the specific building automation technologies that help optimise heating, cooling, and lighting systems for energy savings?
Devices such as smart sensors and controls are capable of measuring, monitoring, and adjusting several HVAC system characteristics, including temperature, humidity, airflow, pressure, occupancy, and air quality. Using wired or wireless networks, they can communicate with one another, a central controller, or a cloud-based platform to deliver real-time data and feedback. Additionally, they can automate or enable remote control of HVAC operations, including On/Off switching, setting changes, and alerting systems.

ABB offers a wide variety of connected Building Energy Management Solutions that are scalable for automation and energy control for any sized commercial or industrial building. Through the implementation of open protocols, the use of common and secure internet standards, and the inclusion of emerging technologies, ABB Building Solutions' products and solutions fully meet market requirements to provide safe, smart and sustainable buildings of the future.

In the residential space, ABB offers the very best in comfort, security, design and energy efficiency for tomorrow’s smart home, today. All the functions that can be controlled such as blinds, lighting, heating, air-conditioning or door communication are designed to make the users life simpler and smarter.

How does the integration of sensors and smart controls in building automation enhance indoor air quality and occupant comfort while still maintaining energy efficiency?
It is important to balance the health and safety of building occupants while delivering a comfortable and productive environment while providing touch free control.

The comfort of a building's occupants and energy efficiency can be maximised with the aid of facility automation and control technologies. To monitor and control several aspects of the indoor environment, including temperature, humidity, lighting, ventilation, and security, these systems use sensors, controls, actuators, and software. Users can obtain considerable benefits for their facility's operations and maintenance, as well as for the health and productivity of the building’s occupants, by integrating and automating these systems.

For example, ABB’s FusionAir Smart Sensor series provides a slim, compact, and visually appealing room control display with a high-definition capacitive touch backlit LCD display for use with ABB Cylon® FBXi and CB Line BACnet® field controllers.This intelligent temperature and humidity sensor allows users to view and adjust selected parameters within the field controller to which it is connected. Other sensing options available for integration with the CXproHD control strategy are CO2 or Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) sensing.

What are the challenges that organisations face when implementing building automation for sustainability, and how can these be overcome?
Organisations may find it difficult to implement building automation for sustainability due to issues like high initial costs, complicated integration, outdated infrastructure, and data safety concerns. Organisations can consider strategies such as seeking financial incentives, hiring experienced system integrators, gradually replacing outdated systems, implementing cybersecurity measures in place, offering training, educating building occupants, ensuring scalability and flexibility, proactive maintenance, and observing regulations in order to overcome these difficulties.

Additionally, it is crucial to see a cultural shift toward sustainability and careful vendor selection. Success in achieving this shift depends on clearly defining sustainability metrics and evaluating performance. Overall, overcoming these obstacles can result in long-term improvements in energy efficiency, financial savings, and environmental advantages.

How do building automation systems facilitate the collection of data related to energy consumption and environmental impact, and how can this data be used for continuous improvement?

Building automation systems are essential for environmentally friendly commercial development. These cutting-edge technology systems regulate and keep an eye on a number of building operations, including lighting, security, heating, and cooling. Think of building automation systems as a sophisticated system that makes sure everything in the building operates effectively and seamlessly.

Data collection from various building components is done by building automation systems using sensors and specialised controllers. It can make wise decisions by using algorithms that are intelligent. In the same way that one might turn off the lights while leaving a room to save energy, building automation systems, for instance, can alter the temperature and lighting based on the occupancy of the space.

Example: ABB Ability™ Building Analyzer tracks both buildings data (occupancy, equipment runtime hours, temperatures, and costs) and utilities (energy, gas, water, steam) in real-time and provides actionable insights to help you save money while improving energy efficiency, sustainability, and occupant awareness.
 
(The views expressed in interviews are personal, not necessarily of the organisations represented)

Sunil Jayaram is a seasoned professional with extensive 18-year tenure in the Building Automation industry, notably at ABB. His core focus areas are in digital solutions for buildings, where he has enhanced expertise in Product Management and Marketing. Through his career, Sunil has made substantial contributions to advancing digital solutions within the building automation sector in implementing Smart Building Solutions of various scales and complexities.