Ongoing Monitoring & Preventive Maintenance

Ongoing monitoring is crucial.

Building energy management and control systems are important, as they monitor and control all building functions. This includes monitoring at the whole building level as well as at every building component (lighting, air handling units, pumps, water, etc.).

Data collected from ongoing monitoring of building performance help building owners and managers to:

• Collect data to monitor performance, maintenance and operational effectiveness;
• Ensure that buildings continue to meet design performance targets and make adjustments to diminish performance gaps;
• Maximize energy efficiency;
• Identify and explain increase or decrease in energy or water use;
• Identify and troubleshoot equipment malfunctions that waste energy or water;
• Diagnose specific areas of wasted energy;
• Alert the operator in the case of a failure or potential failure of the equipment;
• Draw energy consumption trends (weekly, seasonal, operational);
• Determine future energy use when planning changes in the business;
• Observe how the business reacted to changes in the past;
• Develop performance targets for energy management programs;
• Update energy benchmarks;
• Manage the energy consumption, rather than accept it as a fixed cost with no control over.

YOU CANNOT MANAGE

WHAT YOU CANNOT MEASURE

Communicating with devices and exchanging data with other applications across the organization is feasible in converged systems. As monitoring provides the information to effectively operating the equipment, so the effective communication is vital for the buildings in the scope of the environmental information and energy consumption.

Now we have the ability to access and communicate both real-time and historical data between energy-using end devices and environmental monitoring devices, and convergence provides the pipeline to deliver this information anywhere, anytime by using web technologies and allow to avoid the use of dedicated workstations.

Preventive Maintenance Plans

Preventive maintenance is a schedule of planned maintenance measures to prevent breakdowns and failures of the equipment before it actually occurs. It saves time and money. A regular preventive maintenance program will restrain depreciation, reduce downtime and cost associates with hardware failures and software obsolescence, as well as improve both the appearance and performance of the various components in the building.

Long-term effects and cost of preventive maintenance is unquestionably more favorable then performing maintenance actions only when the system fails. The benefits include:

• Improved system reliability
• Reduced cost of replacement
• Decreased system downtime
• Spare parts inventory control

Preventive maintenance includes equipment checks, partial or complete overhauls at specified periods, oil changes, lubrication, etc., and consists of three elements:

1. Inspections to help detect or give indications of unsatisfactory performance that can be fixed before costly repairs are needed.
2. Scheduled maintenance of facility's systems, devices, and equipment that can minimize wear, improve operation and reduce costs.
3. Daily maintenance or cleaning of the various components of each building including the equipment that can help prevent the build-up of dirt, dust and grime.

Make your facility’s systems truly sustainable and energy efficient, saving money and resulting in successful carbon footprint reduction. Operating buildings that meet sustainable requirements may be challenging. Start with the low hanging fruit.

Green Building = Energy Efficient Building

In the United States buildings account for:

• 72% of electricity consumption
• 39% of energy use
• 40 –70% of GHG emissions in urban areas
• 30% of waste output (136 million tons annually)
• 14% of potable water consumption

If all new buildings, starting right now, would be zero net energy buildings, this would account for only 1% of energy savings by 2020. 

According to the California Long Term Energy Efficiency Plan, all new commercial construction in California will be zero net energy by 2030.

Energy consumption reductions in existing buildings ranging from 25% to 40% are achievable with attractive economic payback periods of 3-5 years.

Buildings are investments and so, they are opportunities

• 72% of existing buildings were built before 1990
• There is over 70 billion sq. ft. of existing commercial space in the U.S.
• Over 90% of the buildings that will exist in the year 2020 are already built today
• The majority of existing buildings will still be here in 2050
• Existing buildings outnumber new buildings by a ratio of over 100 to 1

Green building can reduce:

Energy efficiency is frequently described as the “low-hanging fruit” for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and reducing fossil fuel consumption. Energy efficiency improvements can meet a substantial portion of new U.S. energy demand and are relatively easy, cheap, and within the scope of current technology.

Benefits of Building Retrofits:

• Reduce energy consumption
• Lower ongoing building operating expenses
• Attractive economic return on investment
• Reduce the greenhouse gas emissions
• Labor intensive and thus create jobs
• Incentives, Rebates, and Funding

Energy Efficiency  = Low Risk & High Returns

Other benefits of high-performance buildings:

• Attractiveness to new tenants
• Reduced turnover and vacancy
• Improved ability to attract and retain employees
• Ability to meet shareholder and customer expectations regarding environmental programs
• Ability to meet emerging environmental requirements

Energy efficiency measures provide a win-win situation by promoting cost-savings, lowering environmental impacts while promoting economic growth and social development. Energy efficient buildings represent one of the primary opportunities to reduce energy consumption and GHG emissions, as well as to create new jobs.

The International Energy Agency estimates that, on average, an additional $1 spent on more efficient electrical equipment, appliances and buildings avoids more than $2 in investment in power supply.

Green buildings generate an average increase of 7.5% in building value, a 6.6% improvement in return on investment, and lower vacancy rates than other existing buildings.

Businesses and the Environment

Why businesses should consider their effects on the environment?

Sustainable practices are already a fact. It's essential to look out for opportunities to use less and improve customer service or productivity. Businesses should think about the environment due to the larger issues, such as global warming, energy independence, and social impact. However we observe also other essential values:

• Energy reduction - an average 40% of the total energy use reduction by Energy Star Building would bring net savings of $1 a day per employee.  
• Space selection and efficient design can decrease energy costs, increase work productivity, and employee retention according to new real estate strategies.
• Businesses with sustainable practices are better positioned to recruit and retain employees. 58% of people working in office environment are 44 and younger, as per bureau of labor statistics, and sustainability practices are increasingly crucial to this group.
• Telecommuting - an option for a better work/life balance that improves productivity.
• LEED (Green Building Rating System) provides standards for environmentally sustainable construction. There is a long list of benefits of implementing LEED strategy from improvement in energy efficiency, IAQ (Indoor Air Quality) and water quality to reducing solid waste, benefiting owners, occupiers, and society. LEED certified buildings are healthier. Collectively LEED certificates by giving the points and rank by the level of certification boost prestige of the properties. How we live and occupy the space determines the buildings performance, but also defines and demonstrates our commitment to the environment and the health of our organizations.
• For increasing number of computers that use a lot of power and cause disposal problems the solution may be server consolidation or cloud computing that will reduce a company's carbon footprint and save money.
• Incentive programs and tax credits, rebate programs http://www.energysavers.gov/financial/. All kind of local programs and regulations regarding the climate change and sustainability are supported by federal funding and resources. EPA http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/index.htm 
• The green building legislation will become more strict, mandated and regulated. Developers and building owners who are considering green construction practices or retrofit projects will be the industry leaders.
• Prestige - many companies are very proud contributing to sustainability and saving our planet, and so the clients.
• Promoting a healthy lifestyle, trying to be less wasteful, recycling and reusing supplies, using organic materials and new green technologies, etc. are all wonderful ideas. Things like banks offering "paper free" options, emails that say "don't print if you don't have to," are small things, but when quantity is considered, are certainly worth it. In fact, in many cases today, when given offers with similar price points and service, many consumers will opt for the "green" choice.
• As observed a boom in all things "green" and organic, trendsetters, celebrities, and polititians all over the world popularize "being green" by choosing such products (e.g. hybrid cars, organic food, all natural cosmetics, etc.) and services or providing new and innovative ideas.