Energy Efficiency in Self-Reliant Communities

Energy Management Open Source Software for Small and Medium-sized Commercial Buildings

Commercial Buildings account for 20% of total energy consumption in the United States. The larger units use management systems or automation systems BAS to improve comfort and reduce energy costs; however, small and medium sized commercial building, which account for half the sector’s energy usage and 95% building stock, lack cost-effective BAS solutions and the resultant savings.

Property Owners are often Unaware of Energy Waste and BAS Savings Opportunities

Load Types there are three major loads in commercial buildings: HVAC, lighting and plug loads. According to the data from EIA published in 2008, electricity use by HVAC equipment accounts for 30% of the total electricity consumption, lighting loads use 38% and plug loads 6%.

Cost and Interoperability BAS systems need to become much more inter-operable, scaleable, and easy to deploy by utilizing open architectures, plug-and-play and providing local or remote monitoring. Most systems currently use proprietary architectures requiring building owners and controls designers to purchase devices and controllers from a single vendor instead of optimal products, controls, and services from different vendors.

A turn-key solution that reduces installation and maintenance costs. In addition, it is a scaleable and broadly inter-operable solution with seamless HVAC, lighting, plug load equipment and controller integration from different manufacturers, hence plug-and-play functionality for the many system configurations found in smaller commercial architectures.

 Tests Demonstrate Energy Savings of 10% for HVAC and 15% for Lighting loads

Benefits the system provides small-sized commercial building owners access to flexible, cost-effective building energy management that streamlines operations and optimizes energy usage. Also, the greater interconnection between building systems and a centralized control structure facilitates demand response, providing additional savings and better integration with the electric power grid. 

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Innovative Energy Savings Solutions in Small Commercial Buildings

Innovative Energy Savings Solutions

Small and Medium-sized Commercial Buildings account for 95 percent of building stock and consume half the energy in a sector of the economy responsible for 20 percent of the total energy consumption.

Owners of smaller buildings are often unaware of the amount of energy wasted and the opportunity for savings that building automation systems provide. This sector hasn’t BAS for the following reasons:

1. the high cost of tailoring software and acquiring hardware components is beyond the reach of most small- and medium-sized properties;
2. the owner is not always the tenant that pays the utility bill, hence limited incentive to invest in the building’s energy efficiency.

Cost and Interoperability wide scale adoption of BAS requires interoperability, scalability and ease of deployment that are achievable with plug-and-play open architectures capable of local or remote monitoring.

Most BAS currently Use Proprietary Architectures

Controls Designers purchase all devices and controllers from single vendors instead of being able to choose optimal products, controls and services from different vendors to achieve widespread turnkey solutions that reduce installation and maintenance costs with seamless integration of HVAC, lighting, and plug load equipment as well as controllers from different manufacturers that offer plug-and-play functionality for the many system configurations found in smaller commercial architectures.

Benefits include streamlined building operations, optimized energy usage, greater interconnection between building systems and a centralized control structure that facilitates demand response, savings and better integration with the electric power grid, energy savings of 10 percent for HVAC systems and 15 percent for lighting, increased participation in demand response programs, a cost-effective, open-source, plug-and-play building automation platform that is secure, scalable, and broadly interoperable, and support for the most prevalent communication technologies and protocols, including Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Smart Energy Profile.

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for Innovative Energy Savings Solutions in Small Commercial Buildings

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