If you work in an office tower, climate control is something you hardly need to think about. Somehow, the air in the office is always clean and set at a suitable temperature for the time of year, and all without an office manager fiddling with a thermostat.
Rest assured, however, building management thinks a lot about climate control, and how to make it easier, cheaper, and smarter to manage. An ideal solution would be to integrate the control of all building facilities, such as HVAC, water, lighting, plumbing, and power under one central control, which automatically monitors, manages, and adjusts settings to the building manager’s specifications.
This is possible by installing a Building Automation System (BAS) to run your facilities for you.
What Do Building Automation Systems Do?
BAS offers office towers, shopping centers, and other commercial buildings the opportunity to run their facilities through a centralized network system of hardware and software monitors. These monitors provide seamless control of all of your building’s facilities.
In more specific terms, BAS technology is designed to:
- Control the building’s environment
- Operate facility systems per building occupancy and energy requirements
- Monitor and correct system performance
- Alert building management when something goes wrong
This results in a better-maintained working environment for your tenants, more reliable and predictable facility systems, and increased energy efficiency, which translates to a reduction in energy expenses. The workplace aesthetic also becomes more pleasant without climate control devices on the walls.
BAS technology makes operating an entire building’s facilities easier, more efficient, and completely automatic. They also give buildings upgrades in terms of adopting sustainable practices and property valuation.
Read More: Why Adopt an Energy Efficient HVAC System?
Make Your Building “Smarter”
BAS technology allows the operator to control the building’s systems through a sophisticated user interface. You’ll no longer have to worry about forgetting to adjust individual thermostats – everything is programmed and controlled from one central location.
But BAS goes one step further by actually making your building “smarter”.
Read More: Enhancing HVAC Customer Service With Technology
This is accomplished by the system’s ability to actually understand how the building tenants operate. BAS can tell who enters a room and at what time, and adjusts the system to the tenants’ needs. By monitoring the various facilities it controls and collecting the aggregate data, BAS can optimize your entire building’s systems for maximum efficiency on an individual level, using energy when it’s needed and conserving it when it’s not.
For example, a tenant on one floor might have a lot of overseas clients and enter the office at 4:00 AM. Another tenant on the same floor comes into the office at the more traditional time of 8:00 AM. Still another tenant on a completely separate floor will enter their office around noon. BAS technology can adjust temperature settings to ensure that each individual tenant has their needs fulfilled, and conserve energy when it knows no one will be in a particular unit.
With BAS technology, you can program your HVAC to coordinate and work together with other systems, such as lighting, on a schedule that fulfills your tenants’ needs.
BAS can also optimize the flow of incoming outside air to regulate freshness, temperature, and comfort inside the building, as well as alert you via email or text message when something appears irregular, allowing you to take swift action to correct the problem and keep energy efficiency at a consistent level.
BAS not only makes office towers and retail spaces better, they also make them more intelligent.
Perhaps most importantly, BAS technology allows building management to focus on their business, and takes away the worry of keeping their building comfortable.
Benefits and Features of BAS Climate Control Technology
Installing BAS technology to systems in commercial or retail buildings carries multiple benefits to not only the business owner, but to the tenants and the community as a whole:
- The building owner/operator has the ability to monitor all aspects of the day-to-day operation of the workplace
- The climate control system is controlled through a sophisticated, easy-to-use user interface
- Environmental conditions, such as air and water quality, can be easily measured and action be taken when value thresholds are crossed
- Ventilation can be increased when CO2 levels increase above a level considered safe
- Workplaces are safer and healthier for tenants
- Technology is more sustainable, and easier to maintain, repair, and upgrade
- Increased energy efficiency which results in lower energy costs
- Demonstrates a commitment to new technology and being a good corporate citizen
Although using BAS technology is relatively user-friendly, there is still a need to have highly trained personnel to complete the installation and perform ongoing upgrades. Springbank Mechanical Systems specializes in building automation systems, so be sure to call us if you have any questions or want to learn more.
Gregg Little is Co-owner of Springbank Mechanical Systems. He can be reached at 905-569-8990 or gregg@springbank.com.