FEATURE ARTICLES
TUNING BUILDING SYSTEMS IN THE NEAR FUTURE By John Bourne, Project Engineer, A.G. Coombs Advisory
ABSTRACT Building tuning is an important part of delivering high performing new buildings with lower operating costs and higher rental yields. It is also a ‘must have’ on existing buildings that are looking for significant improvements in energy efficiency, HVAC system performance and occupant satisfaction. Tuning currently relies heavily on data collected via Building Management and Controls Systems (BMCS). As Operational Analytics, Internet of Things (IOT) devices and cloud computing capabilities become common practice the amount of information we have increases exponentially and the way in which we tune buildings will evolve. This step-change in technology will have a flow-on effect to other aspects of building operations, including maintenance services and life cycle asset management.
INTRODUCTION
T
his paper presents an overview of the building tuning process and how it is evolving with the introduction of data-driven analytics, IOT devices Building Information Modelling (BIM) and cloud computing capabilities within buildings. The building tuning process involves a number of stakeholders, including the building owner, facility manager, maintenance staff, design engineers and installation contractors. The objectives of the tuning process revolve around improving tenant satisfaction, reducing energy and water consumption and improving plant stability. Ultimately, from a building owner’s perspective, building tuning is about reducing operating costs and increasing the capital value of a building asset. For new buildings, tuning often commences following practical completion. This can be a requirement of an environmental rating (e.g. Green Star) or driven by the owner as a project requirement. For existing buildings, building tuning can be undertaken at any time. There are various inputs into building tuning, including energy and water metering data, tenant feedback,
maintenance reports, condition audits and data collected from a BMCS. As operational analytics platforms flood the market, building owners are receiving an overwhelming amount of information about their buildings. The challenge for a building tuning process is to filter this data and tune the algorithms such that the most relevant items are identified and prioritised. Too much unstructured information can be paralysing. Building tuning is now also able to be completed across multiple building assets and portfolios. Using dashboards to present large amounts of data collected from multiple different sources downstream, in a clear and consistent manner, enables comparison of our building systems and equipment at a much greater scale. Buildings are becoming smarter. IoT devices, able to be quickly and easily added and interfaced with our buildings, are also increasing the breadth of data we’re collecting from our buildings. This is particularly beneficial for condition monitoring and sub-metering applications. As more third-party devices are added to buildings
23
