A new report from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy details how off-the-shelf wireless and cloud technology can be paired with building automation systems to tell contractors and building owners when their equipment begins to wander away from its preset parameters. Currently, boilers, chillers and other HVAC equipment can waste a lot of energy for a long period of time before the issue is detected and fixed. The report points out that operating conditions are never static -- a component fails or building personnel reset a control. "Intelligent Efficiency" can keep tabs on those developments and report back to the contractor.
Intelligent efficiency refers to a systematic approach to saving energy that marries traditional energy efficiency with wireless and cloud-based computer technologies. These technologies enhance our ability to gather, interpret, and act upon energy information in order to improve performance and achieve new levels of energy savings. For example, building management systems can now determine immediately when a boiler or chiller has begun to operate outside of normal parameters and dispatch a service technician to address the problem. Or, production management systems can slow down or turn off equipment in response to the demands of the day, or even the hour.Read the full article, Intelligent Efficiency: It's Smart, It Fixes Failures, and It Saves What Otherwise Was Lost
The posting also contains a link to download the full report, Intelligent Efficiency: Opportunities, Barriers and Solutions.