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Technology drives energy efficiency gains in public buildings

Integrating building management systems (BMS) and access control can deliver energy consumption and cost savings of up to 20%, says Johnson Controls

Energy use is at an all time high in South Africa and our resources are failing. Outages have spread from the Western Cape to become a national problem. Government and Eskom are proactively broaching this issue, providing guidelines and incentives to various sectors to implement energy efficiencies in their operations. Leading by example, government has cut public building and facility maintenance budgets by 5% - the amount by which it expects all departments to reduce energy consumption. Attaining sustainable energy efficiencies will, however, require more than simply changing to low wattage light bulbs.

Says Neil Cameron, systems divisional manager at Johnson Controls building efficiency business in South Africa: "The application of technology to more intelligently manage energy usage, along with the use of more energy economic equipment and fittings is a priority if government departments are to meet their goals. While numerous public buildings have been retrofitted with more efficient equipment, intelligent technology is now needed to automate and sustain energy efficiencies.

"Led by the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME), the South African government has drawn up an Energy Efficiency Strategy that promotes energy efficiency in commercial, residential, industrial, transport and agricultural sectors. While it aims to provide universal access to energy by 2014, bringing more power stations on line will take a number of years and the country's natural resources are not inexhaustible. The strategy thus outlines a number of measures to be taken to lower energy usage in all sectors. It has also set targets. For Commercial and Public Sector Buildings, a 15% final energy demand reduction is required by 2015," Cameron explains.

In particular, the implementation of a building management systems and access control has proven successful. "At the moment, for example, a worst case scenario would perhaps see the last employees leave a public building at 7pm, which is when systems will be programmed to switch off for the night. With an access control system feeding information regarding occupancy to a BMS, which in turn controls the outputs of utility systems, airconditioning or lighting can be made to function only when and where it is needed," notes Cameron.

"While implementing access control, BMS and other systems may initially cost more, the long-term benefits and immediate savings ensure an ongoing long-term return - in energy savings as well as enhanced productivity and security."

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