Take a closer look at energy management with a communications hierarchy
In building refurbishment, significant attention is usually applied to more obvious applications and areas such as improving and upgrading the glazing, insulation, HVAC systems and layout. However, if a modernised building is to satisfy its true potential for energy efficiency, energy measurement, control and management must also rank high on the agenda. Retrofitable solutions that operate on a common communications hierarchy can be easily implemented during refurbishment projects, providing facilities managers with intelligent information that can help the business make the most of its energy. Here David Lewis from Schneider Electric explains.
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f the UK is to meet its targets to reduce carbon emissions, greater emphasis needs to be placed on improving existing building stock as we are all aware there has been a slow down in the new build market. This presents a significant area of responsibility for facilities managers and facilities service providers to grasp an understanding of where potential savings can be made, recommending and implementing solutions that will deliver energy and cost savings. The current scenario in a majority of existing installations is for there to be separate operating systems for building management, power management, access control and IT. These exist in parallel to each other and while it is possible to monitor and control each system independently, organisations can realise the full potential for energy management by uniting them into one application. This provides a holistic view of a building’s energy consumption, enabling facilities managers to see the full potential for energy savings.
Creating a fully integrated energy management system can be perceived as
a complex task, but achieving it can be made simple when a business has systems that operate on a common communications hierarchy, which starts at a basic level. For example, in a refurbishment project, where contractors have to work with existing cabling, this is simply done by using modbus communications for most lower level devices, such as single circuit breakers and simple metering applications. Using a modbus/ethernet gateway such as Schneider Electric’s EGX300, which enables internet access, facilities managers can then view the information collated by metering and measurement technologies spread around a site. In addition, retrofit metering kits can be connected together through the gateway using simple entry-level software such as Schneider Electric’s PowerView to monitor energy. This allows users to track real- time power conditions and remotely monitor electrical equipment and installations across an entire electrical network. Through the system, users can measure the energy consumption of specific applications or circuits by day and
hour, analyse and compare total harmonic distortion, produce reports and plot trends. Other easy to accomplish retrofit solutions include the addition of variable speed drives (VSDs) where a 20 per cent speed reduction can yield a 50 per cent energy saving. These are appropriate solutions to use on HVAC systems where there is varying demands on its supply. In addition, active harmonic filters and power factor correction can be used to improve power quality by removing the distortion harmonics that cause inefficiencies and keeps an even flow of power. As with power and energy meters, these have the capability within their embedded technology that enables data to be collected from them. Again, enabling facilities managers to build up a further layer in the communications hierarchy and the deeper the measurement, the more energy efficiency opportunities will be found.
In fact, once the data has been compiled in one place, it can go into any system of the user’s choosing, whether that is something like PowerView or, moving on up the chain, into a sophisticated buildings management system. Once the collected data is converted to a communicable form, it can be used with a common higher level supervisory infrastructure giving a greater energy management capability. By combining data from each of the operating systems within a common infrastructure, facilities managers will have better visibility and control, a clearer understanding of the energy consumption, as well as easier and improved maintenance. And the good news is this is easily achievable without the need for removing and replacing cabling infrastructure.
Retrofit solutions create the basis for intelligent energy management systems that are simple, save money and more importantly reduce waste. By taking the basic measures outlined here to create a communications hierarchy at the refurbishment stage, the platform is created that will enable more sophisticated automation, monitoring and control measures to be introduced at a later date. It gives facilities managers the ability to monitor their consumption, address any issues that arise and enhance their systems accordingly. As the need to monitor and manage energy consumption grows, this can only add value to the refurbished building.
www.schneider-electric.co.uk Examples of PowerView reports Building & Facilities Management – June 2010 energy solutions 11
Energy Management Systems
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