Controllinginterest
Sustainability targets, rising energy costs and urbanisation support the integration of building management systems – so why is the industry moving so slowly? Siemens Building Technologies business manager Eric Anderson talks to Frankie Snobel about why now is the time to embrace this innovative technology
B About the author
Frankie Snobel Françoise (aka ‘Frankie’) Snobel is a freelance journalist who has been covering the electrical industry for more than four years online, in print and on camera.
uilding management technologies are capable of delivering cost-effective energy effi cient solutions that both address the sustainability agenda and offer switched-on electrical contractors
opportunities for new business. With the interest in ‘smart homes’ and ‘intelligent buildings’ increasing, and the market for building management systems (BMS) growing, the knowledge and skills of the electrical sector put contractors in a prime position to capitalise on this trend. Here, we talk to Siemens Building Technologies business
manager, Eric Anderson, who demystifi es this existing technology and discusses how he believes automation will lead to a greener future.
ECA Today: Take us through the perfect scenario of a smart building in a smart grid that saves money while reducing carbon emissions. Eric Anderson: I think a key part of this perfect scenario is the rollout of smart meters, because that will allow us to measure energy two ways – both what is going into the building and what the building can produce locally. Any excess energy the building has can be sent back into the grid and the building operator can earn money for it. So sustainable technologies like photovoltaics, wind power and combined heat and power can then utilise the smart grid and possibly make money by feeding into the grid
ECA Today: Siemens is a member of KNX – how does KNX fi t into the management of this perfect building?
38 ECA Today July 2011
Eric Anderson: KNX would be the means of connecting and controlling the devices inside the building, including lighting, heating, access control, and so on. All of the appliances and devices in the building can be managed through one system – a KNX system.
ECA Today: The UK is set to achieve some very ambitious sustainability targets for 2020, including a 34 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas. Do you think this is possible? How will building management technologies help the industry get there? Eric Anderson: I agree that the target for 2020 is ambitious, but I’m a believer that if you don’t aim for a target you will never get there. So although it is bold, I believe it could be achievable if we all buy into it. BMS technology can reduce the energy we consume, so the lights are only on and the heating is only run at comfort level when a room is occupied. At the moment, most of the energy produced in the UK is from coal, gas or oil, all of which are contributing to CO2
levels. As we move
forward, more things will become electric, which means we will have more control. We can then use less of the high emission type sources and instead use greener sources of energy and local sources of energy. Another issue worth mentioning is grid effi ciency. Coal-fi red power stations tend to be in the north of England, and with the transmission of that energy from power stations across the UK to the home or offi ce there are a lot of losses. Only a fraction of the electricity produced arrives at the building, so if electricity is produced locally that improves the effi ciency of the grid.
ECA Today: With a rapidly growing global population and almost a third of us estimated to be living in ‘mega cities’ by 2050, how will the building industry need to evolve to cope? Eric Anderson: First off, there is going to be a demand for a lot more buildings – as the population grows, we’ll need more schools and hospitals, and so on. So the building industry therefore needs to have faster ways of building. One solution can be the ‘off-site’ type construction, where buildings are made in a dry and clean factory and then
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