Controls & smart buildings


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can be installed into buildings quickly and efficiently, and managers can start seeing results immediately.


Utilising software for energy use and costs


Central utility plant (CUP) technology allows business leaders to predict the future; using algorithms to maximise buildings’ energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while delivering reliable utility services. And it dispatches decisions every 15 minutes based on a myriad of ever-changing inputs. By looking at equipment performance models,


Scaling up Net Zero strategy and driving down costs


By David Lloyd, general manager of connected energy performance at Johnson Controls UK&I asks how businesses can improve efficiency without investing millions or harming workforce productivity


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s UK businesses battle to keep the lights on and meet climate change goals, we have a fresh opportunity to seize the full potential of energy


efficiency. It has long been recognised as the mainstay in building the low-carbon economy of tomorrow. Despite this, poor public awareness of the benefits across our built environment is leaving us playing catch up on climate change goals and exposing us to soaring energy bills in the process. The urgency cannot be overstated, but there are


fresh concerns that energy efficiency is taking a back seat. The government’s support package for businesses will see gas and electricity prices fixed until March, providing a short-term safety net, but longer-term reforms are needed to seize the energy efficiency opportunity and drive down costs. But responsibility doesn’t just rest on the


government. Business leaders and facilities managers must make the buildings we inhabit much more efficient. The evidence is clear; as commercial buildings use around 40% of global energy, emitting nearly a third of the world’s greenhouse gases. This begs the question – how can businesses improve efficiency without investing millions or harming workforce productivity?


16 March 2023


Left: David Lloyd, general manager of connected energy performance at Johnson Controls UK&I


Harnessing energy efficient tech


In recent years, technology that is truly energy- efficient has advanced far beyond incremental changes. Now, businesses can employ software platforms to predict workplace energy costs, automatically optimising cooling, heating, and power generation. They can use AI-powered data analytics to monitor building performance, enhance tenant experience, and meet sustainability goals. Building managers may still assume that the implementation of such powerful, energy-efficient technologies would be a long, costly process. But the truth is they


every major piece of building equipment, such as chillers, boilers, and cooling towers, are tuned into the system to monitor performance and cost, and optimise efficiency under operating conditions. CUP can also predict seven-day local weather forecasts for temperature, humidity, and cloudiness; to predict loads, equipment performance and ambient conditions. These forecasts combine with existing data on historical loads, days of the week, time of day, building schedules, maintenance calendars, and special events to adjust operations and automatically make decisions that guarantee the reliable delivery of workplace utility services. CUP software can also model the simplest flat rates to the most complex real-time pricing and market-based incentive programmes.


Enhance building management using AI platforms and data analytics


Installing comprehensive building management platforms are another way that businesses can achieve energy efficiency. These AI platforms give managers a virtual birds-eye view of buildings and inform decision-making that delivers stronger sustainability practices. They constantly scan workplaces, pinpointing inefficiencies and advocating the corrective action needed to fix them. They also enable managers to monitor not only energy usage, but also assets, space, health, and occupant comfort parameters. Many platforms even offer an eco-system of cloud- based apps, which enable managers and tenants to instantly adjust heating, water supply, HVAC systems and more in different areas of a building. These self-service apps also mean managers can monitor real-time spending, efficiency insights, and progress straight from their smartphone, helping regularly update stakeholders on sustainability results. To achieve the government’s Net Zero goals


by 2030, legacy infrastructure and gas heating in buildings can pose a challenge. By advancing technology, however, such as switching from gas boilers to air source heat pumps or implementing LED transformation, carbon emissions will decrease. This decrease in energy use can result in a 50% reduction in cost, with the use of LEDs being able to offset the increase in electricity use. There has never been a better incentive to walk the walk because millions of us are experiencing new energy pain and because pressure from climate change is increasing.


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