BUILDING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS


FINE-TUNING ENERGY PERFORMANCE


Energy Assets explains why The Royal College of Music is adopting machine learning to help orchestrate sustainable building performance


T


he Royal College of Music (RCM), ranked the No. 1 global institution for performing arts, is


harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to bring energy efficiency into harmony with plans to achieve Net Zero carbon by 2035. The RCM estate includes a patchwork of


buildings ranging from ultra-modern performance and teaching halls to Grade II listed premises dating from the 19th century. Its campus has been transformed in recent years, with a near doubling of the estate’s footprint, thanks to the addition of a new performance hall, a performance studio, a large café and courtyard


consumption routines and behaviours. This will deliver data in granular detail to support the institution’s broader Net Zero ambitions. “We have set ourselves the challenge to become


Net Zero carbon by 2035,” explained Gethin Lewis, estates projects & environmental coordinator at RCM. “To date, we’ve made good progress and by 2020 we reduced our Scope 1 and 2 emissions (gas and electricity) by 60% over the Higher Education Funding Council for England 2004/5 baseline target of 42% by 2020, even while our estate grew.” This was achieved through actions such as


upgrading lighting to LED fixtures, optimising energy “The tool will be analysing half hourly meter data from a new


network of electricity sub-meters to create consumption patterns that can spot tell-tale signs of energy waste”


area, and a new interactive museum. To support its Net Zero carbon journey, the


institution is now employing AMR DNA machine learning from Energy Assets, a leader in energy metering systems and data analytics, across its Prince Consort Road site, which comprises six buildings of varying configuration and age. The tool will be analysing half hourly meter data


from a new network of electricity sub-meters to create consumption patterns that can spot tell-tale signs of energy waste, such as equipment running needlessly, or heating controls incorrectly set. This AI-informed system will progressively


learn what benchmark performance looks like, fine-tuning the effectiveness of the established building management system (BMS). AMR DNA already provides data analytics on


gas consumption to the RCM via The Energy Consortium, a specialist procurer of low carbon energy services for higher education institutes. Now though, the RCM will be using the tool for its Prince Consort Road buildings to drill down deeper into


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control via a BMS, improving building thermal insulation and using boilers more efficiently.


AN ENSEMBLE FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE Looking to the future, Lewis said: “While much of the focus will be on reducing Scope 3 emissions generated largely by services procurement, travel and transport, there is also more to do to cut energy-based emissions. Here, using the 2004/05 baseline, we aim to reduce our gas and electricity carbon emissions by 73% by 2027 and by 100% by 2035.” In the case of gas, this means


moving to lower carbon heat sources including heat pumps and point-of-use water heaters. “For electricity, we’ll be looking


at voltage optimisation, air conditioning system rationalisation, lighting replacement and IT infrastructure efficiencies. This


ENERGY & SUSTAINABILITY SOLUTIONS - Summer 2023 19


includes adopting machine learning in Prince Consort Road to understand how AI can help us spot waste and inform actions leading to optimal energy performance.” The analytics engine inherent in AMR DNA from


Energy Assets, powered by kWIQly, has several report modes to save energy managers’ time. These include establishing achievable targets by KPI and weather condition for each meter, forecasting future use and identifying where changes have taken place; and diagnosing priority and cause of savings opportunities. The ambition of the RCM leadership team


for actions linked to climate change mitigation and to achieve Net Zero carbon is matched by the enthusiasm of students and staff. A wide-ranging communication and participation programme, framed by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, includes an annual sustainability festival – Green Week – which in 2023 featured a lunch & learn session on recycling, free bicycle maintenance checks, plant-based recipes for students, forest bathing in Hyde Park, and a sustainability forum with the RCM director of estates, Aida Berhamovic.


Energy Assets www.energyassets.co.uk/service/amr-dna


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