For industrial facilities, the solution is tons. Industrial buildings square measure perpetually running multiple systems that eat up energy and increase utility bills, most of that square measure extraordinarily inefficient. In fact, studies show industrial buildings will scale back energy use by up to thirty p.c simply by implementing a number of energy-efficiency methods.¹
A building energy management system (BEMS) is one amongst those methods. BEMS software package helps buildings monitor and management their energy use to chop down on waste and increase potency.
But not all systems square measure created equal. Some BEMS systems square measure a lot of advanced than others and can be more practical at decreasing your energy use. to assist you to select the most effective system for your building, here square measure seven options to seem for during a new building energy management system.
1. Versatile Infrastructure Connections
While not a feature intrinsically, versatile infrastructure is crucial in guaranteeing a BEMS works for your building. With versatile infrastructure, you’ll be able to connect any system to your BEMS, notwithstanding whether or not the system is non-standard or obsolete.
To make versatile infrastructure work, building energy management systems use sensors and different observation and management devices to attach new or existing systems to the software package. this could greatly decrease your prices since you won’t need to complete multiple, valuable system upgrades to induce your building on the BEMS.
2. All-embracing System Controls
In addition to material possession you employ existing systems, a building energy management system ought to allow you to manage multiple systems from one application. a number of systems that ought to be connected to and controlled from the BEMS embody heating, cooling, lighting, elevators, and fire-safety.
By dominant all systems from one space, you narrow down on the time your employees spend change between completely different applications. It also can assist you to create more practical energy changes since you’ll be able to tweak multiple systems and simply see however they have an effect on each other further as overall energy use.
3. Integrations
A building energy management system ought to work with the software package you have already got, whether or not that’s a building management system (BMS), a building automation system (BAS) or another system. every bit of software package ought to integrate, permitting them to share information thus you get a whole read of however your building is functioning and victimization energy.
4. External information Feeds
What’s happening outside your building, like climatic conditions, will greatly have an effect on energy use. the most effective building energy management systems incorporate this info through external information feeds. Your BEMS ought to be able to collect and analyze info from the weather, utility asking, and electrical grid signals, for example. it’ll then use that info to produce a lot of complete read of energy use, creating it easier for you to form effective changes to enhance potency.
5. Settings and plus Maps
Energy use and benchmarks rely not solely on weather, however conjointly on your building and its dimensions. the most effective BEMS software package takes this under consideration, permitting you to parameter building connections and input extra info like extent and occupancy. A lot of correct your settings and plus maps, a lot of correct your analytics and energy potency reports are.
6. Alerts
No piece of technology is ideal, that is why forward-thinking building energy management systems have inherent safeguards to warn you of any issues within the system. The BEMS software package can mechanically apprize you of missing information or affiliation failures, for instance.
Even a lot of vital square measure energy alerts. a sophisticated BEMS can use this same alert system in a bicycle with specialized algorithms to mechanically find energy drifts and alert human monitors to the matter. This takes pressure off your building management employees and improves your reactivity – the earlier you recognize concerning the matter, the earlier you’ll be able to fix it.
7. Dashboards and Analytics
Essential for pretty much every bit of software package, BEMS dashboards and analytics create it simply for you to look at energy information from all parts throughout the building. hunt for a system that allows you to outline your own KPIs thus you’re viewing the data that’s most vital to you, not an even graph that doesn’t suit your goals.
Analytics tools ought to conjointly assist you remotely monitor the condition of your building. generally referred to as plus medicine, this feature keeps you from being tied to your table or building’s center day in and time out.
Use Your Goals to rate Building Energy Management System options
Ultimately, the system you select ought to be supported the capabilities your building wants. to know what those capabilities square measure, set clear goals for what you would like a BEMS to accomplish. create a listing of your goals and map them to must-have options you would like to accomplish those goals. Then, expand your list with options that may be nice to own and options that don’t seem to be necessary. measure your BEMS choices supported that list.
Is your goal to bring multiple non-standard systems like heating and lighting into one application? You’ll wish to seem for a BEMS with all-embracing system controls. If you would like to regulate energy use over time, you’ll favor specializing in systems that mechanically find and warn you to energy drifts.
Choose the building energy management system that has all of your must-have choices and therefore the highest variety of nice-to-have options. this may be the system that most closely fits your building’s wants.