The biggest challenge of any building energy efficiency program is deciding where to start. This can be tough if you have a property, and it is strategic for large portfolio managers.
Data is your friend
To go the right way, data can be your best friend. Properly analyzed and presented, it can be very powerful in finding where to start in your campus solutions quest and providing ways to track and calculate performance improvements over time.
To save the days spent on reports and spreadsheets, we recently analyzed smart office data from thousands of buildings. The results are impressive and represent a clear but great start to your energy efficiency program.
Energy consumption after hours
- Based on buildings in many sectors and industries, including offices, education, and government, we found that an average of 72% of buildings are vacant per year. Are we feeling right? Since most people turn off the clock in the evenings, on weekends and holidays, the building is often vacant without being occupied.
- From a sustainable perspective, there is nothing wrong with building an empty building, as long as the energy is not used when idle. Unfortunately, this is not always the case; in fact, it is far from it.
- According to our analysis typically, 55% of power consumption also occurs during this time. Energy consumption for more than half a year is sent into the vacant building.
- Why is this? The numbers show that most buildings have a relatively high ‘‘base load’’, meaning they use considerable electricity even when they are empty. This is an essential thing that you are looking to improve efficiency.
The cost is calculated.
As always in discussions about increasing efficiency, we must consider the environmental and economic implications of spending.
The smart office Battery backup systems have come a long way since they were used many decades ago, but that does not mean that the costs associated with them have been reduced. Regardless of the renewable energy system, on average, using them with these systems can add up to 30% of the total cost associated with purchasing and installing your entire system. There are alternatives to buying the latest technology in batteries, and there are also those who have access to the large deep cell golf cart batteries they use. However, for those who want to make battery backup of their power systems a common hobby, it takes time from all the problems inherent in implementing used components.
The newly purchased battery backup system offers non-maintenance batteries, which are now sold with a ten-year warranty, and you will have very few problems in the long run if purchased with a full balance of system or (BOS) package. These solar-ready battery backup systems come in various ampere-hours (ah) of service, but like anything else, the system’s size increases. These systems can also be easily configured with grid-tie or off-grid renewable energy systems, which can be powered by a grid or power system depending on the owner’s preferences.
