Building Automation Systems (BAS) that support environmentally friendly building technologies are more efficient and use less energy than stand-alone non-integrated building systems. Building Automation technology applies to equipment, software and services for automatic control and regulation, monitoring, optimization and operation for the energy-efficient and reliable management of building services. Professionally designed and implemented building automation solutions are good for business and good for the environment.
The economic climate dictates a focus on efficiency, productivity, better value, faster innovation, and intelligent investment. Rapidly changing technology enables disruptive changes in building automation solutions. The Internet, Web services, and ubiquitous communication technologies create expectations of real time information – “anywhere”, at “anytime”.
Responsible business leaders must ask themselves: How do I bring smart and green building automation technologies into my business while effectively controlling costs? And, how do I perform as a responsible corporate citizen while remaining cost competitive and profitable to my share holders?
OPUS-PRIME design professionals help you answer these questions by meeting with you to understand your building automation requirements and then recommend integrated building systems that reduce long-term life-cycle maintenance and operational costs.
Building Automation Defined
Professionally designed Building Automation Systems integrate multiple types of building systems into a single, integrated system that can be monitored, managed and controlled remotely at anytime, from anywhere. Integrated Building Automation Systems may include Mechanical Systems – Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning; Electrical Systems including Electrical Distribution, Backup Power, and Lighting; Life-Safety Systems including Fire Alarm; Physical Security Systems including Intrusion Alarm, Access-Control, and Video Surveillance; and Building Systems including Elevators and Digital Signage.
Environmentally Friendly Buildings
An environmentally friendly building, also known as a sustainable building, is a structure that is designed, built, renovated, operated, or reused in an ecological and resource-efficient manner. These buildings are designed to meet certain objectives such as protecting occupant health; improving employee productivity; using energy, water, and other resources more efficiently; and reducing the overall impact to the environment.
Economic Benefits of Environmentally Friendly Buildings
An environmentally friendly building may cost more up front, but saves through lower operating costs over the life of the building. This approach applies a project life cycle cost analysis for determining the appropriate up-front expenditures and long term cost benefit.
These and other cost savings can only be fully realized when they are incorporated at the project’s conceptual design phase with the assistance of team of professionals. The integrated systems approach ensures that the building is designed as an integrated system rather than a collection of stand-alone systems.
Some benefits, such as improving occupant health, comfort, productivity, reducing pollution and landfill waste are not easily quantified. Consequently, they are not adequately considered in cost analysis. For this reason, consider setting aside a small portion of the building budget to cover differential costs associated with less tangible ‘green’ building benefits or to cover the cost of researching and analyzing green building options. Even with a tight budget, many green building measures can be incorporated with minimal or zero increased up-front costs and they can yield enormous savings. (Environmental Building News, 1999).
Economic Benefits of Building Automation
There are many economic benefits of integrated Building Automation systems such as: reduced power consumption by operating at maximum energy efficiency; Reduced manpower costs by using systems that are monitored from a central command console and dispatching the correct personnel when intelligent alarms are triggered at pre-specified system performance thresholds; Increased equipment longevity by monitoring and managing systems to necessary service levels rather than operating at full capacity during off-peak periods when not required. Automated Building Systems operate more efficiently, provide more services at lower costs, reduce equipment downtime, increase employee productivity and promote customer satisfaction.
OPUS-PRIME design professionals coordinate with your facilities and engineering personnel and with building automation systems manufacturers that produce ISO (international standards organization) equipment interoperability standards and controls into their systems and devices. Interoperable building automation products and systems offer greater flexibility (supported by multiple manufacturers), easier management (can be managed by software control systems that communicate with systems from multiple manufacturers), higher levels of scalability (automated building systems can scale from one to many systems and can be managed from a central console in the same building or from a corporate operations center many time zones away) and lower life cycle costs (managed systems operating at peak efficiency use less energy and require less maintenance) than proprietary closed systems.
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