Big Data to play an increasingly important role in making buildings more energy efficient

The comprehensive analysis of data captured by building management systems (BMS) and building energy monitoring systems will play an increasingly important role in the process of making building more energy efficient, experts believe.

Leveraging big data and using a variety of measurement and analytical tools can improve building performance. This has had an especially positive impact on several educational facilities, particularly in reducing building energy consumption.

Using databases and data analysis as a foundation, big data has become an innovative means of operating systems more effectively. This goes further than just efficiency — it is about having the ability to see the wider picture of an entire estate of building's performance. This is achieved by remotely monitoring system performance and leveraging the value that can be generated by linking several data sets together.

When it comes to educational facilities, there is much data that can be gathered, as long as it is structured in a manageable way to gain valuable insights into how the buildings are operating. But it needs experts involved to audit, set technical reviews and apply behavioural change in a collaborative approach to decreasing energy waste, while not affecting the comfort of the occupants of the building.

HeatingSave — the low-cost BMS that offers in-depth analysis tools for your building

Building management systems (or BMS systems) monitor and control building operations, such as heating and hot water provision, air-conditioning, electrical power, fire alarms and fire suppression, lighting, ventilation and even security (access control, video surveillance, etc.). These systems are increasingly connected to other information systems and the internet. Quite obviously, in order to be able to deliver such a high level of control, BMS systems employ an array of sensors, each of them transmitting sensitive data to the main controller. Ensuring the data remains private and secure at all times is paramount f or the security of the buildings and residents.

The HeatingSave building management system features multiple sensors — temperature, flow and return temperature, PIRs, LUX, air quality, etc. — all contributing to the achievement of the ultimate goal — that of helping you drive down energy costs, while keeping your building comfortable and secure. HeatingSave collects and stores meter readings each minute so that you have the granularity to be able to see the cause and effect. The same applies to other inputs such as temperatures, air quality and occupancy.

The starting point for the normalisation of most energy consumption related to heating is degree-day analysis. Since the outside temperature can vary significantly for site to site within a local geographical area, HeatingSave calculates the degree-days for each day for each site.

However, unlike some other competitors, data generated by HeatingSave is stored on the system itself — users can access it any given time. We don't have access to the data (unless granted by the users when carrying out system diagnostics), and the data is most certainly not shared with any third party. Furthermore, HeatingSave has top-level security protocols in place, meaning that even when you're controlling your system remotely (for example, via the smart phone app), the security and privacy of your data are guaranteed.