Building Energy Management Systems

Investment in the Internet of Things and cloud-edge computing continues to grow, which continues to fuel demand for building energy management systems (BEMS), according to a new report by Colorado-based market intelligence firm Navigant Research. The firm notes that building energy management systems continue to evolve with an increasing focus on the value of data in commercial buildings.

An array of combinations of software, services, and/or hardware can address specific market needs, while customer education on the value of BEMSs continues to drive the market forward, explains Navigant.

“In addition to increased customer education, the BEMSs market is being fueled by a few technology trends: the Internet of Things, and cloud and edge computing,” says Christina Jung, research analyst at Navigant Research.

“These trends are expediting BEMS investments that address pain points for commercial customers.”

According to the report, Market Data: Building Energy Management Systems, BEMS solutions vary in levels of integration and functional complexity, and each offering is progressively more integrated and connected than its predecessor.

Data collected and analysed from building systems can be integrated into a larger enterprise system, which can inform IoT use cases such as occupancy data for space utilisation, location data for behaviour analytics in the retail sector, security and access control via smartphone applications, and more.

Energy literacy

Despite the growing demand for building energy management technology, those responsible for designing the buildings we work and reside in today need to become more energy literate, says Birgit Siber, a principal at Diamond Schmitt Architects (DSA) and panellist at the recently concluded Green Building Festival held in Toronto.

Siber explained that current energy metrics are too “opaque for most non-engineers,” limiting their participation of deeper energy reductions.

Another panellist at the Green Building Festival presented by Sustainable Buildings Canada, was Mike Williams, an engineer with RWDI Consulting Engineers and Scientists, who addressing delegates at the event said, “while many in the design community might believe it is ‘intuitive’ that a ‘weather file’ input into energy modelling of a project ‘is a key driver to a building’s energy performance’, many designers don’t stop and pause to evaluate its significance,” writes Don Proctor for ConstructConnect.

World Green Building Week which took place earlier this month also provided the platform for the promotion of the World Green Buildings Council’s (WGBC) push toward net zero carbon buildings by 2050, following a report it released earlier this year, titled ‘From Thousands to Billions – Coordinated Action towards 100% Net Zero Carbon Buildings By 2050’

According to the Energy Collective, the WGBC report “advocates that net zero carbon buildings must become standard business practice as soon as possible, to avoid the need for future major retrofits and prevent the lock-in of carbon emitting systems for decades to come,” and that the Council wants to realise “not just an acceleration of current renovation rates, but these renovations to be completed to a net zero carbon standard so that all buildings are net zero carbon in operation by 2050.”

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