How to improve the energy efficiency of a business building?
One of the applications offered by the Foot Analytics software is energy optimization based on space occupancy and usage patterns. This energy efficiency improvement represents a wide range of advantages that can benefit the company, the employees themselves, and the environment in general.
Introduction to building energy efficiency
Energy efficiency in buildings is a concept that is already quite widespread due to the three fundamental pillars it provides:
- Comfort: For employees and customers or visitors, thanks to improved climate control and optimal management of energy resources.
- Savings: Obtained directly by a more controlled and optimized expenditure of the energy necessary for the operation of the building.
- Sustainability: The more energy efficiency is achieved, the better the energy waste is, and all resulting pollutant emissions are limited.
Essential steps to improve energy efficiency in corporate buildings
These three primary objectives must be addressed to achieve an energy-efficient building. To do it, we can invest mainly in 2 areas, which are the essential steps for this improvement of corporate buildings:
- Efficient architecture: recommended in new construction, although it can be applied in existing buildings, it requires a considerable investment. It uses materials, orientation, and other elements to optimize the building's energy efficiency.
- Efficient technology: the fastest, cheapest and most effective strategy to achieve remarkable efficiency results. Today, we can work based on sensors installed without the need for construction work in any building and take advantage of exclusive software for monitoring, managing and controlling all the elements or variables to be considered.
Assessing Building Energy Performance: Tools and Methodologies
This technology, which companies worldwide are already leveraging through our iKnos Corporate 100% Cloud platform, offers infinite control and management options for all variables.
Some of the measurement tools and methodologies applied that allow us to evaluate the energy performance of a building are:
- Occupancy density: The platform identifies the areas with the highest density to assess the influx of people and compare them with other areas of the building.
- Capacity variability: The measurement of behavioral patterns identifies how each space's capacity varies and at what time of day and week it does so.
- Usage forecasting: behavioural patterns allow us to conclude patterns of use of the available areas in the building, which will help us to optimize the energy resources needed in each space at each moment.
- Cleaning and maintenance planning: based on the data obtained and with objectives such as optimizing energy resources for these services.
- Analysis of common areas: This allow optimizing the use and reservation of spaces in the dining room, cafeteria, meeting rooms, etc.
The impact of management software on building energy efficiency
These tools and methodologies help us to draw meaningful conclusions on how to optimize energy efficiency in buildings:
- It helps better use available space, optimizes its use and allocates other areas to more professionals or reduces energy consumption.
- It improved climate optimization inside the building with the lowest possible energy expenditure. Analyzing values such as temperature or humidity and combining them with elements such as the best use of natural lighting or the simple closing of unused rooms means a surprising improvement in energy costs.
- Increases productivity by achieving a more functional, more comfortable working environment and, in general, better prepared for any professional action.
The future of efficient buildings: Emerging trends and technologies
Improving energy efficiency in buildings is the main objective of managing the spaces and resources of any building and company.
The industry is, of course, evolving. Some trends are already taking hold, and emerging technologies make it clear where the industry is headed:
- Architecture is the basis for achieving an energy-efficient building from the moment it is built. New building trends embrace innovative measures linked to new materials and disruptive architectural designs, which help to achieve these goals.
- The air conditioning sector also welcomes this technological improvement in ambient conditions, which can provide considerable information about humidity, ventilation, and air quality, among many other factors.
All of this is subject to an increasingly exhaustive control of every small detail that makes it possible to take advantage of energy efficiency measures. It is clear that Artificial Intelligence is the main architect of this advance, which, together with ambitious Big Data strategies, is increasingly helping to manage and improve the use of resources in any business building.