BuildingIQ Targets Commercial Building Stock with Its Retrofit IoT Solution

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1Q 2019 | IN-5427

On the January 15, 2019, BuildingIQ, in partnership with energy management advisory company Gotham 360, won funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) Remote Energy Management (REM) program to implement energy efficiency programs to optimize energy consumption in 21 YMCA buildings. The program will receive grants worth US$700,000, of which US$400,000 is allocated to roll-out the energy optimization solutions with an additional performance-based incentive of US$300,000 based on verified energy savings at the 21 participating YMCA buildings.

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BuildingIQ and Gotham 360 Partnership Wins US$700,000 YMCA Project in New York

NEWS


On the January 15, 2019, BuildingIQ, in partnership with energy management advisory company Gotham 360, won funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) Remote Energy Management (REM) program to implement energy efficiency programs to optimize energy consumption in 21 YMCA buildings. The program will receive grants worth US$700,000, of which US$400,000 is allocated to roll-out the energy optimization solutions with an additional performance-based incentive of US$300,000 based on verified energy savings at the 21 participating YMCA buildings.

Optimizing Energy Efficiency: Primary Entry Point for Smart Buildings

IMPACT


The YMCA buildings are the product of older building systems that limited their ability to implement many modern energy efficiency technology or solutions. As part of the project, BuildingIQ will implement building-wide smart metering solutions and submeters to collect electricity usage data, at 1 hour and 15 minute intervals respectively. BuildingIQ will install Onset submeters and current transformers (CT) clamp sensors retrofitted to existing electricity meters to monitor whole buildings’ energy consumption. The CT clamps and the submeters have a wired connection to HOBOlink gateways, which then backhauls the data to the cloud with either a 4G or ethernet connection based on network availability in the buildings. The hardware and connectivity network used to monitor building energy consumption required a low-cost entry point to onboard solution to BuildingIQ’s Energy WorkSite, the cloud-based application company acquired from NorthWrite Inc. in early 2016 that is integrated into BuildingIQ’s 5i Intelligent Energy Platform. The data collected from metering points, both whole building meters and submeters, provide visualization of the buildings’ energy consumption. Gotham 360 will take the lead in analyzing the data collected from metering points, using the retrofit solution to provide recommendations to YMCA. Gotham 360 will also run energy audits to implement and understand the effectiveness of the energy efficiency programs. 

The next step in the project will involve adding panel and circuit level monitoring using data loggers for a deeper understanding of the energy usage in the buildings. The data logger willuse 60 Hrtz sampling rate every five minutes to provide significant visibility into potential functional anomalies of HVAC systems in buildings. With granular data from circuit level monitoring, BuildingIQ’s plans to offer outcome-based fault detection (OFD). The data analytics platform can use the data from different monitoring points to provide time-based analysis and correlation to identify the impact on the equipment and/or adjust Building Automation Systems (BAS) sequencing to improve operational efficiency. The OFD solution allows closed loop control to autonomously take corrective steps to improve operational efficiency. Currently in Beta mode, BuildingIQ claims the solution is currently being implemented in few buildings in Australia and the United States.

Massive Opportunity in Underserved Small and Medium Sized Buildings

RECOMMENDATIONS


In the United States, the Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that only 10% of commercial building stock used building automation systems to centrally manage building system operations in 2012, typically in large buildings with over 100,000 square feet in built area. Small and medium sized commercial buildings in the United States predominantly use rudimentary controls to manage building systems, such as HVAC, lighting, access controls, or fire and life safety systems. According to the DOE, in buildings under 55,000 square feet over 55% of the energy consumption comes from HVAC equipment, while 16% comes from lighting. BASs allow building owners and operators with predefined control schemes based on sensor data that offers a range of functionality to minimize energy costs. The primary reasons for the lack of BAS penetration in small and medium sized buildings are 1) Lack of awareness, 2) Complex ownership/stakeholder structure in commercial--especially in multi-use, multi-tenant--buildings, 3) High cost of professional services and system integration, and 4) Inexpensive plug and play solutions. In implementing BAS solutions in existing small and medium sized buildings, wired solutions may not be cost effective and so a wireless solution maybe better suited. In the last decade wireless connectivity technologies have increasingly gained popularity for their simplicity and cost effectiveness in retrofit deployments without disrupting day to day building operations.

According to ABI Research’s latest reporton commercial Building Automation Systems, BAS revenue in the United States is estimated at US$19.6 Billion and will witness 2% CAGR to reach US$23.3 Billion by the end of 2026. BAS’s hardware market in the United States has achieved saturation, with over 95% penetration in large buildings, but continues to grow in software and services. Incumbent BAS vendors catering to large buildings (over 100,000 square feet) are slowly expanding their offerings to deliver outcome-based solutions as a service with additional hardware that would complement existing solutions to deliver additional value to customers. However, there are significant brownfield opportunities in the 5.4 million small and medium sized commercial buildings that are currently being catered to by smaller start-ups and system integrators. Small and medium buildings are starting to implement BAS with energy optimization as a starting point to quickly realize benefits such as lower energy costs to justify their initial investment and expand to other IoT applications in order to improve overall occupant experience.

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