A new cloud-based analytical building optimisation platform for building management systems analyses building data, and helps property owners and managers to improve building performance, fault-finding and corrective action, as well as reduce energy costs, says building technology multinational Johnson Controls Africa building efficiency GM Neil Cameron.
The enterprise management platform integrates with the company’s Metasys building management system and similar solutions, enhancing functionality by analysing data across the enterprise, providing easy-to-interpret visualisations and improving optimisation to reduce the cost of a company’s energy bill, he explains.
“The tool is ideal for property owners and managers who need to manage multiple tenants. The tenant management feature provides tenants and building owners with visibility of energy consumption through personal dashboards.”
Tenants can track their energy consumption and cost with the tenant management feature, and can make after-hour requests online. Building owners can compare and analyse the energy consumption and spend of every tenant, track trends and view a summary of tenants’ after-hour requests. Using this information, a building owner can suggest corrective action to help tenants lower their energy costs, says Cameron.
“The tenant billing feature also calculates the consumption of multiple commodities – such as electricity, gas and water – and automatically generates bills. This ensures that tenants pay only for their energy consumption, rather than a flat rate,” he adds.
The kiosk feature enables building owners to showcase their properties’ energy conservation and sustainability programmes to the public. It also enables them to share a dynamic and interactive experience, including highlighting real-time energy reduction. The feature displays live data, including current energy and water use, carbon dioxide in full emissions avoided and outdoor-air conditions. It also informs users and visitors about their organisations’ environmental impact.
Meanwhile, the enterprise management platform works with energy meters, smart devices and building automation systems to extract large amounts of energy and equipment data.
“This data is securely transmitted to the cloud and analysed to identify faults and opportunities for improved performance and operational savings. Intuitive dashboards display the aggregated data and actionable information. Using the platform, facility personnel can create work orders and then track progress toward the solution,” he adds.
Johnson Controls aims to provide quarterly enhancements for the platform to strengthen the client experience and create new possibilities for current and future clients, concludes Cameron.