19-22 June 2024

The New Generation of Building Automation System (BAS) is Energy-Saving, Eco-Friendly, and Smart

- The modern buildings/factories are leaning towards being sustainable, smart, energy-saving, and eco-friendly under the Building Automation System (BAS).

- Smart buildings/factories will be powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), which allows the buildings or factories to automate tasks according to the needs of users and building managers.

- The key trends of BAS to watch out include "Real-Time Energy Monitoring and Forecasting" and “Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning (HVAC)" and "Remote Management."

 

The Building Automation Systems (BAS) is an automated building/factory management and control system by focusing on the full connection of every system in the building through Ethernet networks (computer network technology that forms the basis of all information technology). This helps reduce the cost of operation and energy while increasing flexibility.

 

The BAS can monitor and control major systems in the buildings/factories. For example, it can control the electrical system by controlling the on-off lights and the power socket through a computer screen or smartphones. It can automatically turn on the lights at night and turn off automatically in the morning. It can automatically turn on-off the air conditioning and ventilation systems, adjust the temperature, fan speed and other modes through the computer screen or smart phones. For the security system, it can detect movement inside the buildings/factories when a person enters the premises and turn on the light automatically, and turn off when there is no person inside after a designated time limit. It can also check the status of the door or window, and send out a notification via LINE or email if the door or window is left open at night. In addition, the system will also monitor closed-circuit television systems, elevator systems, escalators, sound broadcasting systems, and air quality control system.

 

There are many BAS trends for industrial facilities that are expected to grow in demand. One of them is "real-time energy monitoring and forecasting." Due to high energy prices, operators are eager to monitor their energy used. This is why modern building management software tends to show real-time power consumption statistics as well as other useful information such as the amount of energy saved, the amount of CO2 emissions from the buildings, and the performance comparison of each building in the portfolio.  

 

Next up is "the automated Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning (HVAC) control" because one of the main reasons buildings/factories consume too much energy is the manual HVAC system without a dynamic setup that relies on the actual usage time. In contrast, smart buildings can offer HVAC controls based on building occupancy, such as the solution from ClevAir, a Norway-based software that uses sensors to measure temperature and CO2 levels, and uses algorithms to optimize ventilation in different areas of traditional buildings/factories in real-time. For example, building tenants may have sales representatives who spend most of the time working outside of the office to visit customers. In this case, the building tenants can automatically save on the electricity cost since they do not have to turn on the air conditioner all the time. Meanwhile, it can enhance the working condition for the finance department which has to work overtime at the end of every month to prepare payroll (Payroll) for the rest of the staff.

 

In the future, we will see many buildings/factories utilize non-traditional BAS sensors such as IoT devices to collect data. This means the demand for sensors that are IoT-enabled and easy to install will keep growing.

 

In addition, another great feature of smart building which is indispensable is the "remote management" which has the ability to control lighting, ventilation, and security systems remotely. This is a very convenient and desirable feature for smart buildings, as it enables various applications to be installed in order to allow employees to access the buildings, lockers, pay for lunch, and many more.

 

BAS allows employees to access, control and monitor all connected building systems from a single interface. This makes it possible to centrally control the building system through electronic devices.

 

An example of such a smart building solution is the Meraki MV from CISCO that eliminates blind spots with system integrity monitoring by providing remote troubleshooting. This allows the capturing of every shot that occurs within the factories, and send out motion alerts and smart search in the case of potential break-in so that plant managers can identify the threats and solve the incidents in real time.

 

At the same time, the storage and processing of each camera helps eliminate the complexity of storage for separate servers and analytics. It enables video viewing from anywhere without installation, and allows secure access with a unique user account and data encryption at every step. It also optimizes the in-camera processing for real-time smart video which will take analytics and insights to the new dimension.

 

“The rising energy costs and the need to reduce CO2 emissions will drive both large-conglomerates and SMEs to upgrade their buildings/factories with modern facility management software. This is because around 80% of small buildings/factories nowadays are not equipped with BMS, so they are not energy-efficient and contribute significantly to the CO2 emission problem,” said Alex Rohweder, CEO of Siemens Group J2 Innovations, the leading software provider for building automation and IoT.

 

''In addition, smart and sustainable buildings/factories will become more important as we strive to reduce CO2 emissions to achieve our environmental objectives by 2050. Therefore, emissions from buildings must be 80-90% lower than the current level, so it is important that we find smart approaches to increase energy efficiency and utilize resources such as water and power more effectively. Leveraging data and IoT will be key to having a positive impact on the climate and the environment,” said Joanna Benbow, Global Marketing Manager, J2 Innovations.

Don’t forget to follow the future FTC Blog to keep up with the latest news, movements and useful information in the manufacturing industry. You are also invited to explore the solutions for the design and construction of industrial facilities, energy management system, security, and factory maintenance from international service providers to create efficient, safe and environmentally friendly factory at "FACTECH 2023" during 21-24 June 2023 at BITEC, Bangkok.

 

Sources

https://www.j2inn.com/blog/2023-trends-in-smart-building-smart-equipment-and-iot
https://clevair.io/en/blog/smart-building-trends