Schneider Electric

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Telephone: +27 (0)11 254 6400
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Website: www.schneider-electric.co.za

Company Profile

About Schneider Electric

Schneider Electric is a global specialist in energy management with operations in more than 100 countries, offering integrated solutions across multiple market segments, including leadership positions in energy and infrastructure, industrial processes, building automation, and data centres/networks, as well as a broad presence in residential applications. Focused on making energy safe, reliable, and efficient, the company’s 110,000 plus employees achieved sales of 19.6 billion euros in 2010, through an active commitment to help individuals and organisations “Make the most of their energy.”

Buildings one of the five main energy consumers worldwide
By A. N. Other, director building energy management solutions, Schneider Electric South Africa

Climate change and rising fossil fuel prices are driving an imperative need for the implementation of energy conservation. Buildings, identified by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development as an area where “mega-trends” are required to transform energy efficiency, account for up to 40 percent of primary energy in most countries, including South Africa.

To demonstrate the overall challenge that lies ahead in this field, the International Energy Agency has estimated, based on current trends in energy demand, that buildings will stimulate approximately half of the energy supply investments made over the next 20 years.

Technology advancements indicate that Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) will save energy and improve productivity by creating a comfortable working environment. While BEMS improves energy management, regular building audits and fine tuning are essential if energy management and savings are to be maintained.

Organisations, including Schneider Electric, involved in Bouygues Immobilier’s “Positive Energy Consortium” produced a white paper on the measurement and management of energy performance in office buildings. Among the findings was confirmation that there will be “massive” advancement of energy efficiency activity between now and 2020.

This advancement includes the implementation of solutions developed in positive energy buildings that are linked to a project management approach that is better suited to new buildings or refurbishment projects. Operational and service providers will increasingly be involved in attaining laid down performance objectives as a result of contractual benchmarks for energy consumption.

The white paper also noted that the energy performance of buildings implies de facto management of renewable energy, which will contribute implicitly to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Most developed countries have implemented standards and regulations for energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions as a result of increases in the surface temperature of the earth caused by greenhouse gases and secondly, the dwindling reserves of fossil fuels and continuing increases in energy prices.

Current Kyoto Protocol objectives are a reduction of 20 percent in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions for 2020; and for 2050 a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by a factor of four.

The Positive Energy Consortium noted that energy and environmental concerns today constitute issues that cut across a wide range of trades and specialty areas in the construction field. Hence it was considered necessary to identify a new design approach, which has been called “Energy and environment consulting” (EEC).

EEC will define objectives and overall project principles from an energy and environment perspective, particularly energy, zoning, networks and metering architecture. It will also define building occupation principles, calculate provisional energy consumption for each use in providing a reference for the first year of operation; and produce notes, documents and supporting information required for the desired environmental certification.

The design phase designs the BEMS and coordinates the specifications of other building services and equipment (BSE) packages to ensure they are consistent with the objectives. Implementation procedures are also defined so that they fall under a continuous control process; and finally the procedure for acceptance of the work is defined.

In the implementation phase, energy approval ratings for the plans, technical specifications and modifications are acquired so that compliance with energy balance is validated. Thereafter ongoing monitoring of implementation and control procedures is undertaken. Following this, legislative and regulatory considerations such as the Kyoto Protocol requirements and various environmental certification schemes developed in countries such as the UK, Japan, the USA and Switzerland, need to be adhered to.

The Positive Energy Consortium’s legal context for energy performance could also include the approach of the HQE (High Quality Environment) Association, an organisation that has produced benchmarks for the Environmental Management System.

The benchmarks, in combination with the explicit definition of environmental quality targets, will guide building contractors in implementing a HQE approach to environmental management both from an operational and descriptive viewpoint. It advocates 14 targets for Environmental Quality of Buildings (EQB), including “Eco-Construction” targets such as harmonious relationships between the building and the immediate environment, integrated choice of construction products and a low noise site.

Eco-Management targets include energy management, water management, waste management and servicing and maintenance management. “Comfort” targets include hygrothermal comfort, acoustic comfort, visual comfort and olfactory comfort and finally, “health” targets include healthy spaces, healthy air quality and healthy water quality.  

The consortium also decided that the implementation of a “Measurement and Management System” going beyond the traditional framework of the Building Management System (BMS), with the specifications impacting on the design of energy and fluid networks.

The goals include providing building stakeholders with the tools to maintain and improve energy performance in office buildings while also overcoming the complex problem of balancing the reduction of operating costs while ensuring continuity of services and maintaining the comfort of the building’s occupants with minimal investment.

Effective building automation, control systems and related equipment will ensure proper regulation of devices for heating, ventilation, cooling, water heating and lighting, while also increasing operational performance and energy efficiency. To avoid unnecessary energy consumption and CO2 emissions, sub-routines and complex integrated functions can be configured, taking into account both a building’s actual usage and its users’ real needs.

BMS provides useful information about operations, maintenance and building management, which can be applied to energy management and include functions for analysing trends, activation warnings and diagnosis of unnecessary energy consumption. Energy management will regulate, monitor, optimise and determine a building’s energy performance through the application of BMS effectiveness grades for residential and non-residential buildings
Grade D indicates that a building’s systems yield poor energy efficiency and requires upgrading to meet the standard. Grade C applies to buildings with a BMS in line with current accepted standards. A Grade B building has a BMS in line with standard and advanced systems, while Grade A indicates that the building’s BMS achieves high levels of energy performance.

An indication of where Europe is going with BMS is European standard EN 16001 that sets out a plan-do-check-act methodology. This entails establishing goals and processes necessary to obtain the desired results in accordance with the organisation’s energy policy. “Do” means to implement the processes. “Check” covers the monitoring and evaluation of the processes in line with the organisation’s energy policy, goals, targets, legal obligations and other requirements, as well as reporting on the results. “Act” means achieving improvement in the energy management system’s performance on an on-going basis by taking the necessary actions.

The methodology contributes to a process of continued improvement, resulting in improved energy consumption, while encouraging organisations to implement monitoring and analysis of energy use. Its intention is to help any organisation, irrespective of size or industry, to develop thorough energy management approaches to increase energy efficiency. This European standard inspired the International ISO 50001 standard for energy management systems introduced last year.

In the experience of Schneider Electric, one of the easiest ways to create energy savings is to re-appraise and relax set points, the changes being made in accordance with the overall building management scheme, particularly as the settings could be a crucial factor within an overall control strategy.

External conditions can be an influence. With an air-conditioned building, the summer set-point for cooling can be increased in relation to an increase in outside temperature within a pre-defined band. Regular review of set points and appropriate modification is an essential part of the ongoing energy cycle and therefore needs to be continually reviewed in order to pinpoint opportunities for additional energy savings.

Where set-point opportunities have been identified, a smooth transition can be achieved by implementing minor changes - such as 0.50C - for room temperature over a period of time. Shifting or relaxing set points in line with combinations of external conditions and rationalisation of time and calendar can typically equate to 5-20 percent savings. A set-point reduction can achieve 10 percent savings per degree on the heating bill and potentially higher savings can be achieved on cooling/refrigeration invoices.

A key energy saving action involves ensuring that the building operates according to occupancy levels. Public holidays can be factored in to achieve tangible savings and regular reviews of occupancy levels highlight opportunities to change set points for multiple periods of occupancy on different days.The application of zoning to areas where there are different occupancy patterns is a cost-effective way to save additional energy. Zoned areas are only heated or cooled when required and each zone can have occupancy times, compensation and optimisation applied to maximise the savings potential.

BEMS offers advanced time scheduling capabilities, including the application of schedule patterns for different calendar dates, which enables varied time scheduling to match variances in work patterns to be programmed in advance. This option can be applied to areas where occupancy levels constantly change from week to week, typically meeting rooms or exhibition halls and reduces operator time as configurations are made once and not changed on a weekly basis.

With the integrated systems approach, a single change to a core time schedule or holiday schedule can propagate to all integrated systems including lighting, security and access control, ensuring HVAC systems work in line with the actual require occupancy which leads to maximum energy savings throughout the building via reduced operating costs.

Security is also an issue as occupant safety is a top concern in building management. Integrated security systems are a foundation for occupant safety and integrated technology infrastructure based on EcoStruxure architecture performs a key role in successful implementation. Integrated security systems permit all aspects of a building’s security systems to inter-operate, improving levels of security for employees and visitors and impacting positively on facility productivity and security personnel.

Click here to download the white paper "Measurement and Management of Energy Performance in Office Buildings"

For further information:

Schneider Electric, Jacqui Gradwell, Tel: +27 (0)11 254 6400, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ,
PR Connections, Debbie Sielemann, +27 (0) 82 414 4633, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Website: www.schneider-electric.com