Facility Managers Can Leverage a Cloud-Based Building Management System to Reach Carbon Reduction Goals

As the debate around how to reach major carbon reduction goals continues, industries around the world are looking for greener alternatives to the usual way of doing business. However, if we shine a spotlight on the built environment, we would be faced with this shocking statistic: According to one study, buildings are responsible for 40% of the yearly CO2 emissions. And of this 40% slice of the pie, 27% of emissions are caused by operational emissions, otherwise known as the energy needed to keep residents comfortable. How can facility managers tackle this major source of emissions while still keeping their facilities comfortable and operations? One potential solution is instituting an upgraded cloud-based Building Management System (BMS).

Thanks to the data collected by its monitoring system, a BMS is able to predict the energy requirements of a building. Furthermore, a BMS that relies on AI and can leverage the efficiencies of the cloud is capable of controlling the HVAC and mechanical systems without any intervention. This allows it to reduce its output during times when the energy requirement is low. It can also adjust blinds and lighting as per the time and natural light conditions. Not only does this allow buildings to become energy-efficient, but it also ends up lowering costs.

Omar Tabba, who serves as Chief Product Officer at BrainBox AI, an AI technology that aims to make buildings smarter and more energy efficient, tells us how instituting a cloud-based Building Management System can go a long way in reducing carbon emissions and saving money.

Omar’s Thoughts

Building Management Systems all around the world play a critical role in helping us run our buildings and making sure they’re comfortable. That being said, modern cloud-based and AI-driven systems have achieved a real step change in what is now a possibility and a reality. A good example of this is a retailer that we worked with at Brainbox AI that deployed our autonomous optimization system in their retail stores.

They have about 250 stores coast to coast, and our AI is autonomously able to predict exactly the right time that they need to start their HVAC units, their heating and cooling equipment, so that the store is perfectly comfortable when the doors open and when the customers walk in. This is based on each store’s characteristics and the micro weather — the microclimate that store has — and this is done autonomously 24×7 365 from the cloud without a human in the loop.

This liberates the precious time of their facilities team to focus on a lot more urgent lower hanging fruit, and it generates 15% production in their utility costs, because now their equipment isn’t running when they don’t need it, and it’s reducing their carbon emissions by up to 20% per year. So, it’s a win for the facilities team, it’s a win for the retailer and their customers. Most importantly, it’s a win for the planet. Thank you and have a great day.”

Article written by Aarushi Maheshwari.