‘Green’ building practices are a welcome and growing trend worldwide. A survey sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council shows respondents from 70 countries reporting 60% of their projects will be green by 2018.
But, while green design and construction lay strong groundwork for more efficient and sustainable buildings, maximum gains are only achievable through continuous monitoring, control, and action.
The Continental Automated Buildings Association (CABA) notes, “The highest performing buildings have engaged operators and occupants standing on the shoulders of intelligent and integrated controls systems … the success of the control of these systems means the success of the energy goals.”
The first step toward an intelligent power distribution system is digitization. A recent report by Navigant Research helps define digitization for today’s facilities.
“You’ve inevitably heard the buzz surrounding the Internet of Things (IoT); but in the intelligent buildings market, the IoT is not just buzz, it’s the construct for actionable information.
An infrastructure of devices for sensing, controlling, and communicating equipment and facility use data is redefining the capabilities of intelligent building software.
Actionable insights, meaningful opportunities—these ideas are the crux of value in digitization.”
Digitization helps you go beyond energy initiatives by leveraging smart devices to optimize power reliability and maintenance. And it can do so for new or legacy facilities.
At the core of smart power distribution systems are smart devices. Devices have become more than actuators. They now measure, collect data, and provide control functions.
They enable facility and maintenance personnel to deeply access the power distribution network. And they continue to become more intelligent.
They can include digital power meters or power quality monitors. Some may be dedicated to making a few energy measurements, while others may be multifunction devices that can capture and analyze a wide range of power reliability and efficiency characteristics.
Beyond electricity, metering of other utilities such as water, compressed air, gas, or steam could be included — together, typically referred to as WAGES.
In many places throughout your power network this intelligence may be embedded inside other kinds of equipment, such as the smart trip units of circuit breakers.
These smart breakers can provide power and energy data, as well as information on their performance, including breaker status, contact wear, alerts, and alarms.
In addition to core protection functions, many devices are also capable of autonomous and coordinated control, without any need for user intervention.
Advances in computational power, accuracy, integration, and communication have enabled the new era of IoT in power distribution systems and smart buildings. A new breed of smart devices has emerged, including advanced energy and power quality meters, protection relays, and circuit breakers.
It’s now possible to meter energy use at every key point throughout your facility’s power network, from the main utility incomer, through medium and low voltage building feeders, down to individual loads. These can include HVAC, boilers, refrigeration, lighting circuits, down to plug loads.
Typically, multifunction devices are located at critical points higher in the chain, while simpler meters or sensors can be affordably installed at the load level.
This level of detail is important for mining every nugget of efficiency and savings.
By profiling energy consumption, energy waste can be easily revealed, whether due to equipment issues like inefficient pump or fan operation, occupant behavior, or the need to optimize HVAC setpoints, for example.
Real-time and logged data, power quality analysis, equipment status, and alarm notifications help operations and maintenance teams stay on top of conditions to identify risks that may cause downtime or equipment damage.
And devices with integrated control capabilities can help them take action remotely.
The newest meters, circuit breakers, and distribution systems — such as smart panels and smart systems (panelboards, electrical panels) — are all designed for compactness, compatibility, and customization.
This makes it easy to adapt and expand the intelligence of a power network as a facility or its operations grow.
Finally, the latest communication technologies are enabling distributed, digitized devices to connect together and to deliver the full promise of the IoT.
