For architects, the breadth of products and systems designed with the express purpose of reducing energy consumption and improving environmental outcomes is an unambiguous positive. Here is a sample of some of the best of these.

Over time, as our understanding of concepts like climate change, sustainability, consumption and energy alternatives have changed and deepened, so too have our definitions of terms like energy management. Whereas, at one point in time, the term would have been concerned with energy sources, electrical circuitry, and so forth, it has evolved – and expanded – to encompass a broad range of systems, products and materials designed to help avoid and limit energy consumption.

With this in mind, the following selection of the latest energy management systems and products includes not just electrification systems and solar panels, but also software, window systems, and more.

Power supply & electrification systems

“With more than half the world’s population living in urban areas, and those same urban areas forming the larger contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, we need to see a dramatic rise in the implementation of smart energy management in our buildings,” says Mario Macri, Head of Smart Buildings & Smart Power, Electrification, ABB Australia.

“If unchecked, the world’s power generation will need to increase by 60% over the next 20 years – with more than half of that used in buildings.”

The good news is that much of the technology needed to take this leap to net zero carbon and sustainability is already available.

While the ‘Smart Building’ concept is not new, and architects and developers have been installing separate systems to control lighting, heating and ventilation (HVAC) for decades, what is new according to Macri, is the addition of web-based platforms that allow these verticals to integrate seamlessly with each other.

“They can deliver a single view of how efficiently and effectively a building operates. Armed with this data, managers can take proactive steps to avoid waste and improve use, resulting in reduced emissions and potential cost savings,” he says.

ABB Ability Energy and Asset Manager is one such building-management tool. The case of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, otherwise known as the world’s tallest building, demonstrates its effectiveness. In terms of automation, initially the Burj Khalifa team decided to begin with the relatively small step of retrofitting existing air circuit breakers with digitally upgraded ABB Ekip UP plug and play devices, so that their existing equipment could start collecting and communicating operational data.

Later the decision was made to employ the ABB Ability Energy and Asset Manager. The state-of-the-art cloud solution helped reduce operational costs by up to 30 percent, using smart equipment to conduct continuous condition monitoring, deliver real-time insights, and continually optimise operations, instead of waiting for scheduled manual inspections and tests.

While building management systems enable businesses to manage and monitor energy usage, they often do not supply specific information regarding the carbon impact of buildings. Extracting this level of insight from energy data in a non-specialised system can be challenging, complex and time-consuming.

As Manish Sharma, vice president and general manager of Sustainable Buildings, Honeywell puts it - “… it’s critical for a company to know – and to clearly communicate to stakeholders – how its facilities are optimizing energy baselines to reduce their carbon impact. We’re helping customers create new metrics for success and removing the complexity of carbon management while balancing healthier spaces with our ready now solutions.”

Innovation in building technologies software, and products like Honeywell Carbon & Energy Management, are making measuring energy performance and carbon use monitoring easier; and helping management discover where and how electricity, gas, water and other utilities are used across an organisation’s building portfolio and where this corresponds to direct or indirect carbon emissions.

Honeywell Carbon & Energy Management establishes an energy performance baseline using up to a three-year usage history, live meter data and environmental factors to determine which assets are driving energy consumption.

Carbon Energy & Management software provides a real-time dashboard of critical sustainability KPIs; aggregates carbon data from energy-related emission sources in a building – gas, electricity and fuel sources; reduces energy consumption using advanced building control capabilities; and reduces carbon footprint without compromising occupant well-being or comfort.

Carbon Energy & Management continuously collects 24/7 energy use data, logged at 15-minute intervals, and submeters all energy-consuming assets to collect granular consumption information. This data allows Honeywell to help customers establish a rigorously derived baseline, provides a roadmap for carbon neutral, and helps customers to execute the roadmap to help meet their carbon neutral goals. The solution allows building owners to avoid capital outlays for technology upgrades to meet sustainability reporting demands and minimize the time required to implement solutions.

Particularly in commercial and industrial settings, optimisation of electrification, wiring and power solutions is one key aspect of energy management.

Established in 1979, CMS Electracom is a leader in this field. One of the company’s most recent contributions is CMS Engage, a product designed to facilitate desk and space booking and enable hybrid working in commercial environments. Apart from helping workplaces run more smoothly, it reduces the use of standby power at desks and workspaces and helps reduce energy consumption.

Comprising both hardware and software, CMS Engage has a no check-in no-power feature, which not only eliminates unnecessary energy consumption but also encourages behavioural change in-line with optimal business requirements.

CMS Engage hardware is made up of: a Gateway (devices controller), Smart Cell (essentially the brains of the desk), a Desk Sensor (to measure occupancy and usage data), and RGB status indicator (driven by the Smart Cell), and an RFID/NFC reader (to enable check in and out using access control cards).

The product is a Zigbee based solution. The Gateway provides communication, via ethernet connection, to the network between the cloud and the Engage hardware (i.e. the Smart Cell and Sensor, which are placed at workstations, in meeting rooms and/or collaboration spaces).

The Smart Cell controls and records power to desks or spaces and drives the status of the desk (as either available, booked, in use, or do not use). Status is denoted by colours displayed through indicators at desks or in rooms.

Using PIR and thermal technology, the Sensor is able to record occupancy and usage levels of each desk or space. The time-of-flight sensor provides data on sit to stand desk usage; and the RFID/NFC Reader enables check in and out of a desk or space by using their access control or digital pass.

Meanwhile, CMS Engage software consists of a CMS Engage booking App and CMS Engage Dashboard Portal. When an employee arrives at a booked, a notification is sent to his/her phone asking if they wish to check-in. The Engage Dashboard portal provides analytics in the form or graphs, tables, heatmaps (on both energy and occupancy) and more.

Solar Energy

While solar energy clearly is part of the sustainability equation, for both commercial and residential applications, one factor that caused some architects to hesitate before including it in their projects is the negative aesthetic effect of solar panels. They are not particularly attractive and often involve design constraints that architects would rather avoid.

George Fethers & Co’s Avancis Skala, a range of thin-film PV modules used to create a solar-generating façade, is designed to overcome this reluctance. Suitable for many building types, including commercial buildings, industrial and multi-residential projects, Skala modules create an additional shade skin on the building's exterior, which keeps it cool.

As specified in an eight-storey $40m building planned for Spencer Street in West Melbourne and designed by architectural firm Kennon, the product is intended to add to the buildings visual appeal.

When complete, the building will include 1,182 solar panels, which are approximately as thick as a typical glass facade. Together, they are expected to reduce the building’s CO₂emissions by 70 tonnes per annum. Combine with some additional solar panels on the roof, it is hoped that the Skala modules will allow the building to be carbon neutral a couple of years after completion.

Instead of paying to bring electricity to the site from solar farms hundreds of kilometres away, Skala module enable carbon-free electricity production on the site of the building where it will be used.

Homeowners wishing to go solar often face similar hurdles and can often find that the rooftop solar panels available are not a good fit for their existing roofs. They protrude from their roofs and essentially become an eye sore.

Volt Solar Panels, available from Leeson Group, are a solution to this dilemma. Designed as alternatives to rooftop solar panels, and employing Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) technology, they integrate seamlessly into the company’s Planum and Eton product range. This is possible because the panels are designed with an interlocking system that fits with standard roof tiles and create an aesthetically seamless look.

Featuring all black components, they are able to conceal themselves within the roof profile. They weigh just 10kg, which is lighter than standard solar panels and require fewer building materials to support their installation. This translates to a more sustainable rooftop solar system as less emissions are created with the building of a new home.

The first products of their type that can generate the same amount of solar energy as standard solar panels, Volt Planum solar tiles deliver the highest wattage available. They are compliant with Australian standards; are and built to withstand Australia’s harsh climate conditions; and are certified to Australian standards. They are available through a partnership with Bristile Roofing, part of the ASX-listed Brickworks Group.

Window Systems

Conceived with passive design – and an understanding that things like shading, adjusting a building’s orientation and maximising natural ventilation have as important a role to play as air conditioning – Breezway Altair Powerlouvre Windows open wide to allow two to three times the airflow of standard windows. This means clean, fresh air can circulate throughout the indoor environment, filtering out allergens and pollutants and creating a comfortable, refreshing atmosphere when temperatures are mild.

Custom made, they can be specified to fit into unusual wall spaces to maximise in all applications. Tested to Australian Standards, they deliver impressive acoustic performance, are fully WERS rated and BAL-40 compliant.

When installed thoughtfully and in the right places – as at the Breezway head office, which is located 5km from the city centre in sub-tropical Brisbane – these products represent a sound energy management solution. Highly energy efficient, they are able to seal in warmth during winter and substitute for air conditioning in the summer.

With a floor area of 900sqm over three floors, the office also features a weather station on its roof. Information collected here feeds into the building management system, which decides how many of the windows should be open and whether the air conditioning should be running at any given moment. In other words, the building management system electronically opens and closes the Altair Powerlouvre Windows and turns the air conditioning systems on and off as needed.

In this way, through spring, autumn and winter, the windows are generally open and the air conditioners are turned off for around 40% of the time the building is occupied. With no air conditioners running through a significant portion of each working day, electricity bills are substantially reduced, Breezeway’s carbon footprint is reduced, and the company’s employees are able reap all the benefits of natural ventilation as they work.

According to Binq, a manufacturer high-performance windows, one important factor for Australian specifiers to note is that traditional Australian window systems tend to fall well short of global performance levels. Considering that Binq, itself chooses to specialise in European designed systems, like the Archetto series, this is not a problem for its own customers.

A high-performance range of products crafted from thick 68mm timber profiles, products in the ranges are incredibly thermally efficient. The Archetto series provides a glazing rebate of up to 36mm and comes with double glazing as standard, with triple glazing options available. Achieving uVals as low as 1 & SHGC's as low as .258, the series provides a solution for Passive House requirements. On top of that, the windows can be made from both Victorian Ash to achieve a BAL19 certification or Blackbutt to achieve BAL29 certification.

Products from the The Archetto series have been Specified at Ferrars & York, a multi-residential development that is set to become the first such building in South Melbourne to include carbon neutral apartments. As such, it represents best practice in terms of sustainable design.

As some of the most thermally-efficient timber window and door systems on the market, the Archetto Series Tilt & Turn window, Lift & Slide door and IV68 hinged door are set to help the building achieve an 8+ star energy rating. At the same time, their attractive hardware frames help meet the architects’ design ambitions, and mark the development as a success in not just environmental terms but also aesthetic ones.

From a macro perspective, the breadth of products and systems designed with the express purpose of improving environmental outcomes is an unambiguous positive. It’s over to architects and others to put them to good use.

Suppliers:

ABB

Honeywell

CMS Electracom

George Fethers & Co

Leeson Group

Breezeway

Binq

Image: Breezeway

Matthew McDonald

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