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As an industry responsible for nearly 40% of the United States’ energy use , decarbonization remains a top priority for the commercial building sector. Within these buildings, the use of heating, cooling and ventilation accounts for roughly 44% of energy use, making HVAC optimization essential to achieve sustainable outcomes.
Remarkable innovations have been made in HVAC equipment, including improvements in compressors and heat exchangers, the development of a wide range of heat pumps capable of replacing conventional heating systems and the transition to low-global warming potential refrigerants. However, equipment replacement alone is not enough to rapidly drive change.
Building insights are also vital to achieving meaningful sustainability. “Sensorification” has made today’s HVAC equipment more intelligent and more capable. With sensorification, data is delivered seamlessly between the equipment to the building automation system. Powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning, the BAS can interpret and act in response to data inputs to enhance energy efficiency, conserve natural resources and provide a holistic viewpoint that is necessary to help reach key business goals.
Although digitalization is widely recognized as a proven method to drive sustainability, the average building has not been fully integrated with smart-enabled HVAC equipment and controls.
As a result, cross-functional building insights are often limited and leveraging data can be time consuming or inaccurate. By integrating strategies, facility teams can achieve environmental commitments while also reaching OpEx goals. As equipment operates more efficiently and with increased up-time, ROI is realized through on-going cost-savings. Backed by intelligent systems, personnel are empowered to make data-informed decisions as they streamline operations. Combined, this approach creates a powerful driver that can advance operational performance and sustainability within many commercial buildings.
Optimizing equipment for sustainability
Driving HVAC efficiency and reducing the overall carbon footprint of equipment continues to remain an industry focus as manufacturers strive to advance building sustainability. A typical air-cooled chiller in today’s market consumes approximately 30-40% less energy than a comparable system would have consumed just 20 years ago. These advancements are largely due to the implementation of technologies such as Variable Speed Drives, high efficiency motors, free cooling economizers, efficient compressors and improved heat exchangers.
Additionally, significant progress has been made to transition products to low GWP and ultra-low GWP refrigerants. The same technologies that have increased equipment efficiency have also enabled the production of smaller and lighter equipment, reducing the embodied carbon footprint along the entire production and logistics value chain.
Leveraging these technologies has enabled the production of purpose-built HVAC solutions that are being developed to address specific industry needs while supporting sustainability goals. For example, air-cooled chillers that use magnetic bearing centrifugal technology can be uniquely optimized to meet the demands of data center operations while enhancing energy efficiency and reducing water consumption – two sustainability goals that are transforming data center development.
Additionally, advancements in heat pump technologies have enabled a wide capacity range and operating conditions that are capable of electrifying heating systems as building operators carve a path toward decarbonization.
In many applications, this can translate to significant reductions in operational costs when compared to legacy systems, creating a win-win dynamic for building operators pressed to achieve both outcomes. Depending on the settings, heat pumps may use one-third of the energy of conventional heating systems and run on electricity, leveraging the clean energy transition.
Water-to-water compound centrifugal heat pumps are a flexible option that can be integrated within many HVAC infrastructures, including old buildings that often have high-head requirements that are incompatible with many heat pump designs.
By leveraging high-efficiency heat exchangers and dual electric motor-driven centrifugal compressors to produce hot and chilled water within the same unit, these high-performance systems can be three to five times more efficient than traditional boiler and chiller combinations.
On average, this transition can reduce the cost of each heating MBH produced by as much as 50%. Additionally, because cooling tower usage is minimized, both water and sewage utilities and water treatment costs are proportionately reduced after installation. Combined, this reduction in operational expenses creates an internal financial stream from which facility teams can fund additional sustainability efforts.
Replacing outdated, fossil-fuel heating systems with high-efficiency chillers and heat pumps is a key step in optimizing commercial building systems for sustainability. However, it is also important that new equipment is intelligently designed to maximize efficiency through automated controls and built-in algorithms.
Sensorification and equipment intelligence
Smart-enabled equipment is central to building optimization. Oftentimes, a BAS only utilizes a fraction of the building’s data because of limited sensor input.
Historically, HVAC equipment sensing was primarily limited to temperature and humidity. While this information was valuable for equipment function, it lacked the comprehensive outlook necessary to optimize for sustainability. Now, sensors placed within critical equipment and throughout the building can track the real-time conditions of the space, monitor equipment performance and identify energy-wasting patterns. Using a multi-sensor network, data can be collected from multiple zones and synthesized to power the BAS in real-time.
Smart equipment can communicate with both each other and the control system to automate and enhance performance. Data collected from the building, occupancy patterns and weather conditions can be used to engage and manage HVAC system components such as VSDs, free-cooling and ventilation with unmatched accuracy to help reduce energy consumption and operating costs. With BAS visualization, sensorification can help facility teams pinpoint how and where energy is being used throughout the building. Operators can establish energy and carbon loads and input goals while analyzing their progress toward these benchmarks and identifying additional opportunities to reduce energy.
AI-powered controls
Sensorification unlocks building data, and AI puts it to work. Building optimization software leveraging AI has the power to connect building systems and automate decision-making. Data from connected equipment and other integrated sources is continuously gathered and analyzed to automate building performance.
Instead of looking at a single moment in time, predictive algorithms leverage data from historical loads, weather, building schedules and future projections to automate operations based on predefined targets.
Facility teams are no longer burdened by extensive data analytics and individualized system optimizations. Instead, they are free to focus on higher-level strategies and plan for the future.
Building operators face countless unknowns, including extreme weather conditions, equipment lifecycle planning and fluctuating utility pricing, among many others. AI-powered controls provide realistic simulation tools and leverage machine learning to prepare for these “what-if” scenarios. Tools such as digital twins provide data-driven modeling to illustrate changes in equipment integration and energy costs, which can establish realistic proof points to inform capital investments and long-term planning.
Sustainability and energy efficiency within commercial building operations can be unlocked with smart technologies that are available today.
Outfitting buildings with purpose-built equipment that minimizes carbon footprint and is designed for efficiency is crucial to drive building decarbonization, however it is only part of the solution.
Smart equipment optimized through sensorification allows facility teams to actualize reductions in energy use and operational expenses while unlocking the data necessary to track progress and inform decision-making. As teams move closer to their goals, AI-powered controls can predict future needs and simulate “what-if” scenarios to further enhance performance. By combining next-generation HVAC equipment with intelligent controls, commercial buildings can be reimagined as resilient, high-performance facilities designed for sustainability.
Kaishi Zhang is the vice president of global product management, Building Automation Systems and Controls at Johnson Controls. In this role, Kaishi and his team develop and execute strategy driving Johnson Controls toward the organization’s autonomous buildings vision. Ali Ibrahim is the vice president of product management, HVAC & Refrigeration at Johnson Controls. Ali and his team are responsible for developing and driving the implementation of product roadmaps for chillers, heat pumps and industrial refrigeration equipment globally.