Building Management Systems (BMS) and Controls
Excessive energy consumption in many buildings can be a result of poor control over heating, ventilation, cooling and lighting. Effective control not only reduces carbon emissions but also helps to increase the comfort of the internal environment for its occupants.
To produce an EPC your assessor will take into account how the building's heating, cooling and lighting is controlled to determine levels of efficiency. They will look at the system's optimisation, operating only when required; consider weather compensation of the system to ensure the internal environment matches the external environment.
With regards to lighting they will consider whether the lighting efficiency can be adjusted to account for occupancy levels and daylight correction.
Building controls
Building controls are installed within buildings to mange the operation of building services (Heating, Cooling, Ventilation, Hot Water and Lighting) and in some cases the integration with the building envelope through control of shading devices and windows.
There are many advantages to building controls that include minimised energy consumption, improved comfort, minimisation of maintenance and reduced demand. Where not installed in the building under assessment your energy assessor should recommend the installation of controls within the accompanying report.
There are three types of control features that impact on energy performance:
- Time : Matching known occupancy with operation
- Occupancy : Used frequently with lighting to match actual occupation patterns
- Condition : Controlling by desired temperature, lighting level or ventilation demand