This year is set to be one of growing pressures for anyone involved in building management. A raft of European and UK legislation is due to come into force in early 2006 that will put pressure on companies to reduce carbon emissions through increased energy efficiency.
The advent of regulation such as EU Performance of Building Directives and the amendments to Building Regulations has been well documented, even if its full implications are not yet understood by all those affected. But this year will also see the build up to broader application of legislation governing process quality in the pharmaceutical and food processing industries, including new EU regulation in food hygiene and refrigeration.
At the same time, continuing volatility in the cost of energy means both commercial and regulatory pressures are moving energy up the corporate agenda for 2005.
The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) presents the major challenge for the industry, with its far-reaching implications. The main areas of the Directive include; measuring energy performance, energy efficiency certification and regular inspection.
Core to the new regulations is an emphasis on energy performance of buildings. Up-to-date energy performance certificates, showing the current fuel consumption of the building must be displayed in public areas and given to new tenants and owners. These certificates must also include suggestions for means to further improve energy efficiency.
In addition, amendments to Part L of the UK Building Regulations, due to come into force at the same time, will require larger buildings to be pressure tested to make sure they are airtight and for a log to be kept of energy consumed as well as the spectre of regular inspections.
The combination of these new laws will put increasing pressure on companies to reduce energy consumption. There is a three year period of grace from January 2006 while systems to issue energy certificates and regular inspections are established, but all companies need to become more aware of the impact on them.
What operators and owners of smaller companies or premises may not realise is that the EPBD could impact on them as well. The Directive covers all new build premises, as well any refurbishment of larger premises over 1000m2. In the USA, recent research has shown there are over one million business units between 10,000 and 50,000 square feet, yet only a small percentage have a BMS installed and a similar picture is expected in the UK and Europe.
These changing market requirements and conditions are driving demand for advanced building and control systems as end users look to make the best use of the energy they consume. To better meet these changing demands, Invensys recently formed the Advanced Building Systems division, centralising all Invensys’ building management products and services from USA, Asia and Europe - including Satchwell in the UK - under one global management structure.
We are now seeing companies of all sizes looking for increased value and performance in building management systems through higher energy efficiency, quality of environmental and process conditions, compliance with regulations and products that are easy to install and have a low full-life cost.
There is an increasing requirement for control solutions, even in smaller buildings, with individual component parts that are energy efficient. BMS systems need to have the capability to measure energy consumption and calculate energy efficiency. They must be able to document and analyse environmental and process conditions, track changes within the building system parameters and alert users to any problems as soon as possible.
Energy efficiency may be becoming law, but companies of all sizes need to see the commercial benefits that can be gained by meeting regulation. On average, energy costs are the third highest expense for any organisation after people and buildings.Fitting,or upgrading, a BMS system to meet the latest regulations will return significant savings on energy bills.
Plus, BMS products and services have evolved to meet the changing demands of customers.Modern systems are designed, not only to cater for 21st century working environments but also working patterns. BMS systems can now be integrated into existing IT infrastructures to enable users to access information and adjust BMS performance through intranets, external web browsers and can even send alerts via text message to mobile phones.
With all the regulatory and commercial pressures coming to bear on companies this year, energy will inevitably become a boardroom level issue. Rather than feel they are drowning in a sea of red tape and bureaucracy, companies should see the commercial opportunities presented by modern day BMS systems. Never will helping save the planet come at a more agreeable price.
