2006 is set to be one of growing pressures for anyone involved in building management. A raft of European and UK legislation comes into force in January that will put pressure on companies to reduce carbon emissions through increased energy efficiency. Growing security concerns, coupled with the rising costs and increasing regulation surrounding manned guarding, are placing additional pressures on already hard-pressed facilities teams.

These increased challenges are leading organisations of all sizes to look for integrated solutions, such as those provided by TAC. From our perspective, this is about three issues; customer benefit, energy and integration, with integration the driver for cost savings and efficiency improvements. TAC believes that only by taking an holistic approach to building design is it possible to balance all the requirements of the ultimate building user – which centres on operational effectiveness, lifecycle cost control and security.

This shifting mindset is entirely understandable if you consider, regardless of recent regulatory and economic pressures, operational costs account for 50 percent of total expenditure over the life of a building.

Integrating all building operations from heating, ventilation, lighting, security, CCTV, access control and other mechanical systems under a single system, delivers efficiencies of up to 25 percent throughout the life of a building. For Central Park in Dublin, for example, an integrated BMS, CCTV and Access Control solution delivered a 25 percent saving in manned guarding costs. For TAC however, cost is not the only issue. Increasingly there is evidence to support the long held views of many that flexible, comfortable, secure buildings are more productive for occupants and therefore command higher rents or provide faster pay-back. Open standards based integrated building solutions have been proven to deliver significant benefits in this area.

The merger between TAC and Satchwell will extend and deepen capabilities, bringing together a wealth of experience in the UK to provide complete solutions to meet the demands of modern day business.

The two companies already had an impressive track record for delivering real value to a wide range of UK companies. Working with Cadbury, TAC overhauled the existing BMS system in a 350,000m³ chilled warehouse that stored £40 million of chocolate. A live project, every aspect of the building system was reviewed and the project saved Cadbury 40 percent on annual energy costs and is set to pay for itself within three years.

Another beneficiary of dramatically reduced energy and maintenance costs and ROI savings is Nottingham University. TAC worked on improving building controls across eight halls of residence and a £70,000 investment was converted into a fuel bill reduction of £86,426 in less than a year.

TAC is also transforming the old Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) into one of the most intelligent buildings in the country. The company has been involved with the £400 million PFI from its inception and in a project worth around £14 million will help redevelop a cluster of five out-of-date teaching hospitals in inner Manchester into the first of a new generation of super hospitals.

Work on the 1600+ bed facility has now commenced and TAC is delivering the 11,000 point BMS system that will drive the six-storey centre of medical excellence that includes more than 30 theatres and, with 3,600 spaces, boasts the largest car park in Europe.

TAC already has a strong track record on integration – not just in the technology field, but also on mergers and acquisitions where the seamless integration of staff has proved to be a by-product of acquiring parent Schneider Electric’s ambitions in the BMS market. In 2004 TAC and Andover Controls were merged to create a business of nearly 3000 employees and a $700m turnover.

It may require a paradigm shift for some organisations to embrace complete integration, but linking together all aspects of a building’s automation will help meet economic, regulatory, security and environmental ambitions.

While installation and new technology will drive down costs through improved efficiency, optimising performance and management services are also vital components of integration. Service and monitoring is core to TAC and through our ‘Customers for Life’ philosophy we offer a range of products and services to help companies get the best from integrated controls solutions, as conveniently as possible.

Evolving technology and greater customer support services are challenging the misconceptions that building control systems are complex and time-consuming to use. Integrated systems can now be merged with existing IT infrastructures to enable users to access information and adjust performance through intranets, external web browsers and can even send alerts via text message to mobile phones.

Remote monitoring is also growing in popularity to maximise operating efficiency and reduce energy usage. Many facilities managers simply do not have the time or manpower to become building control experts; as a result, it is commonplace to find some automated systems switched to manual override. This affects the system's ability to automatically match plant output to demand, leading to inefficient operation and unnecessary energy consumption. Remote 24/7 monitoring can easily identify and correct this problem that can otherwise go totally unnoticed. This means the service is self-financing in many cases and a key contributor to the drive to increase energy efficiency.

At the same time that it is offering exciting new functionality, the controls industry is now actively committed to making modern control systems easier to use and install. Lower installed cost and more easily measured full-life costs are helping businesses to justify capital expenditure and reap the benefits in terms of both better control and higher energy efficiency.

TAC is already working with many forward-looking companies as convergence, integration and whole-life efficiencies come to the fore during 2006. 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 integrated, transparent control systems; turning apparent adversity to their advantage.

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