Using AI to support COP26 objectives and improving occupant building comfort

In the run-up to the UN COP26 Climate Change Conference there is a strong focus on reducing energy consumption in large commercial buildings. Buildings account for 40% of CO2 emissions, so it is vital to make greater strides in this area.

The challenge is that there is a very crowded market of solutions, all of which at first sight look quite similar. How then to cut through the noise and find the best solutions?

Here are some key questions to answer:

1. Does the solution go beyond analysing your current energy use and making recommendations for improvement?

While solutions of this type are valuable, hundreds or thousands of actions are required to achieve results, and these are required on an ongoing basis, not just as a on-off activity.

2. Is the solution SaaS (Software as a Service) or does it need hardware?

Many solutions require additional hardware to be installed, which can be expensive to install and maintain. It can also cause delays in implementation. With the rise of SaaS-based solutions clients can access the service much more quickly and avoid the capital and upgrade costs involved with hardware.

3. Does the solution offer autonomous control of the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Plant)?

This powerful feature works by harnessing the power of AI to continuously assess the optimum settings for the HVAC plant. It instructs the building control system to implement these automatically, without any human intervention. If needed, settings are typically updated several times per hour. This contrasts with traditional manual approaches, where often settings are only changed on a seasonal basis, if at all.

An example of a service that meets all of these requirements is the award winning R8 Digital Operator or some other TOP level solution

This is a sophisticated artificial intelligence driven solution. It is delivered as a secure SaaS service, fully online without the need to even visit the building. It calculates optimal settings for the equipment every 15 minutes and writes these directly back into the control equipment for immediate implemen-tation.

The results for example from over 40 customers using R8 Digital Operator are equally dramatic. Customers see notable improvements in indoor comfort of occupiers (based on data – yes indoor comfort is possible to measure by real data, not just a la “give me your points from maximum 10”), the extension of the life of HVAC plant and last, but not least, average energy savings of 30-40% for HVAC equipment (15-20% of the total building energy).

Written by Trevor Miles, Area Manager in the United Kingdom

If you are also interested in achieving your company’s ESG goals and saving up to 30% in energy costs, don’t hesitate to contact us!

R8 Technologies has well acknowledged clients from all over the Europe – CBRE, EDP, Radission Blu, EfTEN and many others. R8tech is active already in 19 countries and portfolio size is more than 1 000 000 m².

1. Does the solution go beyond analysing your current energy use and making recommendations for improvement?

2. Is the solution SaaS (Software as a Service) or does it need hardware?

3. Does the solution offer autonomous control of the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Plant)?

An example of a service that meets all of these requirements is the award winning R8 Digital Operator or some other TOP level solution

Rüdiger Pleus, the long-time representative of the board of German Council of Shopping Centers joined us as an advisor!

Let the numbers talk – this is how much R8 Digital Operator reduces Your costs within one month alone!

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