Five practical examples of calculating the efficiency of building automation.

Five practical examples of calculating the efficiency of building automation.

Continuing the series of publications on the economic feasibility of building automation, we provide five examples from the practice of YORK (today part of Johnson Controls).

1. Saving electricity

Several years ago, we carried out a reconstruction of the refrigeration and air conditioning control system at one production facility. The software included optimization of equipment operating cycles, step-by-step change in productivity depending on the operating mode of the enterprise, and also used energy-saving algorithms in the control of refrigeration machine compressors. According to statistics accumulated after the system upgrade, thanks to these measures, we managed to reduce electricity consumption by 22%. Electricity savings per year amount to $147,000. (See Table 1).

Table 1

The cost of reconstruction, including equipment, programming and commissioning, was $140,000. Thus, in this case, the costs of installing a modern control system paid off in less than a year.

2. Reducing equipment repair costs

Using one of the Moscow shopping centers as an example, we will consider what expenses the automation system helped to avoid over 2 years of operation. As a rule, an integrated control system collects and processes many different parameters that report on the operation of engineering equipment installed throughout the building. Analysis of all this data and timely automatic response when certain parameters deviate allows saving considerable funds (see Table 2):

Table 2

– By constantly analyzing the parameters issued by the refrigeration machine controller, the automation system warned the dispatcher in advance about changes in the compressor operation and suggested that he contact a service company for preventive maintenance. It later turned out that these works helped prevent a compressor breakdown, the repair of which would have cost $16,000.

–Based on the analysis of the operating conditions of the refrigeration machines (load, number of starts, external conditions), the system periodically issues recommendations on the timing of oil changes and maintenance. Compared with the standard method of carrying out work based on operating hours, the annual savings are $ 1,500;

– When draining the refrigerant from the refrigeration circuit, the pump was left in operation. Running the pump without liquid leads to its failure.

The automation system detected the lack of liquid in the system and de-energized the pump, issuing a message to the dispatcher. The cost of replacing the pump is about $ 9,000.

– When the pipeline was damaged, water flooded the ventilation chamber above the sales area. The automation system sent a warning message to the dispatcher, who localized the leak.

Thus, flooding of the sales area was prevented. The cost of repair work could have been $25,000.

3. Costs of maintaining the operation service

This calculation has been tested many times at many of our facilities. To service an average shopping center that is not equipped with an automation system, at least 15 qualified specialists are required to monitor the operation of the equipment. Today, the salary level of such a specialist cannot be less than $600.

A similar building equipped with a comprehensive automation system requires three shift dispatchers and a contract with one or more specialized organizations (approximately $25,000 per year). Add to this 13% income tax and 28% unified social tax. It turns out that (see Table 3) with a comprehensive automation system, you can save $102,117 per year.

Table 3

4. Increasing the prestige of the facility

A building management system is one of the necessary requirements for modern office buildings and directly affects the class of the office and, consequently, its rental cost.

Let's take as an example an office building with an area of ​​15,000 sq. m. By upgrading the class of such an office center from «B» to «A» by installing a building automation system (see Table 4), you can expect to increase rental payments by $2.8 million per year. Of course, this example is not entirely correct, since the class of an office is also affected by many other parameters, such as location, type of building, surroundings, etc.

Table 4

*Source: «Real Estate Market Indicator» (irn.ru), February 2005

Nevertheless, the use of automation systems increases the level of comfort in the building and affects not only the cost of rent, but also the performance of employees.

5. Reducing the cost of building insurance

It is no secret that if a building is equipped with a modern automation system, including active fire extinguishing systems, leak protection, floor condition monitoring, etc., insurance companies are willing to provide clients with significant discounts (10-40%).
Thus, in a building worth $50 million, equipped with the specified systems, the amount saved on insurance can be approximately $75,000 annually (see Table 5).

Table 5

As can be seen from the examples, each of the described calculations, even considered separately, clearly demonstrates the economic efficiency of implementing building automation systems, i.e. it significantly saves the investor or building owner money. In practice, many of these aspects are implemented, simultaneously providing an even more significant economic effect.

In the following issues of the bulletin, we will continue the topic of the economic feasibility of building automation and talk about specific techniques and solutions that make automation systems as efficient as possible.

Roman Vroblevsky, Director of the Building Automation Department
YORK, a Johnson Controls company, Russia