Despite energy-saving initiatives, HVAC and lighting still represent 40% and 16% respectively of the total energy consumption in educational buildings. (2012 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS)
By implementing cost-effective energy-efficiency measures, many colleges and universities have the potential to reduce their energy bills by 30% or more.
Universities present a unique set of challenges to building owners and facility management teams with a diverse range of building types, age of the building, and usage. From lecture theatres, laboratories, IT server rooms, leisure facilities, accommodation, dining facilities, and administration offices each with their own HVAC, lighting, and security requirements with varying maintenance needs. Accommodating the thermal comfort and safety of thousands of students across a diverse multi-site campus, smart energy management can be challenging.
Developing and expanding over time, many campuses are a combination of new, aging, and historic buildings added to this is the proliferation of varying HVAC and lighting systems, with a blend of modern, outdated, or non-existent BMS systems. For facility management teams, managing many disparate systems is time-consuming, operationally inefficient, and potentially costly in terms of energy consumption and equipment maintenance.