If you manage or own a commercial real estate—whether it’s a multi-family condominium or apartment, office building, retail store, industrial property, or manufacturing facility— it’s safe to assume that it’s not as energy-efficient as it could be.
Statistically, there are 5.9 million commercial buildings in the US, taking up to 97 billion square feet of floor space in 2018. Combined, these properties consume 35% of all electricity consumed in the US. That said, commercial real estate has been found to waste an average of 30% of energy. Unless you’ve taken steps to deal with this loss, your efficiency rate isn’t far off.
This is where good energy management for commercial real estate enters. This article shares with you the basics of energy use for commercial buildings, as well as energy solutions, such as the ones offered at https://widesky.cloud/, that can make the energy management process easier.
Understanding Commercial Energy Use: The Basics
Before diving into the specifics of energy management, it’s important to have a good grasp on the basics, which is key to operating your buildings cost-effectively and efficiently.
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1. Building Energy Loads
Energy load is simply the amount of energy your building needs. Peak load refers to the highest amount of energy that the building consumes over a set period. Meanwhile, a baseload is the energy use that occurs when the building is unoccupied.
Both load types determine a key part of your energy bill, making them an important aspect of any commercial real estate management strategy.
Together, base and peak loads inform you of the load curve of your commercial real estate building. It creates a graph that visually displays insight on the energy consumption of your building over time. It helps you in identifying areas of excess or unusual energy usage that can be addressed to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
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2. Understanding Your Utility Bill
Understanding how a commercial building uses energy can help you understand your energy bill. For property managers, it’s important to take a closer look at your utility bill and be able to understand it correctly.
It can help you identify issues within your building, for instance, a piece of building equipment or system consuming more energy than what’s necessary.
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3. Factors Impacting Energy Consumption
Several factors can impact the energy usage of your commercial real estate property. Some of these include:
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Weather
The weather has a significant impact on how commercial buildings consume energy. When it’s hot outside, you want to make it cooler inside to keep your tenants comfortable, and vice versa. This can increase the demand for your building systems, like HVACs.
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R-Values
R-value is simply the thermal resistance of materials within the building. How your building is insulated can mean a big difference between a staggeringly costly or affordable utility bill.
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Equipment Energy Efficiency
Of course, your building’s appliances and equipment, primarily your HVAC system, also plays a role in your energy use. Whether you have an improperly calibrated thermostat or old, dirty equipment that uses more energy than intended, this equipment can have a significant output on your utility bills.
BMS And EMS: Advanced Technology To Manage And Optimize Commercial Energy Use
A building automation system or BMS is a powerful tool that can automate the main controls of a commercial building. With a BMS, a property manager can program a building to start up, cool, or heat to a specific temperature, and shut down from a central hub. However, a BMS starts and ends only with automation. Such systems don’t monitor and store historical data. In this case, you’ll need another technology— EMS.
An energy management system can maximize the effectiveness of your BAS solution. And, EMS can provide detailed transparency and deeper insight into utility resource consumption. With EMS, you get real-time updates, which allows you to identify and prevent drift, unwanted equipment runs, and other issues that can cause spikes in energy consumption. Also, interval and historical data play a critical role in predicting future performance.
The more advanced EMS can even have rule-based fault detection and diagnostic features to troubleshoot equipment.
Takeaway
And, there you have it!
In order for you to provide a great tenant experience, plus the fact that your energy consumption affects your bottom line and the environment, commercial real estate facility executives and managers should prioritize and increase their focus on energy management strategies.
By having a serious commitment to energy management, you can significantly increase operational efficiency, reduce costs, and make positive progress towards your organization’s sustainability initiatives.
