What is BEMS technology?
With rising energy prices and our increasing reliance on technology to run and maintain the commercial and service sectors, it is vital that businesses and organisations look towards means of saving as much money as possible on their energy costs. This is where BEMS come in.
Simply put, BEMS technology (Building Energy Management System) is a system of hardware and software which allows you to monitor, analyse, and most importantly, control your business’s energy consumption. By optimising the efficiency of your building services, BEMS are central to any organisation that relies on managing their environments for the benefit of customers, staff, patients or products.
BEMS technology allows you to monitor and analyse every aspect of your business’s energy consumption, from lighting and heating to compressed air and process cooling and, critically, identify where energy savings can be made.
Efficiency, Control and Savings
It is estimated that 90% of businesses’ heating, ventilation and air conditioning is poorly managed resulting in over £500 million per year being lost in energy costs. In addition, inadequate use of boiler controls can add up to 30% to fuel consumption compared to those businesses using effective BEMS’s (Carbon Trust).
With a study from the Institute of Directors (IoD) revealing small businesses alone where losing more than £1 billion a year to inefficient energy management systems and rising Government tariffs on carbon emissions, it is clear that modern businesses need to implement effective ways to save energy if they are meet ever demanding targets (The Telegraph).
By integrating a building energy management system into your business you will be able to:
Analysis and reporting
Because an energy management system analyses when and where energy is being used, you can set limits and targets based on usage profiles and increase the efficiency of your business. Our cloud based E-VISION system allows you to have customised energy ‘dashboards’ to show key consumption information. Bespoke reporting can also be created to provide analysis and insights into daily, monthly and annual trends and allows you to review progress against targets.
By using a building energy management system, such as our E-MAGINE technology, savings of up to 50% can be achieved and ‘locked in’ through our maintenance and bureau services.
Helping the environment and your bottom line
Of course, energy efficiency is not just about making maximum profit these days. With growing concerns over climate change, CO2 emissions and an increased emphasis on renewable energy, businesses are not immune to the pressures these factors bring with them.
18% of carbon emissions in the UK are from non-domestic buildings and although emissions in this sector have fallen since the 1990’s, they will need to fall much further to achieve an 80% reduction by 2050 to meet Government carbon reduction targets (Carbon Trust). Most of these emissions are caused by the vast amount of energy UK business’s consume, with around 300TWh having been used in the last year alone.
This exhaustive amount of energy and the emissions it produces is compounded by businesses being inefficient with their energy consumption. Furthermore, since 2013, the Government has made it mandatory for quoted companies to report their annual greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), putting further pressure on businesses to reduce their energy consumption and increase their efficiency.
The report will allow companies to assess and reduce their energy usage, however this can be incredibly difficult to implement without a system in place to monitor changes and inefficiencies. This is again why it is so vital that businesses have an up-to-date energy management system, which enables a lower level and more granular analysis of energy consumption through which businesses can tap into benefits such as;
For businesses who complied with ESOS Phase 1, ESOS Phase 2 compliance period is almost half way through. Liam McDonagh, MD of CMR Consultants Limited says ‘Instead of seeing ESOS as another tick box exercise and revenue cost, participants should embrace the opportunity to use ESOS as a springboard for continuous improvement. The focus for phase 2 should include moving forward the opportunities identified in phase 1, if they haven’t already done so, and looking more closely into automation, innovation and the new and developing technologies available’.
If you want to know more about our BEMS and bespoke energy management solutions for your business click here.
About Essential Control
Essential control has over 19 years of experience in building bespoke energy management systems across all industry sectors. Our proprietary, cloud-based, technology increases business efficiency, reduces energy consumption, and realises your corporate and social responsibility strategy.
