Building Energy Efficiency, LEAN, and Cloud Technology Improved Facilities Management Outcomes
According to the International Energy Agency, almost 30% of worldwide energy is attributable to buildings (40% of total in energy in the United States), and will increase 1.5%/year through 2040 to almost 50%.[1] The United States is largest user of energy for commercial use. Building Energy Efficiency, LEAN, and Cloud Technology are central to improving facilities management outcomes.
The fastest growing energy consumer is the commercial building sector. Commercial sector energy consumption form profit and nonprofit organizations is used primarily for heating and cooling systems, lights, refrigerators, computers, and other equipment in the buildings where businesses, institutions, and other organizations are located. Examples of commercial sector buildings include retail stores, office buildings, government buildings, restaurants, hotels, schools, hospitals, and leisure and recreational facilities. Non-building energy use is included in the commercial sector, where it contributes to public services such as traffic lights and water and sewer systems.
The top five users of energy in the commercial sector are;
- Mercantile and service (15% of total energy consumed by commercial buildings)
Malls and stores, Car dealerships, Dry cleaners, Gas stations
- Office (14% of consumption)
Professional and government offices, Banks
- Education (10% of consumption)
Elementary, middle, and high school, Colleges
- Health care (8% of consumption)
Hospitals, Medical offices
- Lodging (6% of consumption)
Hotels, Dormitories, Nursing homes
Together increased energy use is a parallel rise and CO2 emissions, leading to the urgent need to improve energy efficiency and make more sustainable the buildings.
The use of technology: IoT – Internet of Things; Life-cycle Facilities Management, LEAN Construction Delivery Methodologies, BIM – Building Information Modeling and the Cloud today allow to design, build and manage building smarter.
The ability to have real-time, current, and actionable information related to the need for and execution of sustainability renovation and repair projects, use of the energy consumed or what might be spared help to reduce energy costs in combination with CO2 emissions responsible for the greenhouse is a critical tool.
The energy manager and facilities management team is responsible for the proper use and energy management. They are tasked with eliminating waste through the data analysis, the identification of critical issues and implementation of LEAN best management practices at reducing energy consumption, and cost associate with associated tasks.
The implementation of ICT – Information and Communication Technology – can contribute significantly to improving the quality of the overall performance of buildings in terms of greater energy efficiency without decreasing the quality of living.
Building in the Cloud provides to the Owners and the Facility managers tools control and Energy’s monitoring costs for buildings or groups of buildings, by providing analytical tools for the management and evaluation of possible interventions to improve the structures or the equipment.
Building in Cloud also has a module for LEAN Construction Delivery implementation, including locally researched construction line item costs.
Building in the Cloud is an innovative service to create, share and manage all the information of a building.
The service is accessible via any standard web browser, regardless of any device type (PC, Tablet or Smartphone) without the need for any installation, by simply logging in.
By registering with the site you can use Building in Cloud without cost for one month; beyond which you can decide if you wish to continue to continue our use for as low as $26.90/Mo. for each concurrent user (unlimited number of named users). No credit card information is required for the free trial!
Try Building in Cloud now for free.
[1] https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/ieo/world.cfm – INTERNATIONAL ENERGY OUTLOOK 2016