The University focuses on continuous reduction in energy consumption to maintain carbon neutrality. One area identified for potential energy savings is indoor climate control, which needs to balance energy savings and productivity-relevant comfort.
In this audit, SRT Labs reviews the class schedule for a semester and compares it to the University’s HVAC policy for individual buildings under consideration, in order to evaluate the potential for energy savings by identifying time windows where spaces are set to comfort settings, despite the fact that spaces are not occupied.
Assuming the temperature settings in each room can be controlled individually, SRT Labs analyzed the schedules, determining:
- How many hours the classroom is reserved,
- Blocks of time before the first scheduled class and after the last scheduled class of the day, and
- Sizes of the time windows between classes when the BAS could be adjusted.
SRT Labs found that on average, the rooms in these buildings are unoccupied 81% of the climate-controlled hours, but some of this time was between scheduled classes, when letting the temperature drift too far may not be advisable. However, by simply setting the BAS to Occupied settings only from the start of the first class of the day to the end of the last class of the day, an average of 72.48% of time can be saved across the four buildings.
SRT’s software integration allows for micro-level of climate control over the BAS settings that were not previously possible, thereby allowing for more granular energy-saving policies and processes.