Companies around the world are trying just about everything to cut energy costs and reduce their carbon footprint. They’re retrofitting buildings, replacing lights, and optimizing production processes with the help of artificial intelligence. But many businesses have yet to meaningfully address some of their most significant energy drains: copiers, computers, and other devices that are always plugged into wall outlets.
“There’s a common misconception that if you sign off from your computer at the end of the workday, it stops drawing any energy,” says Greg Turner, chief technology officer of the Building Automation business at Honeywell, an international integrated operating company that delivers solutions in automation, aviation, and energy transition. “In reality, your computer draws power overnight, resulting in a significant amount of energy going wasted and unnoticed. It’s called a phantom load.”
In fact, all those plugged-in computers, coffee machines, vending machines and a host of other common devices can account for more than 25% of a building’s energy use, with much of that power drain occurring when the space isn’t even occupied. This wasted energy is both an unproductive cost and a concern for the environment, with buildings generating 37% of carbon emissions worldwide.
Companies traditionally have not been able to do much about this wasted power, other than posting signs asking employees to unplug devices when not in use and hoping they’ll follow through. Now, there’s a better solution: Connected Power, a Honeywell Building Automation product that helps companies automatically monitor and manage their energy use, down to the level of individual outlets.
“When the last person leaves at night, you can instantly get rid of the total load,” Turner says. “We’re able to immediately start saving energy.”
TAKING CONTROL OF ENERGY FLOW
Connected Power links directly to a building’s existing wiring system and allows a facilities manager to control power to either individual outlets or entire areas of a building from a digital dashboard. Power can be turned off manually or automatically based on pre-established schedules or data about building occupancy patterns. “We’re giving companies the capability to understand their buildings at a granular level and control them at that same level,” Turner says.
This is particularly valuable in an era when many workplaces have moved to hybrid schedules where certain rooms or floors may be unoccupied for days at a time. It also represents a new approach for energy management in buildings where schedules change from day to day, such as schools, hotels, and event venues. If a classroom is used only on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, for example, you can schedule the outlets to automatically power up only during those days.
According to Zoe Roth, Internet of Things research associate at 451 Research (part of S&P Global Market Intelligence), this demand-based efficiency has a sustainability benefit as well. “As smart building decision-makers become increasingly driven by sustainability reporting requirements, avoiding power waste is among the key strategies to reach decarbonization and net-zero goals,” she says.
In addition to saving energy, Connected Power can capture business-critical information. For example, a hospital could see that the outlet powering a vital refrigeration unit is not drawing the expected amount of energy and send an alert that the equipment might be failing. Building operators can also see if an essential device is completely offline, perhaps because it was accidentally unplugged.
Tracking power-usage data can also help companies develop optimized staffing schedules and identify new roles for different workspaces. For example, a cubicle-filled office space might be better used as collaboration space with existing workstations moving to an underutilized part of the building.
“We are able to use occupancy and scheduling data, among other kinds of metrics, to figure out when and how a space is being used,” Turner says. “Without that information, you don’t have visibility to the cost of operating a space or know that waste is happening.”
CREATING SMARTER BUILDINGS
AccuTemp, an Ontario-based company that provides systems which allow businesses to measure and control lighting, heating, and energy use, was quick to see that Connected Power could provide additional benefits when integrated into a building’s overall automation ecosystem. For example, Connected Power uses temperature-sensing technology that can identify an overheating outlet and immediately turn it off to reduce fire risk. By integrating outlet monitoring into a building’s fire-protection system, facility managers can reduce the possibility of a fire that threatens workers.
Data on how devices are consuming power can also be combined with other information to help companies refine their energy management strategy. “The entire building can communicate across systems,” says AccuTemp president Alex Voll. “When you add more components to your building automation, you get more control. You can meet your goals of running more efficiently and operating optimal buildings.”
Voll noticed this impact firsthand when AccuTemp installed Connected Power throughout its own office building. “Before going into this, I had the mindset that there’s no way you could find savings just through plug loads,” he said. “When we were able to simply schedule things to be on and off, we recognized an immediate savings of more than 40% from those devices.”
Click here to learn how to control your energy use with Honeywell’s Connected Power.