The most difficult challenge for the community is to control and monitor the performance of built environment facilities sustainably. From this perspective, the effective use of Building Management Systems (BMS) in the built environment represents an important economic, environmental, and social strategy. A successful BMS achieves higher energy efficiency, lower operating and maintenance costs, better indoor air quality, and increased occupant comfort and productivity. As a result, it is now clear that many organizations are eager to invest significantly in the installation, commissioning, operation, and maintenance of BMS. However, getting the most out of BMS remains a challenge for building users.

People are becoming more aware of energy efficiency and sustainability of the built environment, therefore it’s rare to find a modern building without an effective and reliable management system to ensure the safety, health, and comfort of those living or working inside.

What is a Building Management System?

A Building Management System is a computerized system installed in buildings to manage and monitor equipment such as lighting, air-conditioning, heating, ventilation, power systems, security devices, IoT sensors, and energy and gas meters. Traditional BMS consists of servers, field buses, supervisory devices, inputs and outputs, and controllers. A BMS connects the HVAC and different building equipment to work as one integrated unit. BMS has evolved into a series of incompatible components and impenetrable architectures. 

A basic BMS is made up of software, a server with a database, and smart sensors that are linked to an Internet-capable network. Smart sensors throughout the building collect data and transmit it to the BMS, where it is stored in a database. The BMS will raise the alarm if a sensor reports data outside predefined parameters. For example, when a server rack’s temperature exceeds acceptable limits in a data centre, the BMS may sound an alarm. Depending on the system, BMS software can be installed as a standalone application or integrated with other monitoring programs. More sophisticated BMS can monitor and manage a wide range of building services across multiple platforms and protocols, giving facility administrators a unified, shared view of the facility’s operations.

Building Energy Management System (BEMS) and Building Management System (BMS) difference. 

Building Management Systems (BMS) and Building Energy Management Systems are sometimes used interchangeably, but strictly speaking, BMS can be used to monitor and control a variety of building systems, whereas Building Energy Management Systems are only concerned with energy-related systems like HVAC, lighting, and power systems.

The role of a BMS in daily operations

Although there are additional uses for building management systems, controlling the HVAC, heating, and ventilation systems are typically one of them. Many building management systems offer extra features and functions, some of which can even be created for the building. For monitoring and management, these systems typically include a mix of hardware and software, including a central server or servers, monitoring stations (for systems administrators), remote sensors, and software that enables interaction with the system.

The following are the primary elements of a building management system and their fundamental features:

Maintain a consistent temperature and turn on and off boilers at predetermined intervals using boiler controls.

• HVAC: control fans, dampers, air handling devices, and fan coil units to maintain a specific air state in terms of temperature and humidity.
• Lighting: Control the lighting to switch on and off the lights at specific times.
• Electric power control: manage and observe the main mechanical and electrical apparatus.
• Heating: schedule system on/off; keep a predetermined temperature.
• Ventilation: Adjust the ventilation by occupancy regulations.
• Security: Access control, monitoring, and intrusion detection are components of security and observation places with active alarms; fire alarm systems; smoke control systems.
• Elevators: status system; elevator video display.
• Water System: Monitoring plumbing and water systems, including automatic valve opening and closing and detecting hydraulic flows.

What are the benefits of a Building management system?

BMS offers various advantages, some of which are given below, from sharply lowering operational expenses to providing comprehensive security solutions.

BMS reduces your use of energy and waste so that you can become more energy-efficient. This is so that energy wastage may be limited and measured. This system makes use of strong tools and energy information to do so. For instance, it was shutting off the lights at night or adjusting the heating as the weather changes.

More than 75% of the energy used by your building is controlled by BMS. It keeps track of consumption patterns and notifies you when energy demand is at its highest, so you may try to use less energy. This is not only economical but also beneficial to the environment.

Thanks to BMS, your building, its occupants, and your company’s assets will be protected. For instance, when a fire is detected, automatic shutters opening allows firemen easier access to the building and creates alternative escape routes. Before entering the area, a viable fire-fighting strategy can be determined by directing CCTV cameras toward the fire detector.

BMS uses an effective HVAC system to maintain the security and comfort of your interior space. This system maintains a suitable temperature, which causes fewer stress-related problems and improves the general well-being of the building’s occupants.

“System downtime” is unacceptable for many enterprises, including data centers, hospitals, and factories. Systems must therefore be strong, dependable, and flexible enough to grow or adapt to meet changing company needs. Before you incur downtime, BMS critical alarms identify any major issues that require care.

BMS offers a range of environmentally friendly solutions for the environment and the infrastructure of your buildings. It also helps conserve scarce natural resources.

BMS has a robust security operation in place to stop criminal activity, employee theft, tampering, and damage to your property.

Sustainability – What is it?

Biological systems’ resilience, diversity, and productivity are frequently used to describe sustainability. However, the definition of sustainability in the twenty-first century goes beyond these strict limitations. It now refers to the necessity to create the sustainable models required for the survival of the human species and the planet Earth.

Equal access to food, clean water, shelter, education, energy, economic opportunity, and work is the cornerstone of a sustainable society. In this ideal society, people coexist peacefully with the environment while protecting resources for future generations and their own. There is social justice and a decent standard of living for every citizen.

The promise of science now shines brilliantly among all the doom and gloom surrounding the future. Optimists believe that modern urban infrastructures and new technology, which were developed using eco-friendly building techniques, can support a population that is sustainable, healthy, and content.

With the goals of achieving energy efficiency, positive effects on health, comfort, and improved livability for residents, sustainable architecture designs and constructs buildings to minimize their environmental impact. All of this is accomplished by implementing appropriate technologies within the building.

What is Sustainable design?

Sustainable design is a group effort to achieve unprecedented levels of ecological balance in the built environment through new and retrofit construction, with the goal of long-term viability and humanization of architecture.

With an emphasis on the environment, the sustainable design combines natural, low-resource conditioning solutions from the past (daylight, solar heat, and natural ventilation) with cutting-edge technologies from the present. The desired outcome is an integrated “intelligent” system that supports individual control while negotiating expertly for resource consciousness.

Simply put, sustainable design aims to reduce or eliminate negative environmental impacts through thoughtful design in the built environment. A sustainable design will strive for environmentally preferable outcomes such as:

• Reduce energy and water consumption throughout the building’s lifecycle, from construction to operation to demolition.
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions or mitigate them through carbon neutralizing activities to reduce the impact of climate change.
• Reduce resource consumption by using waste-free manufacturing, preferring renewable resources, and emphasizing recycled materials.
• Reduce or eliminate waste by reducing consumption, reusing as much as possible, and recycling as much as possible.
• Prioritize quality and durability over cost.

BMS and Sustainable Built Environment

• The building and construction industry’s main issue is achieving sustainability in the built environment. From this perspective, an effective Building Management System (BMS) is crucial in introducing a sustainable component to the built environment.
• The main accomplishments of a good BMS include increased energy efficiency, decreased operating and maintenance expenses, higher indoor air quality, increased occupant comfort and increased productivity.
• A BMS enables total control of all facility lighting, including those for podiums, parking, facade illumination, and landscaping. It enables water pump control and tank status monitoring. It can keep an eye on several building-level sub-systems requiring ongoing surveillance, including elevators, STP plants, generators, and more. One of the main components of a BMS system is energy consumption and monitoring, particularly for energy-consuming devices without submetering. As a result, your building can use resources more effectively.
• Additionally, a BMS controls a facility’s systems more effectively, preventing breakdowns and other problems, particularly HVAC systems. Controlled systems typically incur less wear and tear, survive longer, and need less maintenance. This drastically lowers maintenance expenses.
• A BMS maintains the appropriate degree of comfort inside the building by automatically adjusting the temperature and lighting. A BMS can boost work productivity while decreasing tenant complaints by raising comfort levels.
• Additionally, BMS uses sensors for indoor air quality that notifies the system to enhance ventilation when the condition is unhealthy. Some sensors merely monitor carbon dioxide levels, while others more sophisticated can also measure VOCs, temperature, humidity, light, occupancy, and even sound in addition to carbon dioxide.
• There are currently many organizations that are willing and even enthusiastic about allocating a significant investment for installing, commissioning, operating, and maintaining BMS due to its significant contributions to maintaining and enhancing the sustainability of the built environment.

To conclude – The future is environmentally friendly, and now is the time to accept it.

It is necessary for this to extend beyond the realms of building and design as the significance of sustainable practices for the future of built environments, in general, continues to grow. Even though a building may not have been constructed with green and environmentally friendly principles at its core, it is still possible to transform it into a sustainable building. Many of the same methods that are used on newer buildings to make them sustainable can be implemented in older buildings as well. This means that sustainable building is not something that must be discarded when discussing older buildings. The government has committed to a variety of green construction incentives, including retrofitting programmes; these programmes, along with others like them, illustrate that the future of the industry must take into mind sustainability and the environment.

The shift toward environmentally friendly and more sustainable building practices is being pushed by need, but it also has an ethical and moral component to it. Customers are more likely to patronise a company that demonstrates a commitment to a worthy cause, and this includes taking actions that are environmentally friendly and sustainable. Businesses may just need to make a few adjustments in order to produce a higher-grade building that incorporates green principles. Everyone who is a part of the process will profit from the shift, and as was previously mentioned, there will be long-term cost benefits in addition to benefits accruing to the environment and larger populations.
Book a demo with our team right away to understand how our Know Your Building™ solution can help make your building more sustainable and environmentally friendly. With our dashboard step into a world where you can monitor your building portfolio on a real-time basis as well as it provides you with actionable insights that help you make the appropriate decisions to improve the way you manage your building.