How Can Building Management Systems Improve Your Company's Energy Efficiency?

Building Technical Management (BMS) is a system that controls and supervises the technical equipment of a building, such as air conditioning, lighting, elevators, security systems, etc. By using sensors and controllers, the BMS can optimize energy consumption by adjusting temperature, lighting, and other parameters according to occupancy and weather conditions.

The BMS can help companies achieve long-term energy efficiency goals by managing their energy consumption, notably through the monitoring and control of systems.

A definition of BMS 

Building technical managementis based on a computer system that encompasses all the equipment of a building as well as their supervision. In fact, the BMS makes it possible to make the management of information from several systems within an infrastructure more efficient:

• Lighting: organization of lighting equipment control.

• Air conditioning: control of cooling units.

• Heating: management of heating equipment with temperature regulation.

• Ventilation: analysis of a building’s temperature, humidity level, etc.

• Overall security of the infrastructure: restricted access, fire alarm, intrusion alarm, etc.

The BMS also concerns tools such as the automatic opening and closing of doors.

How the BMS works

Building technical management involves anautomated systemthat relies on a network to connect its different levels. The network manager can configure the supervision software to ensure the collection of information from the entire infrastructure and to trigger the various systems accordingly.Let’s give a simple example. You want the heating in a room to turn on as soon as its ambient temperature is at 19°C. You can set the heating system to turn on and make sure it turns off when the room has reached the desired temperature.

To achieve this technical performance, it is important to install several sensors such as temperature probes or actuators that allow the commands from the central system to be executed.

What are the advantages of building technical management?

Building technical management is clearly part of the development ofsmart buildings, that is, connected buildings. The aim is to make these infrastructures smarter to improve living/working comfort andreduce their environmental impact.

The deployment of BMS within your company offers the possibility of knowing at any given moment all the essential information related to its operation: energy consumption, temperature, operating mode of heating/air conditioning, etc. It is clear that you will be able to optimize essential elements such as the temperature and lighting of your facilities according to their occupancy in order to achieveenergy savings.

It is therefore an effective tool for better managing the expenses of your infrastructures. Add to this performance, support to strengthen the security and comfort of your building. Identify the points of your infrastructure that require increased attention and free yourself from the need for constant monitoring by a security guard. Consider the case of a hypermarket that stores high-value multimedia products. It is obvious that management cannot ask a guard to remain stationed to monitor this merchandise. An access system with restrictions will limit interaction with the products to only authorized personnel. Opening the stockroom will send an alert to the security control room, which can check via video surveillance that the handling is not fraudulent.

Thesmart building: the new standard for commercial buildings

On July 21, 2020, theOfficial Journalpublished the “Decree relating to the automation and control system of non-residential buildings and the automatic regulation of heat.” This decree requires buildings in thecommercial sectorto provide installations that promote centralized technical management in order to improve their energy efficiency. The deadline of January 1, 2025, has been set.

The decree provides that the sites concerned must be equipped with tools that must allow:

• The evaluation of the energy efficiency of the infrastructure compared to reference data.

• The analysis and recording of energy consumption data, or even production, in the different sectors of the site.

• The ability of systems to operate together, in a complementary manner.

• The possibility of autonomous and manual management, in the form of remote control, of all systems.

• The control of equipment is used to monitor your company’s equipment to maximize their energy efficiency.

In summary, the BMS allows your company to save money while reducing its environmental footprint and optimizing energy consumption. Moreover, it offers facilities in the operation of your infrastructures both in terms of comfort and security.

It is also possible to manage your buildings remotely for flow management. You can also have a real-time overview of the status and performance of your access installations thanks to the innovative analysis tool EntriWorX Insights.