How is the awareness for adopting Building Management Systems increasing in India?
The India building automation and control system market was valued at more than USD 1.98 billion in 2022, with a CAGR of more than 11% expected between 2023 and 2028. The market for building automation and control systems has grown over the last decade as a result of technological improvement and greater awareness about automation and energy usage. Moreover, expanding urbanisation, and rising energy demand — all contributed to the expansion of the country’s building automation industry. The residential sector is also seeing an increase in demand for smart homes that include lighting and HVAC controls, which is driving up demand for this industry.
As temperatures rise, more HVAC and control systems are being installed to reduce energy usage and costs. Furthermore, rising awareness about energy conservation, aided by different government programmes, and the growing desire to cut operating costs are expected to drive demand for building automation in India during the next five years.
Why are you only targeting the commercial buildings?
Building management is one of the solutions that building owners are adopting for efficient energy usage, which also helps reduce operating costs. Buildings consume one-third of all final energy and half of global electricity. Almost 40% of this energy is utilized in commercial buildings by systems that regulate indoor environments – heating, cooling, and venting them.
Can you please brief on the solutions that you are currently offering to help commercial buildings achieve the Net Zero status?
Our solutions leverage the power of IoT, machine learning, and cloud computing to analyse real-time data from various sensors and devices installed in each building, allowing building managers to monitor the behaviours of their building occupants as well as the ambient conditions required for them to thrive. Further, the use of cloud computing eliminates the need for the massive capital outlay required by traditional data systems, which is a significant benefit for the cost-conscious Indian market. We offer the following solutions to the building owners:
- Helio Node: Helio Node is a multi-role equipment controller with air quality and occupancy sensors.
- Hyperstat: Hyperstat is a cutting-edge thermostat and humidistat with eight internal IAQ sensors for hyper-localized control. With real-time information, its dual set point control and sequences provide energy-efficient settings and excellent building health.
- Smart Stat: The 75F Smart Stat is an all-in-one thermostat, humidistat, and IAQ measurement station. It connects HVAC equipment to the internet, allowing it to be remotely managed from any smartphone or connected device.
- Facilisight: Facilisights are a web and mobile apps for real time building intelligence and control. It provides comprehensive, intelligent automation that converts data into information, audits choices in real time, and simplifies decision making while constructing portfolios. It offers a rapid comprehension that is stored in the cloud and available from any device.
- Smart Node: Smart Node is a wireless commercial HVAC terminal equipment controller that can control practically any type or brand of equipment. It improves energy efficiency by diverting air to where it is most required. It has a long-range 900 MHz wireless network that transmits and receives data to and from the cloud every minute, as well as a stand-alone emergency operation.
- Central Control Unit: The 75F CCU is a smart, comprehensive head-end workstation for real-time insights and control.
How is the equation between GHG gas reduction and return on investment?
Building owners face two challenges: lowering energy costs and meeting outdoor air ventilation rules for occupant health and comfort. Every day, large amounts of energy are lost at commercial, institutional, and government building sites because HVAC systems exchange inside air with fresh outdoor air numerous times a day. Building owners who fail to absorb this wasted energy will continue to suffer excessive energy expenses, which will have a detrimental impact on property values and profitability. Many building owners are looking toward energy technology to address this issue.
The advantages of implementing 75F HVAC systems will benefit building owners in the following ways:
- Lower their indoor energy bills by 60% to 80%
- Lower capital equipment costs by reducing HVAC design loads
- Improve the HVAC system’s control over indoor humidity at a low cost to avoid dangerous side effects
- Transfer heat and humidity efficiently to maximise energy and capital equipment savings for the best ROI
- Performance and cost savings can be predicted using computer modelling tools
- Cleaning and maintenance are made simple
How does your system differ from ordinary EMSs?
Building Management Systems are hardware and software combinations that enable automated control and monitoring of various building systems such as HVAC systems, lighting, access control, and other security systems. Similarly, our technologies simplify building control by automating the control of specific resources and permitting control from a central location. In essence, our technologies enable effective control of a building’s resources. Our products offer real-time monitoring of system performance (e.g., HVAC energy consumption). The system performance data can be used to make decisions about overall building performance and energy efficiency.
Whereas EMS differs from BMS systems, where they focus on efficient building operation through energy usage monitoring and data processing to aid in decision making and optimization of building energy efficiency. An EMS does not provide its own control or automation functions; instead, it collects and analyses building energy consumption data and delivers thorough reports and recommendations for improving energy efficiency (minimizing energy use and maximizing cost savings).
What are the advantages of cloud-based technologies in this field?
Cloud-based technologies allow facility managers to remotely access the system at any time, and the system can alert facility managers of unexpected or unauthorized intrusions to facility grounds, buildings, or software platforms via sensors.
- No installation needed: One major advantage of cloud-based software is that it does not require any infrastructure or installation, which minimizes capital expense
- Remote Control: Cloud-based technology creates a centralised database that can be accessed from anywhere, on any device and at any time
- Continuous Improvement: It aids in evaluating energy expenses and comparing the overall performance of building operations
- Proactive maintenance foresees a reduction in performance or failure of any equipment and notifies you before a problem occurs
- Real-Time Alerts: Unexpected incidents can set off automatic alerts that provide you with the information you need. Cloud based technology will give real time information about the performance of equipment
Could you please brief me on any two of your best projects in India?
In one of the largest and one-of-its-kind, retrofit energy-saving projects, 75F competed against a legacy BMS provider and won the project based on technical and installation competencies. For the project, 75F provided DAB, DCWB, and IAQ applications to all three blocks in Flipkart’s ETV campus to save energy, eliminate thermal discomfort, deliver end-to-end automation, and provide completely customizable energy dashboards. 75F Solutions delivered 27% Energy savings on hvac and energy bills, eliminated hot and cold spot.
75F worked with the Adobe BMS team to run an on-site pilot project. Based on highly satisfactory results from the pilot, the client replaced its existing BMS with 75F’s IoT powered BMS to save energy, eliminate thermal discomfort, deliver end-to-end automation, and access completely customizable energy dashboards. The client has achieved energy savings of 2,95,583 kWh within the first 5 months of operations helping them prevent emissions totaling 2,34,692 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the environment.
