Green Building Blog

In my seminars for facility managers and building engineers, I sometimes begin with this: “How are HVAC Systems like Facility Managers?” Then I pause, and say, “Nobody knows they’re there – and nobody cares – until there’s a problem!”

True, in a well-run and comfortable building, the employees, tenants and guests should not notice the HVAC system. They have their own work to do. But the minute they are uncomfortable – too hot, too cold, funny smell – the facility manager or the building engineer hears about it. Right?

On Friday, February 26, Jim Newman was interviewed by Joe Hughes and Cliff "Z-Man" Zlotnick of IAQRadio.com. They asked Jim to join them on air and share more detail from his Keynote presentation at this year's Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA) Annual Meeting, held in Orlando, FL, in conjunction with the ASHRAE Convention. After the interview, Z-Man published the following blog. 

In a recent study, The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (www.aceee.org) found that “Commercial buildings could save up to $60 billion if investments in energy efficiency were ramped up by just 1-4%.”

When I was interviewed a year and a half ago and posted this blog in advance of my talk at NFMT Vegas 2014, there weren’t many companies promoting, or providing, building energy management information systems. Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) and Building Automation systems (BAS) were definitely part of the conversation, but there wasn’t much out there at that time about Building Energy Management Information Systems (BEMIS). Today they are becoming increasingly popular, and it’s easy to see why.

A quality BEMIS will have a software-based front end that can run reports as well as conduct diagnostic testing and provide a clear picture of the building’s performance – through easy-to-understand visuals.  And today’s BEMIS does more than simply offer reports. It provides feedback, incorporating the tools and reporting capabilities from the BAS as well as fault detection, diagnostic tools and automated system optimization technologies.

And 8 steps you can take to prevent small problems from becoming big – and costly – ones.

If you’re like most businesses or building owners, saving money is a priority for 2016. Costs are going up in many areas of doing business, especially in human resources (salaries), benefits (health care), technology (computer and system upgrades), and deferred maintenance issues that now have to be addressed.