A building automation system it can make life easier for you and certainly make your building more energy efficient. However, there are a few common mistakes that are made that hinder the performance of a building automation system and these should be avoided.
Not Knowing Your Expectations
Before you even install a building automation system you should know exactly what to expect and what your needs are. For instance, you need to have in mind things like what kind of energy you expect to save and the performance level, what kind of software and hardware is needed, if you'd rather have it be more ergonomic or more aesthetic to your needs, and what kind of mechanical systems and climate control you need.
Not Understanding Your Building Zones
Different areas of your building require different heating and cooling and you should be aware of what those needs are. For instance, a break room that is not used from 6 PM until 8 PM, adjust the temperature accordingly (warmer in the summer and cooler during the winter) and make sure the lights are turned off or turned down.
Not Performing Required Maintenance
A maintenance schedule is of the utmost importance with a building automation system because the calibration can become off over time. Also, the system may have failure with the switches and values and this is one of the reasons your system will start losing its energy savings. You can easily set up a maintenance schedule with a Computerized Maintenance Management Software program.
Running in Fail-Safe Mode
Fail-Safe mode happens when communication from the server to the system gets interrupted or lost. All you have to do is reactivate that information but, sometimes this is forgotten and there goes all of your energy savings. Keeping the system in fail-safe mode wastes any energy you might have saved and you will see an increase in your power bill.
Read More: Keep Energy Loss at a Minimum with CMMS
A building automation system is a good investment but running it properly and knowing your expectations before you install one is the best way to maintain hold of your savings that you would get with this type of installation.
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