What Are Energy Controls?
For most commercial buildings, heating and cooling can become a challenge. The challenge is not just in keeping disparate areas adequately comfortable or serviceable. The challenge also comes with the costs associated with using those HVAC systems.
Energy controls are exactly what they sound like. These are methods of automating or taking finer control over the way you use your energy to heat or cool a facility.
Types of Energy Controls Available for Commercial Buildings
Truthfully, “energy controls” represents a nebulous term. Depending on the size of your facility and its needs, you can get by with a system that consists of nothing more than a smart thermostat. For facilities with more robust needs, you can employ any of a number of the following systems:
- Zoning systems
- Building automation systems
- Facility management systems
- Energy management systems
- Direct digital control systems
- Energy monitoring and control systems
Each system helps to control the overall HVAC needs of a facility. Not all facilities have multiple pieces of large HVAC appliances or a need to regulate temperatures on a space-by-space basis. That is why choosing the right energy controls for your facility matter.
What Energy Controls Can Do for Commercial Buildings
Energy controls can perform a tremendous amount of tasks. It will depend on the type of system you choose, but some of the features of energy controls can include:
- Partial or full building automation
- Monitoring and controlling all facility systems
- Centralizing HVAC control over multiple spaces or buildings
- Building highly detailed data sets and portfolios of energy use and consumption
- Integration of HVAC systems into other systems, such as IT monitoring
- Alarms if HVAC systems exceed or fall below-set parameters
- Use of analytics to save on energy costs
Setting Up Energy Controls in Commercial Buildings
Energy controls can do a lot, but they require expert installation and integration. As stated, your needs will dictate how much or how little your facility will need when it comes to energy controls. In all cases, you will need to choose a package that can work for you.
Some out-of-the-box solutions can offer a good value. However, some solutions need engineering, optimization, and testing. You need to work with a group that has both HVAC and mechanical engineering expertise.
Your Trusted HVAC Contractor
At HB McClure in Harrisburg, PA, we have the professionals available to help engineer an energy control solution for your facility. To learn more about energy controls and installation, request an appointment today.