Improve your building’s performance with controls
Sponsored by Enbridge Gas
If you’re an affordable housing provider looking for ways to lower operating and maintenance costs, improve resident comfort, and advance sustainability goals, implementing controls upgrades may be right for your building.
Controls are for managing, monitoring, and optimizing the performance of building systems. This involves a combination of sensors, controllers, and actuators to ensure that building performance is optimized through a single user-friendly interface. Some common examples of controls include building automation systems and ventilation controls.
How Controls Technologies Work
First, data is exchanged between different components, such as sensors, controllers, and actuators. The data is transmitted to a controller and then the controller can make energy-saving adjustments.
For example, controllers can be set to keep a building’s indoor climate within a certain temperature range. Smart heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) controls can:
- help limit energy use in unoccupied building areas
- detect and diagnose faults
- reduce HVAC usage overall, particularly during times of peak energy demand
Benefits of Controls Technology
Controls improve comfort, lower your operating costs, and have the potential of extending the lifetime of your equipment. There’s also a lot you can do remotely with a building automation system (BAS).
You’re not just waiting until someone complains there’s no heat. You can use the BAS as a preventative maintenance tool and actually start diagnosing what’s wrong.
Controls are also easy to implement, with minimal shutdown during commissioning.
For example, a three-storey co-op in the Greater Toronto Area had a 25-year-old control system that hadn’t been functioning for years. Various custom options were provided that were right for them and their budget. And even with a pre-existing system, an upgrade was possible.
The co-op even had their make-up air units put on the BAS and were able to schedule them more efficiently. The superintendent is much happier now, because he knows he doesn’t have to react when the outdoor air temperatures drop suddenly.
Maximize Incentives Now
Enbridge Gas offers technical expertise and funding to make your capital improvement projects easier and more affordable, helping to:
- save energy
- lower operating and maintenance costs
- keep buildings running optimally
- meet climate action goals
Start early in the project planning process to maximize available incentives. If you haven’t worked with an energy solutions advisor, you’ll be provided with one for support every step of that, at no additional cost.
To learn more about how to maximize these incentives, visit enbridgegas.com/affordable. MW
✯ Municipal World Executive and Essentials Plus Members: You might also be interested in Jo-Anne St. Godard’s article: Advancing Canada’s circular economy and fighting climate change.
Dana McCormack is a certified measurement and verification professional (CMVP) and certified energy manager (CEM) at Enbridge Gas.
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