Performance, Compliance, and Safety

Net Zero Considerations for New and Retrofit Buildings

Buildings contribute to 30% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, the built environment is a critical focal point for government’s 2050 net zero targets. The Future Homes and Building Standards are evolving policy through consultation – and are setting important parameters for construction, property, and businesses looking to futureproof their operations.

Among the proposals outlined during the consultation was mandatory guidance around installation of building automation control systems (BACS) in relation to HVAC. In one form, BACS is a system through which to centrally monitor and guide automation around energy processes through pre-set parameters.

With 80% of existing buildings anticipated to be in existence in 2050, the implementation of BACS or remote live building monitoring is as important for retrofitting as it is for new builds.

Part L of the Future Homes and Building Standards lays out the minimum energy efficiency requirements as reflected in the Heat and Buildings Strategy. With this guidance in mind and as net zero regulations take shape, sustainability and reduced consumption and emissions is on a trajectory to be an unavoidable priority for new builds and existing buildings alike.

 

Steps To Take Today: Facilities Maintenance Teams and BACS

Facilities maintenance professionals have the expertise to professionally install and configure BACS technologies around specific building layouts, challenges, and objectives. By remotely monitoring building data, they are empowered to react and intervene at strategic points and in response to real-time data. This holds a range of benefits for building managers and business owners looking to futureproof their operations.

The main benefits for energy efficiency include:

Improved Energy Efficiency

This is achieved through optimised energy management strategies. Metering and monitoring consumption data allows for automations and interventions, as well as the implementation of long-term strategies.

Improved energy efficiency – and the monitoring solutions that create it – unlock a range of associated benefits. This includes cost savings, reduced need for manual meter reads and processes, streamlined environmental compliance, and flexibility for changing regulation in future.

Occupant Comfort and Productivity

Monitoring metrics like ventilation and temperature ensures this achieved for maximum comfort, health, and wellbeing of occupants. Achieving optimal workplace conditions is linked to productivity. This, in turn, has an impact on profitability.

Precision Maintenance

Monitoring systems allow key metrics on critical machinery to be remotely monitored. Thresholds and tripwires allow maintenance professionals to investigate and respond to unusual or undesirable metrics.

From a maintenance perspective, this allows condition-based maintenance procedures to be designed around critical equipment. This reduces the need for unnecessary interventions, prevents unscheduled downtime, and ensures machinery is working as efficiently as possible.

 

Design Future-Proofed Maintenance Strategies with Voltix, the Problem-Solvers

Our professional team of directly-employed engineers embrace innovation for the opportunities it creates for maintenance. Our live building monitoring solutions provide data insights on your building’s meaningful metrics to ensure it is running as efficiently as possible. Partner with us to design maintenance strategies for flexibility around changing regulation and to maximise efficiency and its benefits. Contact us today.