Austec decreases energy costs by 12.6% at the Hyperdome Shopping Centre

‍SUCCESS SNAPSHOT

• $337,516 Annual energy cost savings
• 1,220,884 kWh Energy saved at the Hyperdome site alone
• 7.7% Peak demand reduction

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How Switch Helped

Enhance an existing BMS to reduce peak demand and energy consumption

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"The simplicity of integrating to an existing BACnet building management system made this an easy choice for Austec. The Switch Platform allowed us to evolve our BMS solution into a BEMS, by adding advanced analytics and visualizations, which are essential tools missing from a large majority of BMS installations."

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The Opportunity

Austec selected a large, high-trafficked shopping center, the Hyperdome, for initial deployment of the Switch Platform. Due to the Hyperdome’s large single-story floorplan, the air-conditioning utilized cooling from seven separate chilled water plants spread across the center. Using multiple chiller plants in addition to nine separate power supply transformers (spread across four switch rooms) made load management especially difficult. Most importantly, peak demand accounted for almost half of the total electricity costs for the site. To lower costs and energy usage, Austec needed a strategy to reduce peak demand while keeping the temperature comfortable for store owners and shoppers. The Platform allowed Austec to fine-tune the BMS operation of the chiller plants and associated AHU to maximize efficiencies of all equipment.

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Solutions

Switch Performance Optimization translates detailed energy consumption stats from various data sources into a simple to use, intuitive interface. The ease of point configuration and adding a gateway to an existing BACnet network; flexibility in point-naming and tagging; and high-quality data visualizations made the Switch Platform an obvious choice for energy monitoring.

By providing deeper insights into energy usage and opportunities to save on cost and consumption, the Switch Platform empowers Austec to:

• Implement a peak demand strategy to automatically load shed field devices
• Identify opportunities to reduce energy and Opex while maintaining tenant comfort
• Optimize temperature and pressure setpoints
• Fine-tune the BMS operation of the chiller plants and associated AHU to maximize efficiencies of all equipment

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To ensure conditions are maintained at all times within the center, the demand-limiting strategy utilizes variable control to ensure no loads are switched off. This allows Austec to successfully reduce peak demand without affecting building conditions, minimizing complaints from tenants and customers. By converting the existing BMS to a BEMS (Building & Energy Management System) with the Switch Platform, Austec is now able to optimize control, occupant comfort and energy

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Outcomes

During the first year of using Performance Optimization, Austec identified energy cost savings of $337,516. This figure represents 12.6% of total energy costs for the Hyperdome Shopping Centre site.

Austec can now say they deliver a true, comprehensive building optimization solution, which includes:

• Energy & sustainability management
• Installation of complete BACnet systems
• Ongoing maintenance of systems
• Supplying Reliable Controls products
• Energy efficient LED lighting solutions