Smart Building Strategies, a key to sustainability

Studies on energy conservation have emerged as a critical priority in today’s energy-crazed economies due to over depletion of traditional energy resources marked by an increased consumption of 75 percent over the past decade. Effective solutions are required to address challenges imposed by a rapid population growth, depletion of fossil fuel, and environmental impact.

 

The Ministry of Electricity and Water stated that the number of subscribers in the Kingdom is expected to increase to 8.5 million by 2023 reaching a maximum electricity load of 59,000 Magwatts. This requires additional composed capacity of 66,000 Magwatts. Accordingly, effective solutions are required to address the forthcoming challenges.

 

In the United States of Amercia for example, 78% of per capita consumption goes to industrial production, while 80% in Saudi Arabia is used for heating, ventilation and air conditioning of buildings, due to the lack of thermal insulation control systems. Further, the HVAC systems in the Kingdom are operating at 50 percent lower efficiency compared to other developed countries.

“In fact, we estimate the total HVAC equipment install base in the Kingdom to be around SR 100 billion. This huge install base consumes up to 70% of the total 275 Gigawatts hour of energy consumed. If we manage to conserve just 10% of energy by using high efficiency HVAC equipment, we can reduce crude oil consumption by approximately 150,000 barrels a day. This corresponds to annual savings of SR 10 Billion given current oil prices. In addition, reducing the power generation by just 6 Gigawatts, we should save SR 15 billion over 20 years in new power plant capacity upgrade investments”, said Dr. Mohanad Alshaikh, CEO of Al Salem Johnson Controls (YORK).

 

“Thus, energy efficiency and conservation is an essential ingredient for economic growth and this can be achieved by designing and building energy-efficient buildings, which save on capital expenditure and cost of constructing new power stations. The concept of smart buildings has evolved worldwide to become more of smart cities with expected value to reach USD 1.5 trillion by 2020 according to Frost & Sullivan. Smart-building technologies enable high performance in terms of construction and services, such as comfort, and HVAC systems, lighting, and electrical wiring, as well as control, automation, and safety systems”, added Alshaikh.

We, at Al Salem Johnson Controls-YORK, bring in technologies and services for optimal building productivity that help conserve energy and lower operational expenses. Sustainability should be kept at the heart of any available energy solution applying advanced construction technologies, low-cost building materials, control systems for automation and energy conservation.

 

One of our most prominent projects in the Kingdom was retrofitting the building of the Ministry of Higher Education making it the first certified smart building in the Kingdom. We provided management and automation systems as well as an integrated platform to host 10 additional systems, including IP communications and lighting.

 

The concept of smart buildings should be developed beyond automation to include   responsive and energy-efficient buildings, with smart power, lighting, ventilation and thermal comfort systems. Enhanced integration of different systems and components of any building determines and boost its efficiency.