Increase building value with Division 25

Author: Jeremy McCullough Schneider Electric Blog

Building value is in the eye of the stakeholder. A landlord may seek building analytics to help achieve WELL Building Standard^® for potential tenants’ comfort. To impress employers, a building owner may want a voice-enabled, smart device to turn down the lights and lower the blinds in a conference room. A building manager may request motorized meter relays, so each breaker can automatically turn on or off, and send alerts about how much power is being used at any given interval.

In essence, building stakeholders increasingly realize the full value of smart building technologies. Providing this value begins with a Division 25 specification. Division 25 is the integration platform for consulting engineers to connect mechanical, electrical, IT/OT, and other key systems to deliver value-add smart building technologies.

In this post, I will explain how this building connectivity increases value, and why Division 25 is the first step to delivering that value to stakeholders.

Bridge technologies for more value

Division 25 specified buildings are powered by intelligent building management systems — known as iBMS. This “intelligence” goes beyond traditional BMS to take systems out of their disciplinary silos, so they communicate with each

other for increased efficiency and reduced costs.

For example, to automatically adjust lighting and HVAC systems according to building occupancy levels, mechanical and electrical systems all must be able to “talk” with each other, along with IT and OT. This system-wide communication cannot take place without iBMS.

This connectivity can also help building owners and employers better safeguard employees and occupants in a pandemic-conscious environment. These safety-driven smart building capabilities include:

• Setting capacity thresholds for room, floor, or building levels
• Providing contactless doors, coffee machines, bathrooms, and climate controls to prevent the spread of illness
• Increasing control over humidity, air circulation, and overall indoor air quality (IAQ) to increase safety and occupant well-being

Data produced by these connected systems can also help stakeholders automatically adjust lighting, HVAC, and other building climate controls to return to pre-pandemic levels when occupants return to the building.

Share data to save costs

Division 25 enables smart building devices and systems to share data through an IoT platform. This data integration can help building managers determine where to run HVAC systems at a reduced load to prevent the electrical system from overheating. Or, they can also use the data to locate hotspots between the HVAC and electrical systems.

With electrical fires being a common cause of building damage, this connectivity provides the electrical intelligence to predict costly problems before they occur. This way, building managers can transition from reactive maintenance to proactive cost-saving measures.

The generated analytics from this connectivity can help stakeholders:

• Reduce unscheduled maintenance
• Minimize energy costs
• Decrease building occupant complaints

Share data to add value

To deliver value to key stakeholders, consulting engineers must be able to take electrical power management systems (EPMS) to high-performance, smart-building levels. One way to deliver this value is plug load (lighting load) management, which can dramatically reduce energy costs and increase overall building value. This requires data sharing between the EPMS and the iBMS for on/off and scheduling plug load control.

Specifying with Division 25 provides the connectivity to integrate motorized breakers into the IP communication and remote iBMS, which automatically turns the power on and off, based on ceiling and wall motion sensors.

This integrated plug load solution delivers:

• Premium space optimization — as the entire system can fit into existing enclosures
• Reduced labor investment — because the new smart system does not require rewiring and rerouting
• Significant materials savings — with less disruption to existing conduits and wiring

This, in turn, dramatically increases upstream and downstream energy efficiency with a shorter value payback from the new motorized breakers. Energy savings are realized when the plug loads turn off automatically after hours and when space is unoccupied. The new solution also gives stakeholders peace-of-mind compliance with ASHRAE 90.1-2016 standards that require 50 percent of plug loads to be off at any given time.

Deliver more value to stakeholders with Division 25

The above plug load example is just one-way consulting engineers can use Division 25 to provide more value for key stakeholders and help them choose smart building capabilities — from voice-activated climate controls and lighting systems to fire detection and efficiency controls.

Specifying with Division 25 empowers engineers to offer more value with:

• The connectivity to increase energy savings and lower costs
• The infrastructure to reduce risks, such as electrical overloads
• The analytics to increase oversight and value assessment

Take the first step to delivering more value to your stakeholders by downloading our new e-book, Improving Building Design With Division 25 Specifications.