As electricians who have worked on projects across the Adelaide metropolitan area for over 20 years, one technology we’ve become extensively involved with is energy management systems (EMS) or building automation systems (BAS). These intelligent control solutions integrate and orchestrate a property’s lighting, HVAC, security, renewable energy sources and more into a cohesive, automatically controlled ecosystem. The potential energy savings, efficiency gains and operational insights they provide are immense – which is why EMS deployment has skyrocketed in recent years for commercial properties, industrial facilities and even residential applications.
Our firsthand experiences installing, integrating and maintaining these systems highlight their powerful capabilities as well as the important role electricians play in enabling smart energy management. Here’s a rundown of typical EMS projects and the tangible impacts they can have.
Commercial office EMS
One of the most common EMS applications we encounter are for medium and large commercial office buildings or multi-tenant properties. These solutions automate and centralise control over:
- HVAC equipment scheduling and environmental controls
- Lighting schedules with occupancy/vacancy sensing
- Access control and security system integration
- Energy consumption monitoring and analytics
- Renewable energy asset integration (solar PV, batteries)
- Compliance reporting and fault notification alerting
Properly configured, the EMS optimises operations by only providing heating, cooling, lighting and other services to occupied areas when needed. This eliminates excessive energy waste and pinpoints inefficient equipment or behaviour. Facility managers can make data-driven adjustments through the centralised controls.
Industrial plant oversight
For manufacturing plants and industrial facilities, an EMS enables high-level oversight and control of all energy-intensive processes and equipment:
- Machine/production line scheduling
- Ventilation and make-up air systems
- Compressed air and process cooling monitoring
- Sub-metering of high consumption areas
- Automated demand response during peak pricing
- Integration with building management systems
An EMS delivers tremendous production efficiency and consumption insights. Operators can forecast loads, coordinate equipment use, and analyse data to reduce overall energy intensity.
Retail store EMS
Applying EMS to retail spaces, we can integrate POS systems, lighting controls, refrigeration and environmental monitoring to automate operations based on footfall levels:
- HVAC zoning and scheduling per areas
- Low/no occupancy lighting dimming and shut-off
- Refrigeration equipment cycling optimisations
- Leveraging daylighting control and motorised shades
The ability to match store lighting, cooling/heating and refrigeration output to actual traffic patterns yields huge energy savings over operating at full capacity 24/7.
Residential smart home integrations
While most EMS standardly cover commercial/industrial needs, we’re also deploying specialised residential smart home solutions with energy management capabilities:
- Learning occupancy habits to automate HVAC and lighting
- Whole-home power monitoring and analysis
- Integration of smart assistants, app control and voice commands
- Orchestrating smart shades, A/V, security and electric vehicle charging
- High-efficiency equipment optimisation and scheduling
For homeowners wanting comprehensive oversight and automated controls to maximise energy efficiency, smart home EMS provides that consolidated, remote access solution.
The electrician’s role
As the electrician on these projects, our responsibilities include:
- Performing energy audits and assessments to scope system needs
- Installing networks of sensors, control wiring and connected equipment
- Terminating monitoring points and integrating sub-meters
- Programming equipment schedules, setpoints, and automation sequences
- Establishing EMS computer rooms, panels and head-end equipment
- Accommodating renewable energy inputs like solar and batteries
- Ongoing system expansions, recommissioning and maintenance
We work in tandem with the EMS contractors and control engineers, leveraging our electrical mastery and facility knowledge to construct the foundational infrastructure these intelligent systems require.
Conclusion
The growth of EMS across Adelaide properties has been exponential as organisations grasp the benefits of centralised, data-driven energy management. With our experiences, we can attest to their impacts boosting efficiency, productivity and sustainability in virtually any application when properly deployed and configured by skilled tradespeople like electricians. It’s energising work creating truly smart, energy-conscious properties.
