Energy and sustainability
BUILDINGS OF THE FUTURE – FIVE ESSENTIAL PILLARS
By Okkie Momberg , prescription manager at Schneider Electric
In an era of digitisation and electrification , commercial and industrial facilities need to rethink their focus .
40 % of the world ’ s C0 emissions come from buildings , while
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30 % of the energy consumed ( in buildings ) is also wasted .
Moreover , there are ten times more connected devices and data generated has taken a giant leap in the last five years , edging towards 500 billion Gigabytes , driven in part by the rapid adoption of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence ( AI ). The reality is that when planning a new facility or retrofitting an older building , five essential pillars need to be factored in to keep trend with a world that is consuming energy and data at a monstrous pace .
PILLAR ONE – AVAILABILITY In a country impacted by a severely strained grid and resultant unstable power supply , building owners and facility managers are faced with a very real challenge – how to keep the lights on and the data flowing , so to speak .
It is estimated that load shedding costs the economy up to R500 million per stage , daily . An enormous amount that begs the question : what are developers and building owners doing to mitigate the impact , ensuring tenants continue to stay productive and , most importantly , profitable ?
Power availability is a non-negotiable pillar that demands top priority for owners and facility managers to keep buildings running optimally . Moreover , there are several workable alternative energy solutions which are attainable that can provide redundancy and mitigate the instability and losses that come with an unreliable grid while also being renewable .
PILLARS TWO AND THREE – SUSTAINABILITY AND EFFICIENCY Sustainability and efficiency in buildings go hand in hand . From a sustainability point of view , achieving carbon-neutral , green building certification is certainly a big driving force .
However , certification is not the end of the line ; the building industry needs to look at sustainable practices within its supply chain , ensuring that each cog in the wheel moves towards greener practices .
Efficiency feeds into sustainability , as already mentioned South Africa ’ s power provision is unstable , which is why building owners and managers need to look at energy demand within their facilities and optimise it accordingly . This means granular correlation analysis determining how the energy is being used and whether it is utilised efficiently – ultimately impacting the wellbeing of the building .
Also , improved efficiency allows for flexibility – a space can be customised with relative ease to fit a tenant ’ s specific needs . With the necessary building management systems in place , heating and cooling as well as electrical and connectivity requirements can be adapted accordingly .
PILLAR FOUR - CYBERSECURITY The pandemic saw a considerable portion of the local workforce working from home . However , more and more businesses and their employees are returning to the office which means cybersecurity and connectivity must be fortified and readily available .
The IT infrastructure needs to be fortified and offer higher bandwidth – and resultant speeds – to meet technology demands . Whichever way you look at it , tenants now have the upper hand where there are many buildings ready for occupancy and they have access to the cream of the crop , which is why owners and managers must stay one step ahead of the competition .
PILLAR FIVE – SAFETY As mentioned , IT services need to be fortified . Conversely , the same urgency applies to physical building safety . Safety is a basic human right , which is why buildings today and going forward must have access control , CCTV cameras and other physical security measures to meet occupant demands .
Additionally , the physical electrical infrastructure must be safeguarded against potential surges , and worse – fires – that can be detrimental to both those working with the infrastructure and in the vicinity . RACA
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RACA Journal I July 2022 www . refrigerationandaircon . co . za