The Economist wrote in 2017 that the world's most valuable resource is no longer oil but data. In the future, the most valuable aspect of building automation may also be data, needed to address today's energy challenges.
Tightening legislation is compelling the energy system to become smarter. Measurement devices, battery technology, and remotely controlled devices are required to help businesses and households optimize energy consumption and assist energy companies in balancing grid operations.
One of the main tasks of building automation is to generate and transmit data in the evolving energy system, where a building's energy usage and conditions are controlled in real-time based on data.
Building automation transmits measurement data to systems that control a building's energy usage and conditions. On the other hand, it also serves as an interface for transmitting control commands, such as heating and ventilation, to the building.
Data-driven services emerge
The greatest value of data lies in services that provide direct cost savings to property owners and promote increased property values, such as higher environmental ratings.
These services learn from building behavior and autonomously control heating, cooling, and ventilation, operating more effectively with better data input. Through our EcoSmart service, leveraging machine learning, property owners have achieved up to 20% savings in heating costs. Additionally, Fidelix's automation can integrate with optimization products from several other service providers via the cloud.
An obvious application for data is analytics methods that identify equipment and system faults before they become costly for property owners and the environment. The development of these methods will accelerate in the future, driven by artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies.
Intelligent energy systems move to the cloud
The data produced by building automation is best put to work in cloud environments designed for storing and distributing large amounts of data. For property owners, this means that building automation will increasingly be connected to external systems through cloud services in the future.
The cloud provides property owners with a centralized data repository that data-driven services can easily connect to. The risk of detrimental vendor dependencies diminishes when data collected by building automation is not scattered across numerous service providers' platforms. It can be said that without the cloud, the inherent value of data cannot be fully realized.
Overall, the future energy system is being built on cloud technologies, and the work towards a more energy-efficient future is in full swing. We are currently renovating our cloud environment to make it easier to leverage building automation measurement data and control functions in intelligent energy system solutions.
Building automation generates vast amounts of data on a building's energy usage and needs, enabling the energy system to become more adaptive and responsive. Thus, building automation can help property owners and society address key challenges of the energy transition.
Juha Ilvespalo
Product Lead