We know the burden energy costs place on school budgets, we've got first hand experience of sitting in senior leadership meetings trying to balance the budget and that was long before the current energy crisis.
Turn the lights off, close the windows before you leave!
Although useful advice, it is only a small gesture towards lowering overall energy costs. The truth is that many school buildings are a mix of old and new, often with a centralised or disjointed heating system. Rooms that have been chopped, changed, partitioned to facilitate the ever changing curriculum needs and vast corridors and communal spaces. Often the heating system either has a central thermostat or none at all and light switches that either don't control the lighting exactly how you would like or inevitably get left on.
And then there is the human element.
It is human nature to want tactile feedback, therefore when your maths teacher on the third floor is too warm in their room, unable to adjust the radiators , they open a window. Your ICT teacher is sweating in the 30 PC computer lab for the same reason so turns the Air conditioning on full. Meanwhile your English teacher down on the ground floor is wearing 2 jumpers, a scarf and still complaining the heating isn't working. . Despite it being a bright clear outside you can guarantee everyone still have their lights on, because it is the first thing they did when unlocking their room in the morning and there are a hundred other things more pressing to deal with.
Sound Familiar?
Time to think differently with Building Automation
Quite simply, building automation pulls all of the systems together onto one centralised platform for management and control.
Why?
Because if all your systems are on one platform, they aren't fighting each other and wasting energy. Using a combination of sensors in rooms and control for individual radiators/lighting, building automation systems can monitor light level, presence, temperature, humidity and CO levels to ensure rooms are kept at an ambient level. Your heating system isn't fighting the open window, the air conditioning isn't having to work against the radiators and lights are only on when needed and rooms are occupied.
This sounds great, but surely the cost is prohibitive?
We think the best way to answer that is to look at return on investment. The link here shows how a relatively simple setup within an office resulted in an immediate 25% reduction in energy use and a 4 month ROI, just from automating the heating/cooling system alone.
How can I learn more?
Just send us a message or call. We know how busy the school day is, so we can work around you and arrange to audit/identify where the greatest savings can be made.
Our solutions can be retrofitted and no, it doesn't require a massive overhaul of your current infrastructure.
The system can also be expanded at any point and automate almost any element of your building in the future.
A little about us.
One thing we pride ourselves on here at Northwave Electrical is working with our clients to design robust solutions that meet their needs. We love tech, but only tech that makes life easier, lowers energy use and doesn't become obsolete.
Just get in touch and we can discuss options and look at solutions with your estates/operations team.