by Brianna Crandall — March 9, 2015—Multinational technology and services corporation IBM has announced a new smarter-buildings partnership with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), reportedly the first higher-education institution to pioneer use of a new cloud-based analytics system for reducing energy and facility operating costs.
The university, known for its engineering and computer science programs, expects to save about 10 percent on utilities, nearly $2 million annually, when the IBM system is fully deployed across 36 buildings on its Pittsburgh campus.
“On its own, the deployment of this technology will drive significant energy and operational savings with a very attractive return on investment. Just as important, improved building performance enhances the occupant experience and provides a much more effective education and research environment,” said Donald Coffelt, associate vice president for CMU’s Facilities Management Services.
“IBM is a clear leader in the field of advanced building analytics and facilities systems integration. This technology offers us important gains in initiatives related to advanced infrastructure systems research, the Pittsburgh 2030 initiative, and a more proactive building and infrastructure management model.”
Buildings are expected to become the largest consumer of global energy by 2025, according to the National Science and Technology Council. Systems such as elevators, HVAC, lighting, and alarms constantly report data across building networks. Most organizations, however, do not use the data as well as they could to monitor overall building performance, identify trends in building use, or improve customer satisfaction, points out IBM.
Carnegie Mellon will address these challenges by using the new IBM Building Management Center, delivered on the IBM SoftLayer cloud, to monitor thousands of data points from building automation and control systems. The Building Management Center will also detect system problems, such as simultaneous heating and cooling not identified by other means, and proactively trigger corrective actions.
The IBM Building Management Center solution is a pre-built solution delivered as a service using IBM’s powerful analytics and asset management capabilities and IBM Global Business Services expertise. The solution is designed for both public and private sector buildings and campuses of all sizes.
The cloud infrastructure connects seamlessly and privately to on-premise sources of data from building systems. It also provides visibility and access for the best performance, scalability, and control with the required security.
The new technology will be piloted in nine buildings and then extended to 36 buildings across campus. The initial application of the Building Management Center will focus on heating/ventilation/air-conditioning (HVAC) systems and later will extend to lighting, water, and other utilities. The system is scheduled for full implementation in about three years.
