by Rebecca Walker — February 26, 2010—IBM and Johnson Controls have announced a new partnership aimed at improving the energy and operational efficiency of buildings. Together, the companies will provide a Smart Building Solution that can improve operations and reduce energy and water consumption in buildings worldwide.
Building on an existing relationship formed between the two organizations in 2007 to create energy efficient data centers, this new offering benefits any building or portfolio of buildings.
Johnson Controls will combine its global leadership in energy efficiency and sustainable services and technologies with IBM’s global leadership in software, hardware and services. The result will help clients address the growing pressure they face to improve energy and asset management performance across their enterprises.
Key elements of the offering are designed to address critical building performance areas including systems integration, energy management, enterprise reporting, space utilization, and asset management.
Core solution components include IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Energy Management, IBM Business Services Manager, and IBM Maximo Asset Management, IBM Maximo Asset Management for Energy Optimization; and Johnson Controls’ Metasys Building Management Solution, Metasys Sustainability Manager, Energy and Emissions Management System, EnNEt middleware, Visual Living Lab and Technology Contracting services.
The first example of the new technology was implemented at the newly constructed Ave Maria University, located in southwest Florida. Ave Maria converged 23 systems from information technology to facility operations, including fire, security, HVAC and building control systems, on a single Internet protocol (IP) network. This solution saved Ave Maria approximately $1.5 million by avoiding unnecessary and redundant cabling included in the original campus design. The university also projects savings of $350,000 annually in staffing costs and another $600,000 annually from reduced utility costs.
For more information, see the IBM and Johnson Controls Web sites.
