Case studies

Exergio analytics platform and EPCS (Energy Performance Contracting Services).

Swedbank is all about sustainability and constant improvement. Their technical department was looking forward to improving efficiency, which could reflect the latest trends in the market. Even though it seemed that all measures to save energy through control performance had already been taken, they needed a deeper analysis of their building performance.

The Exergio analytics add-on was implemented to analyze and perform self-tests of the existing BMS systems. The analytics tool helped to indicate additional performance for the building optimization. Also, with the help of the system, some discrepancies of algorithms were indicated, which could not have been seen by only supervising the building BMS manually. The Exergio algorithms performed sensor tests and benchmarking, which indicated that some CO2 sensors had to be calibrated. The high ventilation intensity and higher energy consumption had also been noticed.

For some optimization improvement options, customers needed more data that had been archived with the Exergio help. Energy-saving insights calculated by the platform have been discussed and based on the actual data information, the most suitable decisions for the optimization have been taken.

What is more, the Exergio system indicates any comfort changes in all buildings 24/7. Thus, any experiment made for parameter changing is secure. It means that energy-saving actions are not affecting any building comfort requirements. However, in case they do arise – the system indicates it and corrective actions can be taken without wasting any time.

All setting changes are analyzed and reasons for setting changes are described in the platform reports. As a result, the control and energy-saving initiatives are clear and traceable. This could not be delivered by a stand-alone BMS system.

17% in electricity savings and 12% in heating savings

Exergio monitoring, Exergio Control, Exergio analytics platform and EPCS (Energy Performance Contracting Services). The project has been divided into stages. The first stage included the monitoring of the energy and indoor temperature with more than 2000 devices connected to the Exergio monitoring system. The next stage involved the implementation of the BMS system for refurbished shops. Additionally, the Exergio control system with Exergio analytics and Apec EPC services have been implemented.

“Palink” retail network in Lithuania was bought by Rewe group in 2019 because the investments were necessary for better sustainability. Their first step was to establish the energy management system of 200 shops in all countries. Palink is an operator of a retail chain. Moreover, they own or rent buildings, where other small shops or service companies can be located in the same building. So the company has more than 200 tenants, who have to pay for electricity and water consumption on their premises. Also, Palink wanted to have submetering in their own premises to control and benchmark their own consumption dividing it into 4 groups: tenants, ventilation, lighting, and technological cooling.

With the help of the Exergio monitoring system, billing for tenants has become much easier and saved a lot of time for energy management.

Moreover, the company had a KPI of consumption of each system per square meter. Having an hourly-based energy consumption, these targets were divided into working and non-working hours. Thus, the Exergio energy management system can easily show options for improvement. For example, the Exergio analytics calculates and reports where the lighting or ventilation system does not operate efficiently and it is clear what corrective actions have to be taken.

The next step was to implement a remote control system for AHU, Heat control station, Air conditioners, Air curtains and Lighting system.

The Exergio control made it possible to implement a remote control for equipment of different manufacturers. More than 20 different types and manufacturers of devices were connected to a single remote control system.

For example, light control of the outside lighting in the Exergio Control system is not only controlled by the schedule, but also by the natural settings, such as sunset and sunrise. This does not only reduce the energy costs but also save maintenance costs due to the fact that there is no need to adjust the schedules manually.

Reduced energy management and time costs for tenant billing. Implemented remote control system and energy costs reduced by 5%.

In addition to the existing BACS system, the Exergio analytics add-on was implemented. Resultantly, more than 10 000 signals from AHU, Chillers, Heat stations, and Room controllers can be analyzed 24/7. Dedicated engineers from Exergio use the platform to coordinate the actions that are needed in order to improve the efficiency and comfort KPIs.

Delta is a modern commercial building. In this case, sophisticated BMS with free programmable controllers were used to deliver the best operation scenarios. The implemented system is flexible for any adjustments. Technopolis was always looking for improvements. With the help of the Exergio analytics insights and data-driven solutions for algorithm adjustments were implemented. For example, a building with chilled beams consumes cooling and heating energy for dehumidification. In this process, Chiller and AHU operations have to be adjusted perfectly to avoid energy losses. Reduction of chill beam temperature reduces dehumidification requests. On the other hand, there is a risk of not having enough cooling power. Using an Exergio platform and combining all data in the building, it was easy to balance the dehumidification process and that resulted in less energy consumption keeping comfort KPI’s at the same level.

BMS supervision is very important for the overall performance of the building. Moreover, if it is performed manually, not all malfunctioning and insights for energy saving can be spotted on time. While using Exergio, all optimal scenarios are analyzed and summarized in reports so that the building owners can easily check the overall building performance.

When the outside conditions are changing, operation schedules and parameter settings should be changed accordingly. The Exergio platform constantly calculates best performance scenarios and delivers results to the operators. For example, the chiller schedule or heating night cut-off settings are re-calculated online. These indications help the operator to set the best operating parameters and save energy when it is not needed.

44 % of energy savings in cooling and ventilation systems.

City service engineering uses the Exergio intelligent platform as a tool to increase the efficiency of maintenance services.

The maintenance market is shifting to more intelligent services. Reactive and planned maintenance services are still the key roles of the maintenance companies. Due to the constantly increasing prices of energy, clients require higher awareness of energy-saving solutions. They entrust maintenance companies to control their energy usage and provide the best energy-saving solutions.

“We had to find a solution to improve our building control services. The Exergio platform was the tool we were looking for“ – says Tomas Sujeta, CEO of the City Service Engineering.

BMS supervision is very important for the overall performance of the building. Therefore, if it is done manually, not all malfunctioning or insights on energy saving can be spotted on time. In addition, manual supervision of BMS systems takes a lot of time for analysis, and different engineers may have different knowledge and choose a different approach. Hence, it is very useful when all the analysis is done automatically by algorithms. It saves more than 50% of the usual working time. Therefore, the time saved for analysis can be used for better performance and corrective actions. What is more, a single engineer can operate more buildings and even provide better control quality.

The Exergio platform has been chosen because of its flexibility. Any other specialized BMS software had no decent flexibility for adjusting system self-test algorithms, reporting or triggers.

Usually, buildings already have different BMS systems implemented. However, any changes in additional performance checks on the exact BMS system are usually impossible or require additional programming from the manufacturer’s side, which is usually an expensive case.

When using Exergio, there is no need for complicated programming. All adjustments can be done in-house, so the system support is very easy and cost-efficient. In addition, any reports can be easily adjusted to our client’s needs.

“It is possible to implement the analytics platform to any existing BMS system, which has open protocol communication and it is very useful for our business” – says Tomas Sujeta.

Efficiency and cost-saving of maintenance operations improved by 20%. In addition, the company gained a competitive advantage in the maintenance market.

Exergio analytics platform. “Mano būstas” connected over 2000 house heating station controllers to the Exergio system.

“Mano būstas” delivers heat station maintenance to more than 2000 buildings. According to the requirements, it is necessary to test the heat stations 4 times a month. This means that technicians have to visit each heat station once a week. Using a remote monitoring system and online algorithms for fault detection, the company was able to perform tests 24/7. Resultantly, the company can ensure that all sensors, valves, and other devices that control the heat station are working properly.

Not only do the timely fault detections result in better energy saving, but the heat station parameters can also improve consumption results.

With the help of Exergio analytics, remote control parameter settings are adjusted according to the additional outside weather conditions. For example, if the days are sunny, the heat curves are reduced. On the contrary, during the windy winter days, the curves are increased to keep comfort conditions.

In some buildings, Lora wireless sensors have been implemented. In this case, the Exergio system can control the heat station parameters according to the room temperature values. This does not only help to provide better building control, but also provide data-driven solutions for building heat balancing system adjustments. All in all, it gives more than 15% of energy-saving results without making huge investments into building insulation.

The efficiency and cost-saving of maintenance operations improved by 20%. In addition, the company gained a competitive advantage in the maintenance market.