Building Automation Systems (BAS)

• The brain of our conservation strategy is our Building Automation System (BAS) that allow us to operate and monitor the majority of the energy consuming systems on campus. We control HVAC, space temperatures, lighting and electrical demand in the majority of our buildings 24/7 and our technicians are capable of accessing the BAS from their homes to respond quickly to calls for service after hours.
• The R25 event scheduling system is a key component of the BAS management and allows our maintenance and operation staff to efficiently schedule their work during the periods when spaces are not occupied.
• The most recent version of R25 can link to our BAS on a real time basis to allow us to further extend our strategy to operate unoccupied spaces at unoccupied temperatures.
• Our BAS also allows us to effectively manage electrical demand. Our electric bill is made up of two parts, consumption in kilowatt hours (KWH) and demand kilowatts (KW). The demand portion of our monthly electric bill is based on the highest 15 minute demand reached during that month - commonly referred to as a ratchet charge. Since the demand charge can be thousands of dollars per month we have invested in upgraded primary switch gear that allows us to monitor the KW demand, allowing the BAS to carry out load shedding to limit our electrical demand to a pre-set limit.