8 steps explaining modern approach to retrofit old buildings for energy efficiency
There is no generic retrofit that can be applied to any building. Some buildings require a massive hardware overhaul, while others just require some finetuning. For the sake of this article, I will share ClevAir’s approach to a modern retrofit:
1.Gauging existing infrastructure and identifying optimization avenues:
During stage 1, the team requests the owners to share the entire documentation with them. This includes ventilation architecture, building plans, photos of controllers and appliances, and any manuals etc. The team also interviews caretakers and on-site maintenance staff. The on-site engineers spend a few days to understand what is working, what needs to be replaced, and what will have to be reprogrammed. This helps in estimating the potential of optimization and savings.
2. Setting up ClevAir:
We start with a physical on-site installation.ClevAir units come pre-programmed and equipped with standard plugs for an easy connection process. Once connected, the software starts to cooperate with your system, automatically.
3.Gathering data
We monitor the process and find the most relevant data for customer benefits.This also involves data that may not be part of the network but helps with identifying potential issues or optimization opportunities,such as historical energy consumption, manuals and installation reports.
4.Data analysis
After aggregating data for 1–2 weeks, the team first confirms whether the system is performing as expected (described by the documentation and caretakers). The data analysis also yields any potential areas of improvement. Case in point:
While the ClevAir team was analyzing the GNP Areal building’s data, it found that there were cold and warm zones in the building. They installed new sensors to identify the severity/cause of the issue and eventually reprogrammed the Air Handling Unit to mitigate the issue. Read more about it here.
5.Optimizing
ClevAir’s extensive data gathering and complex logic loops allow us to maximize the potential of every unique customer infrastructure.
6.Reporting
Now we are ready to compare changes in real-time to provide a clear overview of the influence ClevAir has on the building.Now you can see the reduction of your energy consumption and what exact changes caused it.
7.Finalizing the dashboard:
The ClevAir default dashboard comes with a variety of frequently used widgets and graphs.
However, it can also be tweaked to display whatever statistics and visualizations the customer wants to keep an eye on. From monitoring energy consumption to checking air quality or a specific appliance’s performance, you can do it all from the ClevAir dashboard.
8.Post release
New features keep getting added to the software and new energy saving techniques keep getting proposed to the customer.
Contact us and tell us your preferred scenario.
We will show how we can meet your expectations, and may bring results you never thought possible.
Continue reading
Originally published at https://clevair.io on February 10, 2020.
