Monitoring building efficiencies

Buildings use a lot of resources and on average are responsible for around 25% of greenhouse gas emissions, so it is important to understand how they work.

Monitoring and measuring is key to understanding how resources such as energy and water are being used. Once you know how the building is using these resources, then you can determine how to manage the building to achieve maximum efficiencies.

Council has been rolling out a program to install Building Management Systems (BMS) across a range of different council facilities from community centres, event centres, office buildings, libraries, depots and aquatic centres. So far 27 major facilities, 15 public amenity facilities and 3 sewage pump stations have had BMS's installed and are being monitored and controlled.

A BMS is a computer-based control system that monitors the building's mechanical and electrical equipment such as ventilation, lighting, power systems, fire systems, and security systems.

Using dashboards and real time data, faults can be detected early and rectified quickly, saving money and time. The BMS control system ensures the building is running at their peak performance.

By installing Building Management Systems and monitoring how our facilities are operating, we have the potential to achieve savings of up to $350,000 in costs associated with energy consumption across the range of council sites. Building Management Systems will be continually rolled out across council's new and existing assets.