Connectivity and digital services are\u00a0affecting\u00a0the way buildings are built\u2014and\u00a0operated. Buildings\u00a0are becoming smarter, not just\u00a0more efficient.\u00a0They can now\u00a0also\u00a0enable\u00a0services that make people more productive. Today, we can use digital technologies to optimize building environments for the businesses and people inside them. With rich data and high-performance analytics, manufacturers and other facility operators can use ambient intelligence, context sensitivity, predictive management, and automated operations to support energy-smart buildings (ESB).<\/p>\n
The Microsoft Puget Sound campus\u00a0near\u00a0Seattle\u00a0had grown to 145 structures and 15 million square feet of office and lab space for almost 60,000 people.\u00a0Campus\u00a0buildings\u00a0range from 40 years old to brand\u00a0new,\u00a0with\u00a0multiple, disparate\u00a0HVAC\u00a0systems and labor-intensive reporting.\u00a0As buildings\u00a0age,\u00a0efficiency decreases\u00a0by about 20\u00a0percent\u00a0every\u00a0five\u00a0years,\u00a0and\u00a0it was hard to manage campus infrastructure or maintenance\u00a0as a whole system.\u00a0The result was that it took more than 50 megawatts an hour and USD$55 million a year to run the whole campus.<\/p>\n
It would have cost $60 million to retrofit and integrate the building systems, and the logistics would have been nearly impossible. We had to change our approach to energy saving, which relied too much on manual work processes and reactive services. We turned up the heat if people said they were cold, and sent a technician if they said it wasn\u2019t working.<\/p>\n
We\u00a0needed to transform\u00a0our\u00a0energy management with automated, proactive services.<\/p>\n
HVAC systems\u00a0consume more energy\u00a0when\u00a0they\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0function properly:\u00a0a filter is clogged, or the bearings on a fan are worn.\u00a0To find those things quickly in a large system, you need real-time data.\u00a0So\u00a0at\u00a0Microsoft\u00a0we\u00a0launched\u00a0a project\u00a0to collect data from\u00a0third-party sources and\u00a0manufacturer-installed sensors in existing building equipment\u00a0across the campus\u00a0and\u00a0implemented\u00a0a solution\u00a0from\u00a0Iconics\u00a0to standardize, manage, analyze, and visualize the data.<\/p>\n
We defined a\u00a0set of rules to monitor faults and forecast\u00a0the\u00a0cost of energy related to the fault.\u00a0By detecting\u00a0and analyzing\u00a0faults (vs.\u00a0failures),\u00a0we can\u00a0understand\u00a0the system\u00a0holistically, make better decisions,\u00a0optimize resources,\u00a0and\u00a0prioritize maintenance.<\/p>\n
Building engineers can track what\u2019s happening,\u00a0down to the actuators and flow-rate sensors in cooling units;\u00a0find errors before they become failures;\u00a0run remote diagnostics before they send a technician;\u00a0and manage buildings for optimal operation within the overall campus system\u2014not just the right room temperature.\u00a0Microsoft used digital solutions and\u00a0services\u00a0to\u00a0detect\u00a0the undetectable,\u00a0and\u00a0provide\u00a0better services\u00a0to its employees\u00a0with less interruption.<\/p>\n
Since\u00a0we\u00a0launched ESB and other energy conservation measures, the\u00a0Microsoft\u00a0Puget Sound campus has been consuming about 20 percent less energy. Almost half of all faults are corrected within 60 seconds. And Microsoft has begun to expand this solution across the world\u00a0on\u00a0our other campuses.<\/p>\n
Microsoft Services combines the ESB expertise that we forged on our own campus with end-to-end design, delivery, and adoption services to help customers integrate energy management in their facilities and on their factory floors.
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