FMJ Facilities Management magazine providing industry-specific intelligence to FM and property professionals
Amey in partnership with Grid Edge has developed a “groundbreaking” energy solution that makes real-time changes to building assets in response to how the property is being used.
Grid Edge, an AI SaaS platform that powers commercial buildings to net zero has been developing the product alongside Amey to help customers accelerate their carbon reduction journey. The project is being fully supported by BMSI, the UK’s leading independent systems integrator of Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS), who are providing an enabling service to Amey’s FM teams.
E60+, as it will be known works by gathering data from various sources across a building’s footprint. This information is integrated with AI and machine learning to create a detailed picture of when, where and how workplaces, and the assets that power them, operate. These insights are then turned into recommendations that optimise asset performance to reduce carbon and cost in real time.
Technology of this type is not new in the FM space but what is different about E60+, says Amey, is its ability to implement these recommendations immediately into Building Management Systems (BMS) scheduling, with assurance of human validation, Using BMSI as the integrator, changes are made immediately based on rules that have been predefined by Amey and the customer team. This allows the customer to ensure the end user experience is not being compromised.
E60+ starts by using an inbuilt energy tracker to pull historic meter data across the building’s portfolio, and draws on contextual data to enable Amey to identify which areas are most inefficient. It also develops deep dive insights into the smallest components of an energy system by streaming data from sources including the building management system, assets, IOT devices, submeters and occupancy data.
E60+ then identifies trends, anomalies, and inefficiencies, looking at specific assets and equipment wasting energy throughout the building. These insights are turned into actionable recommendations that tell the building operators exactly what they need to do and how much carbon and costs they will save by taking action.
Finally, automation and behind the meter flexibility takes over. By listening to indicators from the energy supplies (the Grid and renewable sources), the system balances the needs of the building and the network supply – making changes to when and how much energy is used.
The initial focus for the system is using data to squeeze energy load and accelerate the route to Net Zero – with an end goal of future proofing an estate as the energy system becomes more volatile. E60+ will shift energy demand to the lowest carbon and lowest cost times of day.
The results to date have shown 20-40 per cent optimisation of carbon and costs from energy use across customers buildings within the first 12 months.
Craig McGilvray, MD of Amey’s Complex Facilities business, said: “We recognise the challenging environment our customers operate in – particularly when it comes to energy cost and carbon consumption. Our supply chain members are at the forefront of innovation in the built environment, and we are committed to working with them to ensure these technologies are working for the benefit of our clients. I will be watching eagerly to see how E60+ is positively impacting the journey to net zero across Amey’s public estates portfolio.”
