perspective BUILDING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
BMS – need for long-term thinking
Michael Scriven believes that not factoring in energy-efficient control features in a project is a myopic way of looking at cost cutting, and reiterates the importance of building maintenance systems.
A
t a recent energy conference that looked into ways of reducing carbon emissions from non-domestic buildings, based on a number of real-life case studies, one of the main findings was that good building control systems
Control systems tend not to include energy efficiency features, where the choice of controls is led by a performance specification or a design-andbuild contractor 30
are a key driver to achieving low carbon buildings in operation. I, of course, agree wholeheartedly with the conclusion, as it is something that I have been saying for many years. However, the current market in the UAE
Climate Control Middle East September 2012
poses a number of challenges for providers of controls and users. Challenges start at the contractual stage. In the UAE, customers need to be encouraged and educated to think about their building controls from day one.
Control systems tend not to include energy-efficiency features, where the choice of controls is led by a performance specification or a design-and-build contractor. Many developers do away with BMS systems, as they consider it a capital cost