Carbon emissions from buildings, such as those from air conditioning, heating and lighting, account for approximately 40% of the carbon footprint in most industrial countries.

Legislation will increasingly oblige organisations to reduce the carbon footprint of their property portfolio(s). Local renewable energy sources, which may include micro-generation, combined heat and power and waste to- energy schemes, are within the scope of property management, as is the use of sustainable material in refurbishments and capital projects.

Many organisations have outsourced their day-to-day building management, leaving them with limited opportunities to exercise direct control over emissions. The companies managing buildings often have to deal with a variety of installations. Some installations will belong to the property, while other installations serve the specific needs of one or more tenants. The installations affect one another but are often configured in isolation and have dedicated systems to manage them.

Many ways of cutting CO2 emissions pay for themselves, so money saved can be re-invested in other carbon reduction activities. But to determine what initiatives makes best business sense and how to prioritise these initiatives is complex without a converged view of energy demand and supply and the associated carbon emissions across a portfolio of properties.

Organisations which proactively address the issue today will avoid decisions that could prove costly to rectify in the future. They will also better position themselves for future opportunities around the phenomena of carbon trading and they can demonstrate social responsibility. What is the solution? For buildings to get greener, they must become smarter.

The focus of Shaspa is to deliver a transparent, holistic way to configure facility service processes and report on energy and emissions. Managers will have a converged view across buildings, functional units and assets for every role throughout the facility. The owner, facilities manager, tenant, regulator and potentially even the utility company all have different information requirements that must be met.

The lifetime of a building: from drawing-board to demolition

Over the lifetime of a building, property developers, facilities managers, tenants and investors are held accountable for many things: public safety, environmental impact, building efficiency and return on investment. The seed planted by the creative mind of the architect and fostered by the knowledge of the builder, facilities manager and investor grows into a vast and complex entity. The facility goes on to provide many things to many people and to the community at large. Ensuring that the facility provides a constant level of service whilst delivering optimal financial results right up to the day it is dismantled is the challenge. Add to that the widespread legislation set to reform and tax carbon emissions, and we face a difficult task indeed.

Shaspa improves property performance

Working closely with a company’s staff, Shaspa consultants help optimize the technical and structural performance of a property. Shaspa does this from an energy perspective within the scope and concept of the individual facility, and follows an out-tasking model.

To get the correct level of information required for detailed optimization recommendations and automated control, Shaspa captures data directly from the building or group of buildings in near real time. These live data feeds provide a unified view across the technical silos in the building and across the real estate property portfolio. It also provides a means of control based on the energy and carbon policies an organisation defines.

When a company outsources building management it defines a service level agreement which may include certain parameters, such as emission levels. The service provider supplies the information about emissions as part of the agreement, but the property owner still has limited opportunities to actually control emissions.

There are usually a number of different installations within a building, often affecting each other and culminating in a total carbon output. Understanding this interaction and working to cut emissions is daunting, as the installations exist in isolation with separate dedicated systems.

The ability to be proactive in controlling carbon emissions has many benefits:

• avoid costly mistakes

• good positioning for future carbon trading

• reduce energy costs

• demonstrate social responsibility

Shaspa Home Energy Monitor Part No.: HEM-0140 Home Energy Monitor allowing you to monitor the overall Energy consumtion in your home.

Shaspa Social Energy Meter: empowering people to act together for the good of everyone

Changing Landscape

Of late, environmental sustainability has emerged as an important goal for many businesses. Some businesses have realized that their day to day operations result in a negative environmental impact while some view increased efficiency in energy and resource use as a way to reduce costs and thus increase profits. One emerging driving factor is the public image of a company and consumers perception of businesses that make a real effort to reduce their corporate carbon footprint, a common measure of the impact of their operations on the environment. More and more companies are coming forward with Corporate Social Responsibility plans that include the reduction of their carbon footprint. Still, others see going green as a means of staying ahead of regulatory pressures and avoiding legal hassles as new legislation takes shape in countries all over the world. 

Increased Energy Consumption

With the advent of Office Automation, businesses today consume a huge amount of energy. Almost everything that we use in the office consumes energy, from the air-conditioning systems, lighting, PCs, printers, photocopiers, scanners, networks, business applications running on powerful energy hungry servers, projectors in meeting rooms to the coffee machine in the pantry. Contrast this with the office of yesterday where there were only desks and typewriters, fans and lights and we quickly realise how much energy a business consumes today.

What is more alarming is that much of this energy is wasted by office equipment sitting idle while employees are engaged in meetings, sometimes for as much as 4-6 hours each working day. With a highly mobile and global workforce, offices are sometimes half empty as employees commute for meetings and other business activities. Yet, lighting and air-conditioning continue to operate at full capacity.

For all the advances in office automation technology, the buildings that house offices have largely remain the same. In fact, as more and more skyscrapers are built and with demand for offices with a view, more glass is being used and more heat is being transmitted into such buildings requiring more energy to power the air-conditioning systems. This translates into a higher energy bill for businesses today especially those with a large number of employees spread out in many geographical regions.

Shaspa Smart Workplace

The Shaspa Smart Workplace is a scalable and modular open platform that utilises a network of intelligent sensors connected to the Shaspa Bridge and the Shaspa Service Framework to help visualise, measure and systematically collect data from office environments to provide powerful analytical visualisations that in turn enable smart decisions to be made, ultimately leading to a reduction in energy usage.

The intelligent sensor network includes temperature, relative humidity, energy, water, gas, cameras, light intensity, occupancy and many other environmental sensors connected to the Shaspa Bridge through wireless or wired technology. Actuators such as relays, smart plugs, flow and pressure control valves are used to optimise air-conditioning for comfort and energy, to turn off offie equipment that is not in use and to optimise the office environment for comfort, convenience while at the same time reducing the energy usage.

Wireless sensors attached to a seat can sense if someone has left their desk ,PCs and other desktop equipment can then be put into ‘sleep’ mode to reduce the power used. HVAC systems can be optimised to cater for lower heat load when employees are away or commuting between offices or when the external weather is cool. Printers, photocopiers and other office equipment can be shut down or put into ‘sleep’ mode after office hours or during low usage periods.

To balance the demand for a comfortable productive office equipped with all the latest technology while keeping the overall corporate carbon footprint to a minimum, offices and businesses need to first have the ability to measure their carbon impact of their business operations. The Shaspa Energy and Carbon Dashboards allow offices in different locations and geographies to compare themselves against each other and for best practices to be shared amongst the different offices. Over time, an energy smart workforce emerges.

Studies have shown that an optimised office can use up to 33% less energy than one that does not have the capability to quantify or measure their energy usage. Progressive companies may also want to engage their customers by making such energy data or their carbon footprint available at customer service lobbies, or on their corporate websites or even on social media such as such as Twitter and Facebook.

So take a look at what Shaspa can do for you and get started on the road to energy efficiency. Contact us at info@shaspa.com or via contact form.

Smart Home technology is expanding rapidly as new electronic technologies converge. A Smart Home should now encompass communications, entertainment, security, convenience, energy management, networking and information systems.

Shaspa Smart Home

The Shaspa Smart Home Kit is an open platform that utilises a network of intelligent sensors which serve to provide information about the state of the home. Through the Shaspa Bridge, this information is processed and made available through a number of access methods like touch screens, Mobile phones and 3D Browsers.

Automated or user guided action is then initiated through the intelligent actuators connected to common household appliances. For example, a homeowner with RFID access cards can designate non essential household appliances such as equipment on standby, lighting or air-conditioning as appliances that will automatically be shut down by the Smart Home once the homeowner leaves the home. Likewise, such services can be restarted when the homeowner returns. If the user owns a mobile phone that has an embedded GPS system he could simply tie the phone to the Shaspa Bridge, that way a number of actions could be executed once the phone (you) leaves the vicinity of the property.

Other examples include the use of a mobile phone or internet to arm the home security system, control temperature gauges, switch appliances on or off, control lighting, program a home theater or entertainment system, and perform many other tasks while away on holiday, giving an appearance as if they were home. The Shaspa Smart home can even send you a text message to alert you that you’ve left lights on or that the water pipe to the washing machine is leaking!

But how do you know if your home’s energy usage is normal? Shaspa offers users a unique opportunity to compare your home’s efficiency with that of other Shaspa users. Shaspa has the ability to automatically update your energy statistics onto your twitter account or into a facebook group, these stats can then be compared with those from other houses in your street, town, city or country. With everyone competing to get their energy usage low, the benefits to the environment are truly staggering.

Tomorrow’s Technology Available Today

Unlike traditional home automation products, the Shaspa Smart Home Kit uses extensive wireless technology and allows the monitoring of energy usage, environmental data, security systems and provides control of lighting, appliances, media, air- conditioning, home entertainment and any other household appliances from the comfort of a mobile phone, web page, 3D user interface or handheld screen.

The Shaspa Smart Home Kit can be easily installed in any home without the need for any additional major wiring or renovation which means no unsightly wires that might affect the aesthetics of the home. Installation is simple and can be completed quickly. The Shaspa Smart Home is also modular and flexible. You can start with electricity monitoring, then add gas and water monitoring and then onto a full Smart Home.

Those using Shaspa in the home will find the easy-to-install unit is an invaluable resource, showing them exactly how much energy they use on a regular basis and which appliances guzzle the most power. With the Shaspa display showing exactly how much power and money their appliances use, users are able to make smart decisions about power usage. The simple act of turning appliances off makes a visual, real time difference in the amount of energy being used and a noticeable impact on the next electricity bill! Users can also set standby procedures so that if a light or appliance is left on during the day, it can be switched off remotely from anywhere in the world.

Business users will find Shaspa will save thousands or even millions of dollors every single year. Carbon emissions from buildings, such as those from air conditioning, heating and lighting, account for approximately 40% of the carbon footprint in most industrial countries. With Shaspa making everyone more conscious of the energy they’re using, this 40% could be drastically reduced. With sensors detecting the ambient temperature and air quality as well as the power usage of appliances and lighting, businesses are able to clearly see where cutbacks can be made to increase the energy efficiency of their business.

	Shaspa DataLogger Part No.: DAL-100 Data aquisistion system with embedded Web- interface and multi-protocol support.
	Shaspa Bridge Residential Part No.: BRD-R-200 Shaspa Smart Home Controller

So take a look at what Shaspa can do for you and get started on the road to energy efficiency. Contact us at info@shaspa.com or via contact form.

]]> http://www.shaspa.com/Smart-Building/2010/04/smart-home-2/feed/ 0 http://www.shaspa.com/Smart-Building/2009/11/connected-life/ http://www.shaspa.com/Smart-Building/2009/11/connected-life/#comments Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:10:44 +0000 admin http://www.shaspa.com/?p=1806

A Simpler, greener, more connected life

Do you ever feel like you’re losing control? Do you get utility bills with seemingly random numbers – or maybe an-ever upward trend. And when you go to bed, do you have a long list of things to switch off (lights, TVs and heating) or switch on (burgler alarms, CCTV)? It’s as if you’re working for your house, not the other way round.

So, how does Shaspa help?

Imagine that you’ve got a domestic robot.
You want to give it instructions to make it wash the dishes, mow the lawn and to the ironing – but it doesn’t understand you. You don’t understand it either – all you see are flashing lights, and gestures that don’t make any sense. All you hear are bleeps, bloops and strange warbling noises. If you could make noises like that, you might be able to make the robot do something useful, but you never will. And you’ll never understand what it’s telling you.

What’s the answer? Make the robot speak and understand your language. English, Spanish, Mandarin or Russian – it doesn’t matter.

But if it won’t do that, then you need a translator, taking in all the robot’s strange attempts to communicate, and making them understandable, at the same time as taking your spoken commands and turning them into something the robot can make sense of.

This is even more important when you have several robots, all doing specialised things. You need one translator that works for all of them, because it understands all of their “native” machine languages.

Then, and only then, can you issue a command that they will ALL understand, giving them a chance to work cooperatively. Even better – they can talk to each other, through the translator, so they can work out the best way to collectively accomplish the tasks you’ve given them!

And then, when there are hundreds of highly specialised robots in a community, all doing the things they were designed to do best, you’ll be able to look at the combined efforts of all of them. And you can decide, with your neighbours, or colleagues, if you’re at work, how to optimise their work. Maybe you can use someone else’s robots while they’re not busy. Perhaps there’s one task that needs the strength of all of them; something you wouldn’t have thought about if it was just you, watching your robots.

Most of this sounds like science fiction. But with Shaspa playing the part of the translator, most of it isn’t. What we don’t have now is general purpose robots doing the housework and gardening. But what we do have is highly-specialised, interconnected “Robots” – smart meters, sensors and devices – that all speak different languages, and which could be so much more effective if we could instruct them in simple ways, and make them work together.