How many times have you been the last one out of the building? Making the rounds to every meeting room and office
just to turn off the lights and save on energy.
The drive for our homes and buildings to be more energy efficient is at
an all time high. For example, in the
coming years incandescent light bulbs will no longer be available only compact fluorescents
because they are more energy efficient. The
ultimate goal that we are striving to reach is that each building will
eventually reach Net Zero status. What
Net Zero status means is that the building does not consume any energy it does
not need and does not put out any carbon emissions. Typically we associate the thought of a net
zero architecture project as being full of green technology such as solar
panels, natural resource recycling and energy conservation, and it’s that last
one that we want to focus on when it comes to using A/V technology in a green
environment.
When you talk to a nutritionist or trainer about going on a
diet the first thing they focus on is to make sure that you are using your
caloric intake efficiently. Meaning, are
you consuming more or fewer calories than you are burning in a given day? The same holds true for how an energy
efficient building operates. The goal,
of course, is to make sure that as little energy is being wasted as possible. So how can the A/V system contribute to
making these buildings more energy efficient to approach that net zero
status? Making the proper choices will
help you take the first steps in moving toward a more energy efficient
building. Are the devices that are being
installed, such as the LCD display in your new boardroom, rated with energy
star compliance? Is the equipment at the
core of the system, such as signal processors, mixers, and amplifiers,
engineered to decrease current draw when the system is not in use? The first thing to consider when looking to
make the move to a green(er) A/V solution is the selection of the devices that
you intend to use. Although, if you are
looking to use the A/V system to reach beyond and help your company save on
energy consumption, then looking at a centralized and scheduled control system
would be the next step in the process. 
Your business performs the majority of its operations during
a set timeframe on a weekday, typically between 8 to 5 or 9 to 6. So that leaves 15 other hours of the day that
the systems can be shut down or left to rest in a low consumption idle mode. But how can we make the building more
efficient during the hours of operation?
That is where the central control system comes into play. Companies like Crestron
and AMX are known for their building
control systems, and both offer a scheduling based solution. How would that affect the way that your
building currently operates? In essence,
each room that you choose to have connected to the central control system would
have end point devices. The beauty of
these systems is that they have the ability to control more than just the A/V;
they can also work with lighting systems, HVAC systems, and even access control
systems if necessary. Once a room is
scheduled for use, control signals can be triggered to activate the devices
just prior to the room being occupied.
At that point they can remain on while the system is still in use. This can be done with occupancy motion
sensors and other programming methods, but once the system no longer detects
activity in the room it can return to a state of idleness where the temperature
is regulated, lights are turned off, and any associated A/V devices are turned
off or returned to their idle running state.
Of course this scheduling system can be overridden manually if there is
a need for the space, and at that point it will just require a brief moment for
the devices to initialize for use.
In these economic times we must explore new options as to
how we can utilize the resources available to us. Changing how the resources we have function
when not in use is a long term way to not only save on costs for your business in
the short term, but potentially push the business towards no energy costs in a
long term plan.
For more information on how these room scheduling and
control devices could
help your company, please contact ICS – Integrated Communication
Systems at 408-491-6000 or on the web at www.ics-integration.com.
