Effects of Building Automation in Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency means how a gadget or an appliance uses the energy supplied to it. A gadget or an appliance is energy efficient if it can maximize the energy input it receives. Fore example, we can say that a computer which is able to use about 90 to 99% of the energy supplied by a 220 volt source is considered to be energy efficient.

Many Internet articles assert that automation effects help increase the energy efficiency of the things or machines where they are installed with. For instance, in buildings, an article has cited that a certain automation system is used in monitoring the energy performance and efficiency of the appliances inside the building. Some automation systems can prevent the unnecessary usage of energy and can even reduce pollutant emissions which are associated with energy manipulation. The articles show that the automation system provides better energy efficiency, and at the same time, high-quality performances in terms of their assigned functions. Automation systems can serve as checklists in determining whether the energy used up on a certain thing is too much or too little, or how close to 100% is the energy efficiency of that certain thing. Another positive effect of building automation systems is demand control, which is another form of control in energy consumption based on the occupancy information from a presence detector or presence button.

Automation systems have generally low installation costs. However, an automation system that is inefficient in terms of energy usage makes its user suffer more burdens than enjoy the benefits. Thus, the supposed-to-be positive effects of automation are not met. For automation systems to do their part in energy efficiency, one has to use the right concepts and principles of automation and its corresponding software and hardware. Also, maintenance and proactive measures should be taken so that our gadgets, machines, and appliances, through the help of the installed automation systems, can use the maximum energy possible.