ACR Journal

October | November 2021 CONTROLS 20 Jamie Cameron, director of digital solutions at Johnson Controls UK&I, believes an intelligent structured approach is needed to reduce the environmental impact of HVAC systems. Building sustainability: a smart solution Volume 7 No.6 Our buildings aren’t just bricks and mortar. They’re the places where we spend most of our time. Where we eat and sleep. Where we sit down and catch up with friends and family, they are at the heart of our lives, whether we like to admit it or not. But, unfortunately, they are also the biggest challenge in our pursuit to be sustainable. We can no longer ignore the impact climate change is having on our planet. Despite our conscious eorts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the earth continues to warm. Almost 40 per cent of carbon emissions 1 come from our existing buildings and the construction of new ones. It doesn’t need to be this way. Technology is now on hand to make our homes, places of work, schools, hospitals and factories a part of the solution, not the problem. We have the ability to be smart enough and ensure our buildings promise us a cleaner, greener future. And ‘smart buildings’ with intelligent HVAC systems that take a holistic approach are just what we need to achieve our goals. Budgets, or lack of And yet, budget constraints are holding progress back. Two-thirds of building decision-makers in the UK and Ireland said this was the main barrier preventing their adoption of smart technologies. 2 While almost all of the organisations surveyed agreed there was value to be had with smart building design, only a third reported having a smart setup already in place. An equally dismal proportion, just 35 per cent, said that their current premises were considered sustainable. Realise the value If this is a problem now — which it indeed is — it threatens to be an even greater one in the future. With ever-mounting costs and the need to meet increasingly stringent sustainability targets, it’s a case of act now, or prepare to stump up for urgent improvements in the years to come. That’s why, hemmed in by budget restrictions, companies must be clever – using what funds they have in the most cost-e‘cient manner and investing in the right technology at the right time to create the greatest value. Some sectors, including Jamie Cameron