INSTITUTIONAL
CAMPUSES
Vigilent dynamically optimizes HVAC to improve the operation, value and sustainability of education and government facilities and campuses.
Economic Value
HVAC systems can account for more than 50% of a campus’s energy use. Yet delivering heating and cooling to match building demand is too complex a problem for typical building automation system controls to solve.
Buildings are designed to meet worst-case conditions, but at part load, HVAC systems often operate inefficiently. HVAC programming such as trim-and-respond works reasonably well in part-load conditions when devices are in perfect working condition, but that’s rarely the case.
In contrast, Vigilent dynamically optimizes HVAC to provide maximum energy savings across all part-load conditions. Vigilent is fault-tolerant, avoiding over-reaction to HVAC equipment problems that are not causing comfort issues.
Vigilent also identifies operational issues such as incorrect configurations, stuck dampers or other broken equipment that can lead to further efficiency gains and comfort improvements.
“Before Vigilent, we were struggling to achieve our energy efficiency goals, and we were spending a lot of time with technicians and programmers to decipher what was going on with the code.
’"We don’t have to have someone programming the system anymore. Vigilent constantly determines the right strategy. It’s dynamic and changes in real-time. That’s where the value comes in.”
Chief Engineer
“We were able to adapt very easily. We could switch through the modes of operation based on whether we needed to conserve energy or maximize indoor air quality for health purposes.
“It’s truly a value-add to any building. There’s peace of mind there too, knowing you can automatically follow guidance from ASHRAE or the CDC – something that would be really cumbersome if you tried to do it manually.”
Chief Engineer
Operational Assurance
Delivering a comfortable and safe indoor environment is the top priority for facility executives that manage educational and other institutional buildings. Building automation system controls over heating, ventilation and air conditioning have traditionally filled this role.
However, facility managers now face a more challenging environment, including an increased focus on indoor air quality, higher energy costs, carbon regulation and reporting, and a shortage of skilled staff. Given the complexity and dynamic nature of facility operations today, BAS controls lack the sophistication and flexibility to optimize the indoor environment. In contrast, artificial intelligence and machine learning were invented to deal with such difficult challenges.
Across many types of institutional buildings, Vigilent has consistently achieved improvements in comfort and gives operators the ability to better measure and enhance indoor air quality.
Sustainability
As major users of energy and water, data centers are facing increased scrutiny as the world deals with resource constraints and the threat of climate change. Many enterprise and hyperscale data centers have made aggressive Net Zero carbon commitments, putting pressure on colocation data centers to become more sustainable.
Vigilent technology and services minimize the carbon footprint required to deliver cooling to IT applications.
“We need to be sustainable for years to come. Bigger cloud providers and enterprises have carbon neutral targets, and we need to comply regardless of local legislation. Vigilent is key.”
Head of Infrastructure Management