For large multinationals, keeping international business costs well-managed and controlled is a difficult task, but is crucial to ensure continued success in multiple territories. Effectively coordinated international building energy management systems (BEMS) are key to saving energy, cutting costs, and reducing CO2 emissions, so companies who invest in BEMS globally stand to gain — from a monetary and environmental perspective.
A prime example of success, French entertainment giant FNAC chose a building energy management system from Trend Controls for its first outlet in Africa.
Implementing and managing successful, cost-effective BEMS can be a challenge when just one location is under consideration. When locations are spaced across the globe, this challenge increases, but so too does the reward and savings.
Making a Monetary Difference in Morocco
FNAC is one of the world’s leading entertainment chains and stocks a wide range of multimedia — CDs, DVDs, books — and other technology products. The company adopts a strict policy of reducing its energy consumption, so when it decided to expand and open its first outlet in Morocco, Africa, installing an effective and flexible BEMS was a cost-reducing priority.
A Sizeable BEMS Challenge
A substantially sized project, it’s easy to see why effective building energy management was such a concern. Located in Casablanca’s prestigious Morocco Mall, the new African branch features 3,000 square meters of space configured over two floors. FNAC commissioned the services of LG Sécurité to carry out the installation of the BEMS. Specifically, the components used were comprised of IQ3 controllers and the 963 Supervisor graphical user interface.
The store uses a total of three IQ3 controllers with approximately 140 points of control. The IQ3 controllers manage at least 40 different lighting circuits under different time management settings. The controllers also manage security lighting, and monitor and handle power demand management.
The graphical user interface, the 963 Supervisor, enables FNAC to monitor plant or building services, and make changes to the way the building is controlled from a display. The system’s alarms are sent according to priority — an alarm with low priority, such as those for electrical switches, will be held until an alarm with high priority happens. If an alarm happens outside the operator’s normal time schedule, then a notification is sent via SMS to a dedicated mobile phone.
Good energy management is a necessary part of reducing consumption, wherever in the world an organization may be. As FNAC already knows, buildings cost a lot more to run throughout their lifetimes than they do to build in the first place, so BEMS play a worthwhile and vital role in helping companies save money while meeting their environmental objectives.
For more information, visit www.trendcontrols.com.
Publication date: 2/17/2014
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