The commercial real estate industry is undergoing a paradigm shift. With big data and analytics more detailed than ever before, property teams are using software tools to pinpoint building inefficiencies and adjust accordingly. Genea Technical Director Brian Haine sat down with HVAC Informed to shed some light on how property managers must embrace data analytics and apply it to their practices.  

“When we look at HVAC systems [many] data points need to be observed,” Haine said, during the interview. “One of the problems is that if you aren’t looking at these hundreds and hundreds of data points all day long, it’s hard to get any useful information out of them.”  

Without data and analytics, becoming more energy efficient is impossible. Whether you’re a property manager who cares about ESG and sustainability, or you are just looking to shave unnecessary expenses off the overall budget, measuring these hundreds of data points is a necessity.  

Herein lies the problem. 

For most, employing dozens of people to monitor data points isn’t practical. Fortunately, that’s where Genea Energy Analytics comes in.  

Energy Analytics and Overtime HVAC: A Complete Package 

Automation has been driving growth since before the Industrial Age. Software like Energy Analytics does the same by automating the way teams collect data from the building.   

Haine empathized that deciphering data and analytics provides useful clues to becoming more efficient. Key sets include: 

  • Room temperature & room set point 
  • Supply temperature 
  • Chilled water valve position 
  • Chiller  

While considering the example of room temperature, Haine estimated that over 50 variables within an HVAC system could affect the temperature experienced by tenants. By more precisely measuring the factors that influence how hot or cold the room is, property managers can reduce inefficiencies; this reduces unnecessary expenses and energy consumption. 

Data and Analytics with the BMS 

The discussion transitioned to the question, “How do data points connect with the analytics system?” Haine said that the points are already programmed into the building management system (BMS).   

“That’s where we start to discuss what sort of analytics you want to do,” Haine said. “It could be as simple as setting up alarms…”  

For example, if the building system is 10 set points away from the room temperature, then an alarm could be triggered. This alarm will alert the property team of an inefficiency. When accounting for inefficiencies, then teams become more proactive.  

After-Hours HVAC with Genea 

Analytics goes hand-in-hand with the fulfillment of energy requests. Genea Overtime HVAC allows tenants to make requests outside of normal business hours. For example, if a tenant needs air conditioning for a meeting at 7 p.m. on a Saturday night, they can request it through the Genea app.  

With Overtime HVAC, tenants can also make on-demand requests from their smartphones. They do not need to give advanced notice when requesting air. On-demand allows teams to shut down their system when service does not get requested, saving them utility expenses in the short-term and equipment expenses over the long run.  

For more on data and analytics or Overtime HVAC, watch the full interview.