The role of Energy Management System for heating consumption in office buildings – a case study of the Danish building and property agency

The average energy consumpton in non-residental building sector is at least 40% larger than in residental sector. Apart from energy intensive buildings like hospitals and restaurants, ofce buildings have also large electricity and heatng demand during their operaton. The aim of this paper is to examine which role Energy Management System (EMS) plays for heatng consumpton in ofce buildings.

The paper is based on a case study of the Danish building and property agency (Bygningsstyrelsen or BYGST) that manages around 800.000 m2 ofce buildings and is currently in the process of implementng EMS. The study relies on feld observatons, document studies and interviews with energy specialists at BYGST.

The implementaton of EMS is expected to enable energy managers at BYGST to collect reliable energy data and to bring deeper insight on energy performance in ofce buildings. The design soluton for heatng does not solely focus on heatng consumpton but provides also additonal informaton on degree-day adjustments, consumpton budgets, and cooling efciency for each building.

The fndings show that currently 65% of heatng data is provided directly from the utlity companies to EMS through remote readings. The heatng data is collected every hour and used for analyzing heatng consumpton during working hours, outside of working hours, and in weekends. Furthermore, the EMS is used for benchmarking actual and expected energy consumpton on hourly, daily, weekly and monthly level.

The paper contributes with new knowledge on how real estate organizatons with large building portolio can use EMS for energy management and reach beter overview of actual energy performance in their buildings. Furthermore, the paper shows how hourly energy data can give more accurate calculatons of climate impacts.