“More than half the
buildings larger than
100,000 square feet in
the US have some kind
of EMS. Yet owners and
managers may not be
getting the best bang
for their buck.”
Carlos Petty
Syska Energy Group
“Certainly, increasing tenant comfort and reducing operating expenses are main
goals,” he adds. “But understand what equipment you currently have and the
parameters for what more you want.”
As such, building owners need to know that it may not be necessary to make
wholesale changes to a current system. “It’s a good idea to look at what your
existing systems can tell you before moving ahead,” Rechtsteiner notes.
But remember, in this day of software advances, “It’s not just conversations
between the engineering and property management teams,” says Johnson.
“Now there’s the whole other layer of IT that is getting a large seat at the
table.”
The experts point out that a future EMS trend, in fact one that’s already
underway, is wireless automation. Freshman says wireless is becoming more
popular, especially when it comes to retrofitting existing buildings. In addition to
eliminating the need to tear apart walls and ceilings to run wires, it costs less to
hire contractors, he says.
Another potential trend is the use of an actual dashboard to measure energy
usage. Certainly systems these days are geared to provide data and plenty of it,
but dashboards actually provide a visual to those logging onto the systems.
Even more important, Petty notes, is that dashboards can be used as a pro-
motional tool to current and potential tenants. “The real question is how do you
prove to tenants your building is more efficient than someone else’s,” he says.
“If you have a dashboard in the lobby, people can actually see the efficiency and
understand that the system is reducing the carbon footprint.”
Also, look for tenants to become more involved with energy management
systems and building operations, too. “Owners need to realize that, when they
promote a building, they should be presenting technology greater than what the
tenants and occupants can get at home,” Petty explains. “Bringing information
to the tenants and letting them know what’s going on in the building brings more
value to that building.”
86 Better Buildings FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012
www.naiopnj.org/25Gala
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
L. ROBERT LIEB
Mountain
Development Corp
IMPACT AWARD
T&M ASSOCIATES
Gary Dahms
IMPACT AWARD
ANDREW J. MERIN
Cushman & Wakefield
of New Jersey
INDUS TRY SERVICE
WILENTZ GOLDMAN
& SPI TZER
David Gordon
CHAIRMAN’S AWARD
SEENA STEIN
Newmark Knight Frank
MAY 17, 2012
