It may require an initial capital investment to effectively convert a traditional building into a smart building. However, these improvements more than pay for themselves within a very short period of time. The benefits of smart buildings are simply compounded when spread over a vast facility such as a university campus. Operating a university’s campus comes with an extreme consumption of energy, which translates into expenses. Smart buildings save universities money in a broad variety of ways.
How Smart Buildings Save Universities Money
There are many factors involved in the operation of a university’s campus. These factors tend to result in high energy expenses in order to keep a campus operational, comfortable, and safe. However, this doesn’t have to be the case! Smart buildings can save universities money in many different ways, which can help to streamline processes. These benefits ensure that the university is able to allocate its resources to other things, rather than having to spend them on exorbitant energy expenses. Here is a few of the ways in which smart buildings save universities money.
Reduces Facility Operating Expenses
It requires a substantial amount of energy to operate a university’s campus. Each of these buildings will require the functionality of various systems to ensure that they remain comfortable. When you streamline the processes involved in this operation, you can significantly reduce the amount of energy required for the facility to operate. Therefore, smart buildings save universities money by reducing the facility operating expenses of the entire campus.
Automation of Various Systems
There are many systems that every building requires. These systems include things such as ventilation, heating, plumbing, lighting, cooling, mechanical systems, and more, depending on the specific type of building. Smart building technology helps to automate these many various systems. This goes a long way toward reducing overall expenses. For example, it prevents the heating system from turning on and wasting energy when there is no one inside the building. It can also ensure that various systems are automatically turned on at the beginning of the day and turned off at the end of the day. Automating systems helps to simplify each process, as well as save a substantial amount of money over time.
Increased Monitoring Capabilities
Having accurate data and information can significantly help to save universities money. Smart buildings allow for increased monitoring capabilities. This allows for early detection of substantial issues that can arise or abnormalities in the system. In addition, improved monitoring helps to keep staff and students safe.
Fine-Tune Building Performance
Buildings ultimately stop functioning as efficiently as they get older. The data provided through smart building technology helps to identify existing problems. This will help to ensure that these issues are repaired and that the building continues to operate optimally. When the buildings operate as they are intended to and with superior efficiency, the university will save a significant amount of money on operating expenses.
Predictive Maintenance
Repairs are sure to become necessary across the multiple buildings that comprise a university campus. Smart building technology can help to reduce the frequency and extent of these repairs. These systems help to provide predictive maintenance, indicating when a system or building component requires maintenance. These services significantly help to extend the lifetime of each system and prevent repairs from becoming necessary. In most situations, maintenance to prevent problems is far more cost-effective than obtaining repairs after the problems have arisen. Predictive maintenance is just one of the many ways in which smart buildings save universities money.
Accurate and Efficient Data Transmission
In order to provide effective energy management, the university must first have accurate information regarding their data consumption. Smart buildings help to provide the university with thorough, real-time information regarding the energy consumption and condition of each building. This information is critical in providing effective energy management solutions that will improve energy efficiency and save a significant amount of money.
Student Retention
Tuition is one of the major ways in which universities make money. Due to this, student retention is extremely important in allowing the university to continue being profitable. Smart buildings help to provide a far more comfortable environment that is conducive to learning. When a university invests in smart building technology, they will retain more students and optimize their overall profits, while simultaneously reducing their expenses.
Improved Energy Efficiency
The energy efficiency of the building is ultimately the amount of energy that the building requires to maintain a certain environment. When the energy efficiency is improved, it means that the building maintains the same quality of environment, but the energy required for this quality is reduced. Smart building technology is one of the ideal ways to improve energy efficiency. This can save universities money by drastically lowering their various energy expenses, without compromising the quality or comfort inside of the environment.
Saves Time
Smart buildings maintain streamlined and automated systems. This efficient method for energy management and operation helps to reduce the amount of time that employees have to spend on the same processes. Automating a variety of processes will ultimately allow employees to spend their time in more efficient manners. This can go a long way toward reducing the amount of money that a university has to spend on labor costs. When a university implements smart building technology to their campus, they won’t require as much manual monitoring of the various systems.
Our expert team at Vitality Energy is dedicated to providing universities with the services that they need to streamline their processes and ensure that all of their buildings are smart buildings. Smart buildings help save universities a substantial amount of money over the long run, which makes the initial investment more than worth it. In addition, this technology helps to improve the value of the property, which similarly helps to save money. The savings from smart buildings come in a wide array of services, including improve energy efficiency, streamlined and automated systems, and much more. To learn more about the many ways that smart buildings save universities money, contact our knowledgeable team today!
