Insights and observations from our practice and elsewhere
The smartest way to keep tenants happy during extreme weather
No matter where you live, you’ve probably just endured a blistering few months of extreme weather. At times during the past week, we’ve seen temperatures exceeding 40°C (105°F) in southern parts of Australia and almost 40°C (-40°F) below freezing in parts of North...
What is a target range ?
Just as there is no such thing as a ‘perfect building’, there can be no such thing as a ‘perfect model’ of a building’s electricity use (or water, gas, etc.). At Buildings Alive we are obsessive (some might even say perfectionist!) about modelling, but we also...
Managing energy efficiency in summer
It is getting warmer and humid and we have already experienced some extreme weather conditions in Australia in late October/early November. It is a good time for facility managers to think about how to optimise building energy performance for summer - the potential...
Recognising the best of the best
Across the board, Buildings Alive’s clients consistently deliver good building energy performance, and are rewarded through reduced energy costs, maintenance costs and improved tenant comfort. These are all great performance measurements when looking inward - at the...
Energy efficiency opportunities in spring
Spring is already upon us and with it comes a great opportunity for achieving energy efficiency and improving tenant comfort. Outside temperatures are slowly increasing and occupant behaviour will start to change as warmer days become more frequent. Buildings...
ACEEE 2018 Take-aways
The 2018 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings brought researchers from around the world together to discuss emerging trends and challenges in the energy efficiency space. Over 900 people attended the conference over five days in Pacific Grove,...
4 ACEEE Summer Study 2018 Papers
Operating at the leading edge of building energy performance analysis, Buildings Alive commits a significant amount of resources to research and development activity. Several of Buildings Alive's staff have had research papers accepted to the prestigious American...
The evidence is in: peak demand is “manageable”
Owners and managers of large non-residential buildings usually pay around 15–30% of their (ever-increasing) electricity bills for network ‘capacity’ in most markets. But peak demand savings are rarely a focus for management. Why? Until recently there have been a few...
Peak demand service delivers immediate savings
In January 2018, Buildings Alive’s peak demand service has helped the Facility management team at 2-12 Macquarie Street with reducing their demand costs. Take a look at the results below, and see how the peak demand warning messages help FM’s...
Incremental improvements deliver compelling results
The performance of 303 Sevenoaks St keeps improving month after month. It is another example of where a facilities manager actively uses the BMS, monitoring it and making changes when necessary, using Buildings Alive's daily REF messages to...
Making good use of a good BMS
The performance of 67 Albert Avenue, in Chatswood has improved significantly in the last couple of months. A facilities manager that understands and uses the BMS has now an upgraded tool, with improved control logic that are taking the...
Collaborating on controls
64 Northbourne Avenue, Canberra A building that showed great results in August is 64 Northbourne Avenue, Canberra. An active facilities management team has worked together with Buildings Alive, BMS and mechanical contractors to identify and act on controls issues that...