Impacting the Energy Systems of Existing Real Estates by Optimising the Management of its Service Operations

Abstract

Buildings in Europe consume 40% of the overall energy used, with a quarter of the building stock being non-residential. This industry has a high consumption rate but also holds significant potential for savings and efficiency improvements. However, energy efficiency (EE) is often overlooked, especially in the operational aspect.

Integrating an energy management system (EMS) can improve a building's operational energy (OE) usage. The operation services or facility services (FS) are primely situated to contribute to an EE due to their linkage to OE. Guidelines and processes of facilities management (FM) ensure that the FS is executed efficiently, which also enriches an EMS.

The purpose of this study was to develop a framework that helps enterprises bridge the gap between EMS state-of-the-art practices and FM to improve OE consumption with the assistance of FS. In order to do this, thorough research regarding FM processes, FM guidelines and EMS standards was conducted to create this framework. It was then refined through a second literature review. Finally, field research was conducted at a prominent research institute in Germany to validate and show the significance of this approach.