PBSA occupancy patterns and impact on heating demand and cost
This is not always the case. If students leave their rooms and do not turn down the heating, the energy used will be unnecessarily high.
To help reduce the excessive energy demand, asset managers of PBSAs are turning to energy management systems to enable them to remotely monitor and control panel heating in student rooms. This allows the heating to be adjusted when the rooms are unoccupied, either during the day or in longer breaks lasting several weeks between term times.
In this blog, we will look at how energy management systems, panel heating management systems in particular, operate and the benefits they can bring in reducing the energy bills and carbon dioxide emissions of PBSAs for asset managers.
The impact of managing heat demand when faced with the challenges created by occupancy patterns is explored in detail in the SmarterDM by Dimplex white paper ‘Intelligent heating solutions – reducing carbon emissions and energy costs for hotels and student accommodation’ that is available as a free download.
How can the impact on heating demand of PBSA occupancy patterns be mitigated by intelligent heating management systems?
The impact on heating demand of PBSA occupancy patterns can be mitigated by the ability of intelligent heating management systems to remotely monitor and control the heating in rooms that are no longer occupied by students.
By using a custom-built network of sensors and controls, the heating demand in rooms vacated by students during the day as they attend lectures can be reduced. The asset manager does not have to rely on students remembering to turn down the thermostat when they go out – the system can check and do this remotely.
The same applies when the students leave their accommodation for longer periods of several weeks in the breaks between terms. This equates to around 30% of the year when the rooms do not require heating. The energy management system will check to ensure that only enough heating to prevent frost and mould damage during winter months is delivered and that heating in warmer months has not inadvertently been left running by departing students.
The tight control of a heating management system therefore prevents the use of energy that would have otherwise been wasted. It is often said that the greenest energy is that which is not used, and in this case for the asset manager, as well as the sustainability benefits of reducing the operational carbon footprint of the building, it also helps to reduce energy bills.
What cost benefits are possible for PBSA by using energy management systems?
As the energy used for heating in PBSA can be responsible for up to 70% of its running costs, significant financial savings are possible. This was the case for one leading student accommodation provider.
This particular client was looking for a more efficient way to manage the student heating systems on their Cable Street site and fitted a SmarterDM wireless energy management system. The system delivered heating energy savings of 63% in occupied student areas and 86% in unoccupied areas. This resulted in an annual cost saving of £28K and meant that the SmarterDM solution provided would pay for itself in just over two years.
Where can find more information on how energy management systems minimise the impact occupancy pattern for PBSA?
More information on how energy management systems can help to minimise the impact of occupancy patterns for PBSA asset holders can be found in the SmarterDM white paper ‘Intelligent heating solutions – reducing carbon emissions and energy costs for hotels and student accommodation.’
SmarterDM by Dimplex is an innovative UK based software and hardware development company that delivers intuitive systems for PBSA assets to help monitor, report, and manage data in real time.
If you would like to find out more about the financial and sustainability benefits that using a SmarterDM energy management system could bring to your PBSA asset, please contact us and our expert team will be in contact to complete a free indicative energy saving calculation.