As temperatures begin to fall, heating systems across commercial buildings will soon be working harder. Before demand increases significantly, it is worth checking that your Building Energy Management System is ready for the colder months ahead.

A BEMS plays an important role in determining when heating operates, which areas of a building receive heat and how plant responds to changing conditions. Small issues with controls can therefore become much more noticeable once colder weather arrives.

Review Heating Schedules

One of the first areas to check is scheduling. Operating hours can change over time, particularly in buildings where occupancy patterns have evolved.

Heating that starts too early or continues long after a building has emptied can waste energy. Equally, schedules that don’t reflect actual occupancy can result in uncomfortable conditions when employees or visitors arrive.

Reviewing schedules before winter provides an opportunity to ensure heating is available when required without operating unnecessarily.

Check Setpoints and Sensors

Temperature sensors provide the information a BEMS needs to make decisions about heating demand. If sensors are inaccurate, poorly positioned or no longer operating correctly, the system may respond to conditions that don’t accurately reflect the space.

Setpoints should also be reviewed to make sure they remain appropriate for how different areas of the building are being used.

Even relatively small discrepancies can result in plant operating for longer than necessary or occupants experiencing uncomfortable conditions.

Review Your Control Strategies

Modern BEMS can use strategies such as optimised start to determine when heating needs to begin based on factors including internal and external temperatures.

Rather than simply starting the heating at the same time every morning, the system can respond to actual building conditions.

Control strategies, frost protection and associated alarms should all be checked to make sure they are configured correctly before colder conditions place greater demand on the system.

Look at the Data

Data can provide valuable insight into how heating plant is performing.

Unusually long runtimes, spaces struggling to reach temperature or equipment operating outside expected hours can all indicate potential control or plant issues.

Identifying these patterns early provides an opportunity to investigate before they develop into more significant problems during winter.

Prepare Before Demand Increases

Waiting until occupants complain that a building is cold isn’t the ideal time to discover a problem with your BEMS.

At Concord, our engineers can review system performance, control strategies, sensors, alarms and schedules to help ensure your BEMS and connected plant are ready for increased winter demand.

A proactive approach before temperatures fall can help maintain occupant comfort, reduce unnecessary energy consumption and support reliable building performance throughout the colder months.

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