Energy Savings Program at Texas A&M’s Evans Library
Large-scale facilities the world over are reducing their energy costs by upgrading their systems with intelligent lighting controls – but to get the most out of an upgrade, product and planning matter. As the distribution arm of IoEnergy Solutions, IoDistribution helps both facility owners and energy service and solutions providers obtain and install the best-in-class controls necessary to achieve the highest ROI for their clients.
An example of this effort is IoDistribution’s recent collaboration with EJS Associates on their lighting upgrade at Texas A&M University. The project included LED lighting updates and the implementation of Autani intelligent lighting controls.
Project Summary
Texas A&M’s Evans Library houses the majority of the university’s 4.5 million-volume print collection, as well as individual and public study areas, audiovisual and media services and a 24/5 library annex. To meet the needs of such a dynamic space, EJS developed an energy savings program which included lighting controls that were both responsive and efficient.
IoDistribution provided EJS with the LED luminaries and Autani controls, as well as implementation guidance for maximum ROI. After one year, the system has delivered an 83% verified reduction in energy costs, justifying the University’s financial investment in sustainability projects.
The Power of Autani Software
The Texas A&M Evans Library project employs Autani’s wireless sensors, switches, controllers, and dimmers to deliver the following benefits:
- Occupancy-Based Lighting – When a room is unoccupied, the sensors know it and the lights turn off or dim.
- Daylight Harvesting – Good sensors know when people are in the room. Great sensors know when the sun is. Daylight harvesting involves automatic dimming or deactivation of lights in sunlit rooms to save on energy costs and eliminate redundancy.
- Scheduled Lighting – Even if a building is open 24/7, certain departments won’t be. Maintenance, lounges, and conference rooms all have their own hours of operations. In the case of the Evans Library, the 24/5 Annex has a far different lighting schedule than the rest of the building. With Autani, facility managers can easily create and adjust the various lighting profiles that exist within the building.
- Unbiased Insight – Autani offers far more than set-it-and-forget-it solutions. For a college library application, daylight hours cycle throughout the year, occupancy rates change seasonally, and the weather changes every day. Autani’s real-time data analysis shows which locations are operating efficiently, and which need adjustment to find the maximum savings.
Autani Provides a Platform for Further Upgrades
Autani is a best-in-class building intelligence platform because of its interoperability with existing systems and scalability over time. Autani’s expanded capabilities portfolio includes integrated controls for HVAC, metering and sensing, people counting, and refrigeration monitoring. On the analytics side, the Autani Energy Center and Insights platforms deliver actionable analytics around space utilization and system performance to:
- Measure, report, verify and optimize energy use for energy management projects.
- Keep critical equipment operating to keep occupants comfortable and safe.
- Set alerts for equipment failure to quickly deploy maintenance staff.
- Manage peak load pricing strategies to reduce peak charges.
- Reduce environmental
Beyond the Lights, Autani Delivers Scalability, Affordability, and Ease of Use
IoDistribution provides the products and support for whole-system energy optimization. This is why they recommend Autani as an ideal building intelligence partner. Autani is designed to be scalable and work with existing systems. It is designed to be affordable with wireless integration that is less time intensive to set up for quicker commissioning and ROI.
Finally, it is designed to be easy to use. Onsite and remote dashboards provide real-time visibility into system performance and occupancy data, allowing for immediate adjustments and increased savings over time.