Raising Building Performance for a carbon free future
Today, reducing a building's utility consumption is essential to satisfying sustainability goals and offsetting carbon emissions that are bad for our planet. One of the clearest paths to accomplishing this is by ensuring equipment is operating as efficiently as possible.
The Move To Optimal Efficiency Begins
Two years ago, Minto set off to achieve optimal building performance. It started upgrading its building automation systems (BAS) to online systems allowing it to monitor heating and ventilation air conditioning (HVAC0 equipment remotely. At the same time, Minto optimized the sequences and schedules controlling the equipment.
Hiring A Specialist To Ensure Everything Was Done Correctly
Minto hired a BAS specialist to oversee the upgrades and optimizations. An uncommon but highly effective move, this enabled Minto to identify the optimal BAS setting for each building and confirm that the systems were optimizing utility usage during the transitional seasons of spring and fall.
Minto discovered what new equipment it required to perform the best possible ongoing monitoring to achieve the utility savings it had projected. Built into this equipment, would be alarms and alerts that identified equipment failures or instances when system set points were not being achieved. Importantly, this would allow Minto to initiate repairs faster and minimize the impact on its residents by creating a safe and comfortable environment.
Planning Ahead To Achieve Energy and Water Reduction Targets
Minto recognized that achieving optimal building performance should be an ongoing priority. So, it began to look at other ways to achieve this end - for example, through the analysis of in-suite temperatures and the monitoring of real time energy consumption and performance.
On top of this, Minto is striving to reduce water intensity with smart controllers - installed at the majority of its properties with irrigation systems - that allow for the optimization of irrigation schedules based on local rainfall and temperature data provided by weather services. Minto is also working to increase the number of its commercial spaces that have garnered LEED certification, the most widely used green building rating system in the world. Over the last five years, Minto has increased this figure by 8.9%.
Minto will add new technology and perform retrofits when required to reduce their buildings' energy consumption. And the organization will continue to do whatever it takes to achieve maximum building performance across its entire portfolio. We will keep you posted on any future developments in this area as they unfold.
Interested in learning more about all the initiatives we have underway to build toward a carbon free future? Join our team and be part of the next generation of exciting initiatives. Visit our Careers page today.