Flexibility — the only thing an Energy Manager really needs from automation

Why "don't touch it" is tempting

I have heard this line from controls engineers many times, and I am not at all surprised by it.

A facility's automation is often a history of successive decisions, addenda, workarounds and "temporary" solutions that became permanent over time. Some of the people who implemented them no longer work there. Those who came later often had neither the time nor the documentation to understand why the system behaves the way it does.

In that situation, "don't touch it" sounds sensible. The problem is that sometimes it is the worst possible strategy.

Reality has picked up speed

In building energy efficiency, the principle of "it works, so let's not change it" leads into a dead end. Energy prices change, so do regulations, market requirements, board expectations and legislation — with the EPBD directive at the front. The Energy Manager is dealing today with challenges that simply did not exist a few years ago.

What counts today is not only the amount of energy consumed, but also the moment it is drawn, how it was sourced, the cost, the demand, the flexibility and, increasingly, the emissions. On top of that come standards, internal policies, process requirements and regulations that will become more specific and more demanding.

So what should we expect from automation?

The answer may be surprising, because it really comes down to one thing — far-reaching flexibility.

The kind that allows the control strategy to be changed quickly, and the system adapted to new prices, tariffs, legal requirements, demand limits, emissions or user comfort. Preferably without stopping the facility, without an expensive rebuild, without loading operators with yet more duties, and with cybersecurity maintained.

That takes more than a classic BMS that "works" but in which every change resembles open-heart surgery.

What is needed is an EMOS-class layer

What is needed is an IT/OT layer of the EMOS class — Energy Management and Optimization System (EMOS), the category defined by Gartner. A system that integrates data, allows consumption, cost, emissions and plant condition to be analysed, and then helps to genuinely control the facility. Not in order to replace people, but so that they are not forced to chase reality by hand.

Flexibility means the ability to respond ahead of time. When a change is visible on the horizon, the system should allow an immediate answer — rather than launching another project entitled "let's try to change something without changing anything".

The most expensive strategy is the one that sounds most sensible

Classic automation served its purpose for years. But a system that cannot be reconfigured efficiently becomes a constraint. A person can rescue the situation by hand for a while, but will not keep pace with the growing complexity of the market, the regulations and the facility itself.

So I wish every Energy Manager automation that not only works, but can also be changed to suit their needs. Because in building energy, the most expensive strategy is sometimes the one that sounds most sensible: "better not to touch it".