Unlocking the hidden potential of data towards efficient buildings: Findings from a pilot study in India

Energy cost is one of the significant contributors to the operational expenses of commercial buildings. In developing countries facing problems of frequent power outages and deficient grid connectivity, diesel generators are used as backup power source which significantly increase the costs incurred in management of commercial establishments. Integration of information and communication technologies to building management systems provides a reliable platform to analyze various aspects of the building such as energy consumption trends and occupancy inferences thereby proposing reactive or pro-active strategies directed towards efficient and cost-effective building management. Usually, this potential of data available to building management agencies stays untapped in developing countries. In this paper, we take a data-driven approach to understand various operational aspects of a commercial establishment. To demonstrate the scope for optimization of building operations by exploiting the energy consumption data, a pilot study was conducted in an IT office building in India.