Navigator – Cloud based platform for energy and sustainability management is primed for the future
Software solution Navigator
With the "Navigator" software solution, the Siemens Building Technologies Division has been offering customers all over the world an integrated platform for energy and sustainability management for their buildings and properties since 2002. With a new design that focusses even more on its users, the move to Amazon's AWS cloud and connectivity with Siemens MindSphere - the cloud-based, open IoT operating system - make this globally deployed solution primed for the future. At the same time, the experts at eggs unimedia, who have supported the project with their know-how right from the beginning, rely on agile development methods with the SAFe framework and a DevOps concept, where programming and system maintenance are part of eggs unimedias range of comprehensive services.
Background
Worldwide, buildings consume about 41 percent of global primary energy through heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) and lighting, as well as heating water for domestic uses. Therefore, they produce around one third of all man-made CO2 emissions. Real estate is often the second-largest expense when you look at a corporation’s profit and loss statement, where approximately 80 percent of total life cycle costs of existing buildings are the result of ongoing operational expenses.
In order to increase its energy efficiency, while saving on electricity, heating, cooling and water costs and minimising the emission of greenhouse gases, the Siemens Building Technologies (SBT) Division made it easy in 2002, by developing its web-based "Energy Monitoring & Controlling" software, which is an easy-to-use tool for energy accounting.
"This toolset provides all the functions required for energy management via the Internet and is the backbone for all processes and tasks in all phases of a building’s life cycle," explains Winfried Wirth, Release Train Engineer (RTE) at Siemens Building Technologies, who is responsible for the smooth running of the development machinery. The platform was initially hosted on servers in two data centres, one in Europe and the other in the US, customers can access and use the service via the internet.
Solution
Tailored dashboards provide specific target groups such as building managers, caretakers or facility management with aggregated information about current energy consumption and costs, associated CO2 emissions and other relevant parameters - for example, in a yearly comparison, as well as, for all properties worldwide. A traffic light function indicates whether everything is in the green zone or whether there is an urgent need for action at certain locations.
Moreover, the solution package also allows an analysis far beyond the pure amounts of energy. In this way, physical building data, such as square metre area or number of employees, can be put into relation and comparisons are made on a neutral basis. More than 250 predefined reports allow a wide variety of evaluations and if required tailored to customers’ needs.
Since its inception, more than 30 digital services that help customers to continually improve the performance of their buildings and real estate portfolios have become part of the toolset. Such as the "Fault Detection and Diagnostics" (FDD) function, which has now been rolled out worldwide. This automated fault detection and diagnostics solution analyses dynamic building data, enabling customers to identify operational issues, pinpoint causes and take corrective action. This can reduce the cost of reactive maintenance, extend the life cycle of assets, and minimise downtime due to equipment failure.
Currently, more than 3,000 customers with around 80,000 buildings in 35 countries now use the platform in 20 languages, which is now offered under the name "Navigator". Meanwhile, more than 630,000 nodes and almost 850,000 data points are currently connected. In total, more than 34 billion readings are collected and analysed regularly and the throughput on the platform is approximately 450 million transactions daily. Networking with intelligent building technology via the Internet of Things (IoT) and more than 220 pre-defined analysis rules can turn any normal building into a smart building. Through the open interface (REST API) a simple connection to SAP systems, asset management solutions or intelligent meter infrastructures is established. It also enables the development of third party applications based on the Navigator system.
For customers, Navigator provides more transparency in building management and leads to a better decision-making process through data analytics and apps that can easily track energy and sustainability metrics. The software also helps maximise the operational efficiency of buildings by discovering hidden potential and prioritizing actions. This allows customers to noticeably lower their costs and increase their return on investment.
Additionally, it also supports better regulatory compliance and makes a positive contribution to the environment. Siemens customers around the world have already reduced the amount of the greenhouse gas CO2 produced by more than 525 million tonnes, and the balance sheet improves by a further 10.5 million tonnes every year. The platform has already received eleven international awards in the field of energy efficiency.
