When determining which HVAC controls to install at a commercial property, it’s important to consider the typical patterns of occupants at that property. Let’s examine a few common scenarios.
Scenario 1 – A commercial office building where employees generally work between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday.
In this scenario, a programmable thermostat is going to be the best option because typical occupancy patterns of the office employees follow a predictable pattern that is unlikely to change. A programmable thermostat will allow temperature setback at pre-determined times when the office is empty, and can accommodate a deeper temperature setback on weekends when no one is there.
A typical office environment has well defined working hours and may be better suited for a programmable thermostat.
Scenario 2 – A 100 room limited service hotel with a mix of both business travelers and vacationing guests who come and go at random times during their stay.
In this scenario, Verdant’s occupancy-based thermostat is unquestionably the right choice. The reason for that is because Verdant’s occupancy-based thermostat reacts to real time changes in occupancy, allowing the hotel to take advantage of energy savings within minutes of the guest leaving the room, regardless of whether they return later that day, or have checked out.
Instances where a programmable thermostat would make sense in a hotel include areas like a gym, pool, spa, or dining area that have defined opening and closing times with consistent traffic throughout the day.
Hotel room occupancy patterns are unpredictable and are best served by an occupancy-based thermostat.
Scenario 3 – A major university campus school dorm facility that has over 600 rooms, with students attending class between September and June with many returning home during Thanksgiving, Christmas, or spring break.
It would be simple to assume that a programmable thermostat would be ideal in this scenario. After all, most students attend class between 8am and 5pm during the day, and hang out in their rooms in the evening. But university schedules and classes aren’t consistent from day-to-day and vary from student to student. Some students may spend entire days in class, while others may spend entire days off working on term papers in their rooms. Because of this scheduling variance, an occupancy based thermostat is the most logical way to achieve energy savings without disturbing comfort.
Student dorm occupancy patterns are similar to hotels. Students’ schedules change daily, meaning an occupancy-based thermostat is the ideal choice for this type of room.
“The ramifications of having a cheaper programmable thermostat on the wall when a Verdant occupancy-based thermostat would be better suited to the situation will have a far more detrimental effect in the long-run, prolonging the breakeven period and reducing overall energy savings.”
Many times, when engineers, facility managers, or operations people are evaluating different control systems, they’ll make a choice based on price due to budget constraints. But the ramifications of having a cheaper programmable thermostat on the wall when a Verdant occupancy-based thermostat would be better suited to the situation will have a far more detrimental effect in the long-run, prolonging the breakeven period and reducing overall energy savings.
Consider the example of a hotel using a programmable thermostat to save energy. Most programmable thermostats used in the hotel industry are programmed to save energy only after the room has been unoccupied for 7-10 hours to ensure a room is unrented. That delay in temperature setback sacrifices significant energy savings that can be achieved in rented, unoccupied rooms. Furthermore, in hotels with high occupancy rates, a programmable thermostat may not save any energy for months at a time since the room is never unoccupied for more then 10-12 hours at a time.
And for states with utility companies that offer rebates for both programmable thermostats and occupancy based thermostats, the incentive levels tend to be larger for occupancy-based thermostats.
Programmable thermostats and occupancy based thermostats both have their uses at commercial properties. The choice between which is better suited must be decided upon after careful assessment of occupancy patterns at the building.
To learn more about how Verdant occupancy-based energy management thermostats are helping commercial buildings of all types reduce their energy consumption, click here.