VRF systems are now a well established solution as an alternative to conventional chilled water, especially as they have been around since the late 80's. They offer a great deal of local control over the indoor fan coil units, - whether wall mounted, ceiling cassette, above ceiling ducted fan coil etc. Systems have since evolved with heat recovery and hybrid chilled water.
In todays ever changing commercial office market, and with an ever increasing pressure on bills, all systems have to be able to reduce energy but without affecting occupier comfort.
Do I need different VRF manufacturer remote connections?
Whether you have a Mitsubishi, Daikin, Toshiba, Panasonic or Samsung VRF system, previously you will always have had to connect the manufacturers software to connect to the VRF units controller to access the full functionality that each make can provide.
However, you can now connect to any make of VRF with our unique Envirobridge Cloudbox IoT module that enables full access to all error codes and remote diagnostics. & Reducing Energy Consumption from any make VRF System.
The Envirobridge Cloudbox, easily plugs into any make VRF HVAC system. The solution is Plug & Play. It automatically detects the HVAC system and available units. Once connected to the cloud, all brand-specific parameters of the connected systems will be immediately and continuously collected, analysed and presented in the application.
Once the system is set, data will start streaming into the system, and the algorithm starts monitoring the HVAC system remotely - detecting and notifying of any system anomaly or deviation from the regular system performance. The system also uses a predefined anomaly detection library, that enables the inspection of various system parameters.
With hundreds of Manufacturer approved VRF contractors, it makes sense for any contractor to be pro-active and to offer energy reduction measures and also carry out remote predictive maintenance routines especially as Businesses are looking for differentiation from standard PPM contracts and ways to save money.
How can you reduce Energy From a VRF system?
In theory, because of the way a VRF system is configured and operates, then it should be relatively easy to make adjustments, but (unless its remotely monitored/connected) it will mean an engineer will have to physically go to site controllers to make the necessary adjustments, and with an ever flexible hybrid working that can literally mean daily adjustments.
These adjustments could mean switching areas/zones on/off and in the case of multi-tenanted buildings could mean different settings for each different tenant. Potentially those are constant changes expensive changes every day.
In practical terms, many of these building don't have an onsite team that can make these adjustments and it would be economically viable to send an engineer every day either.
Our cross platform Envirobridge IoT independent remote solution enables any make of system to be remotely connected so that changes can be made quickly and easily from an App or from a Laptop and machine learning means changes are made automatically without disruption.
Contractors can resolve issues remotely and avoid sending a technician unnecessarily. When a technician is needed on site, you can view the issue remotely and diagnose the site so that he can arrive onsite with the right tools and any applicable spare parts.
What about reducing energy with reduced occupancy?
Why run a whole floors VRF system when its un-occupied or only partially occupied? Makes sense right? In practical terms surely it makes sense to only run the Fan Coils in those areas that are occupied, and switch fan coils off where there is no one there?
That is an obvious place to start, and our blog article explains how this can be achieved. One of the great features of our system is the ability to view everything on a floor plan, which shows how to view the HVAC systems using mobile or desktop applications from anywhere using visual tools such as live interactive floor plans, annotated notes, and other advanced functions.
System changes of any make of VRF can be made remotely without the need for a BMS connection, however if needed and via our API we can provide 2-way comms via BACNET, MODBUS, KNX or any other native protocol.
Our system provides both local and cloud-based solutions that allow you to test all the connected units within the system. With real-time feedback from the connected indoor units, you can test your installation functionality in minutes, without having to move around the building to verify unit functionality.
ENERGY MONITORING
Get actual power usage of each individual system, drill down to the energy consumption level of each indoor unit. Detect extreme and peak consumptions and address them on time to save on energy costs.
Integration
We recognise that "in an ideal world" that its best to integrate all these systems together and view them on a single platform such as a BMS, but many of these systems are not easy to configure. Our BMS integration via our Envirobridge module enables full API BMS integration if required.
Would you like a Demo of How to Save Energy and Access Remote Diagnostics from any Make or VRF? Click the button below.
Comments