HOW TEP

REDUCES
ENERGY ON
AIR
CONDITIONING
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HOW TEP REDUCES

ENERGY ON AIR
CONDITIONING
Giving occupants convenient control over air
conditioning in the office doesn?t sound like a good way
EVIDENCE AND
to save energy. In fact, it sounds like a sure way to waste
EXPERIENCE SHOW it and turn the office into freezer!
THAT MOST OFFICE
HVAC SYSTEM But evidence and experience show that most office
ACTUALLY OVER COOL HVAC systems actually overcool the office by default,
and when occupants?preferences are registered, the
THE OFFICE
net result is higher temperatures and energy savings.

This paper outlines the specific mechanisms by which

the En-trak Tenant Experience Platform (TEP) achieves
this somewhat counter- intuitive result, in terms of
human behavior, office layouts and HVAC equipment.

Before we start, it?s important to note that most offices

will save energy in a few of the ways listed below, but
not in all.

Each situation is unique, and a lot depends on how your

HVAC operates before implementing TEP, as well as the
specific way in which you implement TEP.
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FINDING THE BEST BASE

TEM PERATURE BY ZONE
In most office HVAC systems, all thermostats are set to the same
temperature regardless of location. Sometimes this is just for
administrative convenience, and sometimes it?s because all
thermostats are in the same room and nobody knows or care which
one controls which area.

Regardless, different areas of the office will have different cooling

requirements depending on external and internal sources of heat.
Window-side areas will tend to be warmer and need more cooling as
compared with more interior areas. Areas more densely packed with
people will need more cooling to offset the extra heat from so many
warm bodies. And certain office equipment can generate heat and
require offsetting cooling as well.

Most HVAC systems deal with this by setting the base thermostat
temperature for the whole office to a setting that is comfortable for
those warmer areas. This tends to cause overcooling in areas with
fewer people or less sunlight exposure ? whether this causes
discomfort or not, it is still using extra energy to cool the office to a
temperature beyond what is necessary for occupant comfort.
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TEP resolves this issue by enabling and encouraging separate

temperature settings by individual zone, as determined by
occupant perceptions of temperature. So, if all thermostats were
set to 23 degrees before, TEP can now set them all to 24.5 and
let the occupants of warmer areas request extra cooling.

Addit ional I nf or m at ion Header

Through machine learning, TEP will learn over time to set the
thermostats for those warmer areas at 23 degrees or whatever
is comfortable, while keeping the 24.5 degrees setting in areas
that is sufficiently comfortable. And because this occupant
feedback process is a) done using a convenient mobile app and
b) immediately responsive with a burst of cool air at the
minimum (see next point), occupants are quickly, conveniently
and comfortably shepherded through the learning phase.
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COOLING FOR THE M OM ENT

When an occupant requests extra cooling, it means they?re feeling uncomfortably warm ?
pretty straightforward. However, in many cases they are only feeling warm due to
temporary circumstances. Maybe they just came in from outside, where it was hot and they
were sweating. Maybe they are in a meeting room with ten other people.

The uncomfortable warmth they feel in these situations does not require a permanent or
even day-long temperature adjustment to resolve ? it just needs a burst of cold air or a
temperature adjustment for the duration of a meeting.

TEP?s machine learning engine can tell the difference between a temporary one-off request
and a consistent pattern of requests, then respond to each in the most appropriate way. In
most cases, that means either a 5-minute increase in chilled air provision or a set
temperature adjustment only for the duration of a meeting, after which the temperature
setting will return to a slightly higher state.
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This ensures that occupants are kept comfortable and their needs are
responded to quickly and effectively, while also ensuring that their requests
do not result in over-cooling and excessive energy use over a long period of
time.

OCCUPANCY-BASED COOLING
In most office buildings, all areas are cooled according to a preset schedule of
working hours without much regard for whether specific areas are actually
occupied or not. This means that unoccupied areas are often still heavily cooled.
During normal working hours these areas may not be large, but during early
morning hours, lunch hours, or evening hours large areas of the office may be
unoccupied but still cooled.

TEP has various mechanisms to track occupancy in different areas of the office,
down to the individual workstation level.

The most advanced is an access control system integration that lets you adjust the
aircon settings as individual staff members enter and exit the office.

Tap your card to open the door or get into the building, and TEP will turn on the
aircon above your workstation to your preferred temperature. Or tap your card to
leave, and the aircon supply will be decreased or shut off (depending on whether
the area is still occupied by others).
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But even basic mechanisms can help during early morning,

lunch and evening hours. With a standard schedule set for
working hours, outside of which staff must request air
conditioning, TEP can determine which areas are occupied and
cool them without unnecessarily cooling the entire office.

Bu t h ow does t h is save en er gy on t h e ch iller

side? Or does it on ly save en er gy f or t h e
t en an t s an d air -side equ ipm en t ?
Exactly how this works depends on the air-side equipment used,
but in both cases the basic concept is the same. Chillers (the
largest energy consumers in an HVAC system) provide chilled
water to equipment in or near the areas that need cooling. This
chilled water absorbs heat from the air in that area ? this lowers
the temperature of the air (cooling!) and increases the
temperature of the water. This water is then pumped back to the
chiller where it will be cooled again for another round.

No matter the type of equipment used in or around the

occupied areas, TEP saves energy by ensuring that less heat is
absorbed by the water, meaning it returns to the chiller at a
lower temperature and less energy is required to cool it again.

It may help to review how this works for specific ?air-side?

equipment and technologies ? VAV and FCU are the most
common options in commercial offices:
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HOW TEP INCREASES HVAC ENERGY EFFICIENCY

The graphic below illustrates how TEP uses occupants?input and other new data about
occupant behavior patterns to increase HVAC efficiency and thermal comfort. Before TEP is
deployed, the building central HVAC system is turned on between 0800-1900hrs, regardless of
occupancy and occupants?preferences. After TEP is deployed, the HVAC temperature settings
can be adjusted to actual occupant activity, needs and requests. This significantly reduces
energy use while still providing extra convenience and comfort to the occupants.
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VAV (VARIABLE AIR VOLUM E)
In a VAV system, chilled water is
sent from the centralized chillers
to an AHU (air handling unit) on
each floor or large zone. Put
simply, this AHU turns chilled
water into chilled air, which it
then sends through ductwork to
VAV boxes that are positioned
throughout the office. Each VAV
box can then adjust the amount
of chilled air it provides to the
small zone it serves. Opening the
damper allows more chilled air
into the office and means more
cooling for that space.
If TEP is closing more of these
VAV dampers or opening them to
a lower setting to allow less
chilled air into the office, then the
air pressure in the ductwork will
go up. The AHU has a sensor to
detect this change in air pressure
and will provide less chilled air
for the VAV boxes in that zone.
With less air being chilled, the
chilled water provided by the
chillers will return to the chillers
with a lower average
temperature.
This means that the chillers don?t
need to use as much energy to
further chill that water to the
desired and preset temperature.
Since the chilled water return
temperature is also typically the
basis for turning on and off
additional chiller units, a small
change can even result in one
less chiller unit operating during
certain hours. This saves
substantial amounts of energy
on the biggest energy consumer
in the whole HVAC system ? the
chillers.

VAV box dampers are opened

more or less depending on
how much chilled air needs to
be provided.

When the dampers are closed

or only slightly opened, a
pressure sensor detects the
higher pressure in the
ductwork and slows/stops the
provision of new chilled air.

This reduces the amount of

heat absorbed by the chilled
water and thus reduces the
work that needs to be done by
the chiller.
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FCU (Fan Coil Un it s) TEP control and automation

settings ultimately result in this
In a fan coil system, chilled water valve being closed more often
is sent directly from the and/or the fan speed being
centralized chillers to the ceiling reduced. Overall, this means that
of each floor. That chilled water less cooling is done and the
flows through ?fan coils?, which chilled water provided by the
use a fan to bring air past the chillers will return to the chillers
chilled water pipe and cool it. with a lower average
temperature.
Increasing the fan speed brings
more air through the fan coil This means that the chillers don?t
unit, providing more cooling and need to use as much energy to
heating up the chilled water. The further chill that water to the
chilled water valve can also be desired and preset temperature.
turned off, meaning that any air
passing through the fan coil will Since the chilled water return
not be chilled (it will still provide temperature is also typically the
some benefit through improved basis for turning on and off
air flow). additional chiller units, a small
change can even result in one
less chiller unit operating during
certain hours. This saves
Fan coils bring the air already
substantial amounts of energy
in the office into contact with a
chilled water pipe. This cools on the biggest energy consumer
up the air and warms up the in the whole HVAC system ? the
water. The air is then blown chillers.
back into the office where it
brings down the temperature
in that area.
A lower fan speed brings in
less air and warms up the
water less (also cooling less).
This means the chiller uses
less energy to re-cool the
warmed water.
The chilled water pipe valve
can also be turned off, so that
the fancoil can still provide
some airflow into the office,
but it will not provide any
cooling.
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Abou t En -t r ak
En-trak is an award-winning proptech company backed by Alibaba
and CLP. We help CRE landlords create a comfortable, productive
Hon g Kon g and sustainable work environment.

Sin gapor e Our core solution En-trak Tenant Experience Platform- a

M alaysia customer-facing application for CRE landlords to enable building
occupants to control & personalize their workplace temperature
Sh en zh en & lighting using their smartphone.
Ban gk ok
Founded in 2013, En-trak solutions are used and trusted by over
Jak ar t a 350 world-class customers in Asia including Hong Kong Stock
Exchange, Hong Kong Convention Centre, Sino Group, City
Br isban e
Developments Limited and many others.