Can India meet its 100 GW Solar Power Proposal?

Last week, In Paris UN climate conference 2015, India pledged to increase the amount of solar power that can be generated in the country to 100 gigawatts by 2022.

The same week, I got my LEED AP certification, so knowing all about India, I decided to write this article - to tell the reality of India.

100 GW of Solar power!

This is REALLY BIG promise, considering the fact that today, India's current capacity is just around 3 GW! That's more than 20 times India's current solar deployment. It's also more than twice the installed capacity in Germany & China. Germany has about 40 GW. China is little more than 40GW.

To achieve 100 GW, India will have to overcome some of the biggest challenges in terms of Investments and most importantly policy reforms.

To get to 100 GW by 2022, Solar Power installations must grow by 65% year-on-year!

Can India pull it off?

Technically and Financially, getting to 100 GW by 2022 is feasible. The total investment needed in Solar Panels (not including land and investments in Power Grid) is about US$ 75 Billion. (Assuming cost of panels will come down by 5% y-o-y.) Total area required for 100 GW will be around 30,000 acres.

Considering that India has plenty of funds - mainly in form of black money, and according to GFI's 2014 Annual Global Update on Illicit Financial Flows report, US $51 Billion flows out  of India annually and in last 10 years US $ 439 Billion flowed out of India.

We can make a reasonable assumption that given proper channels and opportunities, all that black money can be diverted to create solar power plants. Then we know we have funds to set up 100 GW of solar power!

Between 2012 and 2014, solar capacity increased from 461 megawatts to over three gigawatts in India.


Land needed to set up the panels is not much either. 100 GW will require about 500,000 Acres.  Just by using the large reservoir area of big dams of India - like Nagarjuna Sagar, Tehri dam, Bhakra Dam etc, we can create more than enough space for solar power plans. So even after considering the fact that cost of building solar farms over  lake area is slightly expensive - but it makes up the fact that the Solar plants does not need agricultural land!

Moreover, setting up solar power plans over water reservoirs helps in reducing water losses due to evaporation and also increases the efficiency of Solar PV panels.

In short, we have all the land needed to create 100 GW of Solar power, and we have the funds. But do we have the right policies?

Great Indian Dinosaur Park!

Just take a walk around any Indian cities and look out for power distribution cables. It often looks like this:

The image is also a perfect reflection on the state of Indian power distribution utilities. None of the utilities have performed regular auditing of their power losses and it shows in their balance sheets.

Currently, power supply distribution is a monopoly of several state government owned companies - popularly called as "escoms".  These escoms are badly managed, corruption ridden organizations - which have no business sense. These utilities have racked up $55 billion in losses over the past six years, the cumulative losses in these power utilities has not yet been fully accounted.

Development of Solar Power by private sector will only aggravate losses to state owned power utilities. Currently, farmers in most states do not pay for electrical power. Indian farmers who get free electricity to power irrigation pumps.

The free power to farmers accounts for 20 percent of India's electricity consumption and accounts for roughly $10 billion of the losses on state owned utilities. Consequently, industries in India are charged at very high price for electric power and if these industrial users move to solar power, the losses to state owned electric utilities will only increase. Therefore state owned electric utilities have no motivation to allow "net metering".

The national power grid is also a government owned monopoly of Power Grid Corporation of India - which is yet another dinosaur!

The power grid is already under tremendous stress, and the installed grid capacity is less than generation capacity. As a result power hungry states in the southern parts of the country are not able to draw power from states which has surplus capacities.

Adding 100 GW to this decrepit grid is not possible. Also one must note that peak solar power is available only for a short duration of the day and it completely disappears at night. This massive power fluctuations can disrupt & destabilize the grid adversely.

The intermittent nature of renewable energy sources like solar power presents a range of challenges to utilities, depending on their grid's size and design. If Solar PV cells are providing a substantial share of the grid's power and suddenly cloud covers a large Solar PV plant, the power generation drops by 40-50% in less than a minute. This rapid power loss can cause the frequency of the grid's alternating current to drop well below 50 hertz, damaging customer equipment or even causing a blackout.

In short, Indian utilities' ragged infrastructure and financial woes have deterred investment in both clean and unclean power generation. In many cases, utilities have no money to buy solar power from private plants - even when there is demand for electric power.

The Great Indian Policy Challenge

A. Policy Challenge-1: Power Utilities

The biggest challenge India to developing solar power is its policy framework. The onus of connecting all of the 100 GW of solar power lies with various state power utilities - who have absolutely no incentive to do so.

As a solution, Messrs. Sivaram, Shrimali and Reicher suggest creating a federally administered fund to buy power from solar generators when distribution companies aren't in a position to do so, thereby reducing risks to developers. Such a fund was outlined as part of a 2010 national solar program. Even after 5 years - the policy is not yet implemented.

Today, not all Indian states currently have mechanisms for customers to sell self-generated solar power back to the grid and it is unlikely that the various state governments will change their policies to align with the fedral/central government vision and policy.

B. Policy Challenge-2: Land acquisition

Today, setting up a 1 GW of solar power requires 230 acres of land. For 100 GW, it will require 500,000 acres which investors will have to acquire without government assistance. Given the fragmented land ownership in India, it means negotiating with 30-50 persons per acre of land! Moreover there are innumerable restrictions on acquiring agricultural land.

Further more, land area needed for the solar power plans are under the control of various state governmental agencies: Ministry of agriculture, Ministry of Irrigation etc. In short there are more than 100 agencies that govern the area!

This implies that private developed developers will face difficulties acquiring land and getting permissions to build the necessary transmission lines.

C. Policy Challenge-3: Pricing Challenge

For any business investments, investors must have a clear idea of expected returns. Given the rapid decline in the cost of solar power generation - the cost of solar power has already fallen beneath the cost of power generated from imported coal, and could soon be cheaper than power from domestic coal.

This rapid drop in solar PV panels will create project financing challenges. So apart from a purchase agreement, the solar power plants will need tax benefits and capital grants. A currency-hedging facility would help to attract foreign capital.

In rural areas, Indian government also subsidizes fuel for gas lamps, making solar even more uncompetitive. Reducing fossil fuel subsidies would lift energy prices that this would make rooftop solar plants more attractive for millions of rural households.

D. Policy Challenge-4: Petty Politics  

As a first step in policy reforms, government will have to revive & pass the long-pending Renewable Energy Bill in 2015 or latest by summer of 2016.  This Bill, if ratified by Parliament into an Act, should increase RPOs to 15 percent and provide routes for financing, such as infrastructure funds and green energy bonds.

NDA led central government has so far failed miserably to pass any major bills in parliament. The NDA government has so far shown no political will to pass even minor bills in the parliament. Currently, the government is struggling to pass the GST bill - for which there is a general consensus!

In India, power utilities are owned by local state governments. Given the petty politics that our leaders engage in, there is no chance that all the states will agree with the central/fedral government on solar/green power policies and agree on a national level green policy.

This implies, hitting the target of 100 gigawatts of solar by 2022 will require more fundamental reform in every aspect of power sector and that needs political consensus. This is the biggest challenge India has.

Policy Challenge-5: Roof Top Off Grid solar Power

If there is one good success story in solar power in India, it is in rooftop solar water heaters. India has the largest install base for roof top solar water heaters. Rooftop solar water heaters has been one of the rare successes. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has been able to provide subsidy to individual buyers and encourage manufactures.

However, when it comes to rooftop solar PV cells, the plan is to generate only 3 GW of power via rooftop solar PV plants. Solar panels and batteries for powering appliances in a single homes or a small group of users, stand to bring enormous benefits to millions of in India who have limited or no access to the electricity grid.

As on today, rooftop solar power can now match or beat the grid rates for commercial and industrial consumers in many states. Unfortunately, very few of these people can afford to setup even the simplest solar technology and there are no easy financing options.

In rural areas, Indian government also subsidizes fuel for gas lamps, making solar even more uncompetitive. Reducing fossil fuel subsidies would lift energy prices that this would make rooftop solar plants more attractive for millions of rural households.

In India there is potential to produce upto 40 GW of power from rooftop installations and having a good policy framework to attract individual house owners to invest in solar PV panels will be a good step - but the current policies are not aligned for this.

Closing Thoughts

Producing 100 GW of solar power requires political commitment and lots of smart interventions. Government needs to increase its spending on power infrastructure which includes national power grids, power exchanges and spot power markets.

To reach 100 GW of Solar power by 2022 requires making solar power a national priority - something akin to Kennedy's race to the moon.

Right now, 100 GW of solar power looks like a pipe dream - an overambitious target that has no detailed plans and allocated budget.  There is a big mismatch between the goal and the road map and there is no clear strategy to achieve it.

Technically, India is capable of setting up more than 500 GW of solar power in next 10 years  - provided there is political will and policies to support it.

With the 100 GW announcement, Narendra Modi's government got the whole world excited and talking about it. If the government can follow it up with policies, investors will follow with their money, set up manufacturing plants and creating thousands of jobs.

India's push towards renewable energy has a lot going for it. It is like a mythological story in many ways. We now need to take a pragmatic view of this story and ensure that the 100 GW plan goes beyond just the talk.

IoT is about to change Human Behavior

Internet of Things (IoT) is no longer a futuristic science fiction stuff. It is here and is slowly but surely changing our lives. As the technology matures and the prevalence of connected devices increases, it will change our lives in several profound ways. IoT would have an impact greater than that of World Wide Web!

I would say IoT will be one of those things that will fundamentally change the way we live on this planet:

 - Just like our ability to harness fire put humans on path to civilization,
 - Just like our ability to read & write helped create complex civilizations,
 - Just like Newspaper and Telegram created a global economy,
 - Just like Internet & WWW created a knowledge economy,

IoT will fundamentally change the way humans live, behave & interact in the society.

Let illustrate this with an example.

Let's say there is a construction on a major highway in the city. One hundred years ago, information of this construction would be published in newspaper - which very few people would read, and the local administration would put up big hoarding all around the construction site - requesting commuters to take alternate routes, and a local policemen would manually redirect traffic.

Percentage of people who knew about the advisory - 5%
Percentage of people who heeded to the advisory - 1%

The rest 99% would still drive on the same path and get redirected by local police.

With the advent of Radio & television the situation did not change much. With better communication technology, more people were now aware of the construction, but did not know

Percentage of people who knew about the advisory: 20-30%
Percentage of people who heeded to the advisory:  1-5%

The rest 95-99% would still drive on the same path and get redirected by local police.

Internet and World Wide Web along with  Social Networking tools improved the level of awareness, but people would still pile up at the construction point and choke traffic, and we still needed police to redirect traffic.

Percentage of people who knew about the advisory: 50-80%
Percentage of people who heeded to the advisory:  5-10%

While we now have all the tools to send out information, we as humans still have limited capability to absorb information and act on it.  So even with instant communications, real time traffic map service and social networks, people behavior hardly changed.
Studies done on the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and Katrina show that people now have awareness - but still do not act on those information!

But IoT is about to change this.

With the advent of GPS Navigation systems, users can now chart out their driving path so as to avoid the construction area. So with IoT,

Percentage of people who knew about the advisory: 100%
Percentage of people who heeded to the advisory:  50-80%

The next generation IoT does even bettwe, with the advent of self-driving cars, the information about road constructions will be consumed by the car and it will reroute its path to avoid construction site, thus avoiding unnecessary traffic jams and wasted time/fuel. Thus with second generation of IoT,

Percentage of people who knew about the advisory: 100%
Percentage of people who heeded to the advisory:  100%

First Generation of IoT

While IoT is no longer a futuristic pipe dream, the technology is still maturing. The  technology has evolved a lot ever since Simon Hackett and John Romkey operated a toaster via the Internet in 1990. Technology evolved quite a bit since then and today we have Smart thermostats such as Nest, or fridges which can display Tweets!

Today, there is much wider prevalence of connected devices - which collect lots of data from the surrounding environment. But these are essentially the first generation of IoT.

Collecting information and presenting information is just a proof of concept of what role IoT can play in our daily lives. Devices such as smart watches or Fit-bit bands can collect a whole lot of information on a person's daily activity. But it does very little to change the person's behavior.

Very few people can change their actions and behavior based on the information presented to them. I would say less than 1% of people changed their exercise pattern because of Smart Bands/watches.

First generation of IoT was all about collecting data. But data was not an end in itself.  Consumers are already overwhelmed by data. Some systems were able to present data in a meaningful way in form of actionable information for people to act. For example, smart baby monitors can alert parents when the baby's breathing pattern changes. But then all mothers are still very anxious and would not change their sleeping patterns - even after knowing that their baby us being safely and actively monitored.

First generation IoT did not make life better, rather it added tremendous complexity with yet another gadget that consumes attention and feeds our obsessive-compulsive disorders.

Smart products today still have big challenges in making users interact with the products and take actions.

The first generation IoT was still far away from creating meaningful experiences.

Second Generation of IoT

Second generation of IoT is just around the corner. Few systems are already being deployed and tried - but these are just the beginning. Smart systems today react to all the information coming from connected systems in a meaningful, purposeful ways.

For example, Smart insulin pumps can alter the quantities of Insulin being pumped into body based on real time blood sugar levels.

The second generation of IoT goes beyond collecting & presenting data. It has to simplify life through automation. Connected devices have to remove tedious chores from our daily lives, allowing people to concentrate on more important stuff.

Second generation of IoT has to provide the ability to control things automatically - which we otherwise would not. For example changing the building thermostat settings to match with power savings plans or based on real-time power supply data - when grid loads increase beyond a point, smart gird can tell all connect smart buildings to lower their power consumption. Smart buildings will then react to this request by changing the temperature & lighting settings.

The next big innovation in IoT will be to create user experience in ways that it makes lives richer by seamlessly eliminating mundane activities. One must create systems focused on meeting a conscious or an unconscious need. For example self driving cars - which meets the need for transport whenever without the hassle of driving.

Today, Airlines and aircraft's are using data from IoT to change the flight parameters to create better fuel efficiency and better passenger comfort - all without pilots actions.

Closing Thoughts

Developing this second generation IoT systems will certainly require a different ways of thinking. This also presents a tremendous opportunity to enhance human experience and enhance life in ways that were never possible before.

Smart systems must be able to understand our intentions and desires and then act independently to create those experiences. When IoT and Smart systems can take real time, meaningful action - without human interaction, IoT will become mainstream.

Second Generation of IoT will not be centered around the product. Instead, it will be centered around user experiences, while hiding all complexity of technology.  Second generation IoT does away with all the unnecessary interfaces and enable customer to concentrate on more important tasks. When IoT products (sensors, actuators), the network, the apps - will all work seemlessly - it will ehance the customer experience - without "Experience of the product"

How IoT will help Sustainability

Any one who has a car today will have experienced a traffic jam and once a while, while waiting in the traffic jam, there will be a thought: How to eliminate this traffic jam and help environment by better use of technology?

Several of today's startups are working on latest technology that may do just that.

In my previous post I had mentioned about How IoT is helping build sustainable buildings. But there is more to technology built on top of IoT which will profoundly change the way we live - and thus reduce energy consumption by increasing energy efficiency.

Cars are the BIGGEST users of energy today. It is no wonder, a lot of innovation and new technology is being developed to improve energy utilization in cars. Some of the innovations that we have already seen are:

1. Hybrid Cars that run on electric motors and fossil fuel engines
2. Electric Cars that can be charged from Solar panels
3. Uber's network of cars, where Internet connects the drivers to customers
4. Google's self driving cars

Now the stage is set for the next revolution:  A network of connected cars, connected buildings and smart traffic management systems.

The idea of self driving electric cars integrated with Uber like technology will enable commuters to share rides - thus eliminating waste. The idea of one person driving alone in a car will soon be history!

To enable such a system where self driving taxis can be hailed via smart phones will require lots of new technologies driven by IoT in form of Smart/Intelligent cars, Traffic monitoring systems on roads such as cameras, Vehicle speed detectors, Intelligent traffic monitoring and management via smart traffic lights, Smart parking spaces  & recharge points - which broadcast empty slots to self driving cars, Air quality & pollution monitoring and broadcasting system - which will guide hybrid cars to switch over to electric mode in polluted areas, Commute demand management systems - which will automatically determine the best possible commute options,  etc.

I am sure there will several other technologies that will emerge in the next decade.

On November 30th, amidst the backdrop of the COP21 Climate Change Conference in Paris,  a group of high-powered tech executives announced Monday the formation of the Breakthrough Energy Coalition and its intention to push investment to pioneering climate change technologies, there can be some real change in energy efficiency in the enterprise with technology available today.

IoT and the always connected network forms the backbone of this new technological breakthroughs - that will create build a sustainable world. IoT forms the eyes, ears & senses of this new technology, while the wireless networks from the interlinks that connects the people, the business and the cities together and provides relevant information for insights on what needs to be done to reduce energy consumption in real time.

Linking vehicles, commuter traffic and air emissions to air quality is giving traffic management the right data to manage for optimal efficiency: Reduce operational cost, greenhouse gas emissions and the environmental footprint.

The key value will come from raising the efficiency. Today people who drive their cars & big SUVs around normally use it for 5% of the time and at 20% of the capacity - i,e ~99% of all the available transport capacity in cars & automobiles are being wasted!

This will have to change and technology sector will drive this change to create a sustainable cities.

Similarly, almost 100% of sunlight falling on cities are being wasted! Developing more effective and efficient solar photo voltaic panels can eliminate the need for fossil fuels in cars.
New technology can change the way we consume energy and lead us to a path of greener and a sustainable future.

Closing Thoughts

Today, cars form the biggest polluters in the planet, and with new technology based on IoT and connected world and renewable energy, we can change the way we commute and this will help in a big way to reduce pollution and create a sustainable world. 

Is Yahoo! a Negative Worth Business?

Currently, Yahoo market capitalization is about $31 Billion! Yahoo's stake in Alibaba is worth $32 Billion, Yahoo Japan is worth $8.5 Billion and has Cash of $5.9 Billion.

This implies that Yahoo's core Internet business is worth -$10.4 Billion!! (negative 10.4 Billion US Dollars)

This negative valuation implies that at this stage, Shareholders are better off by liquidating the business and returning the money to shareholders.

See: Wall Street Article

How Innovations in IoT & Smart Buildings are creating Sustainable Work Places

As Indian economy grows at 8%, the demand for new office spaces in big cities like Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai etc. has increased exponentially. According to a study done by CBRE, 150 Million Square feet of new office space will be ready in 2017! Most of this office space will be consumed by IT & ITES companies.

Such a rapid growth in office space naturally leads to big increase in power consumption. It is therefore natural that reduction in energy usage has become a top priority for owners of commercial and industrial buildings to help save money and also save environment in the process.

Adding to the desire to save operation costs, government and non-government agencies are increasingly demanding compliance with IGBC (LEED) Green Building Standards. Examples include ASHRAE standard 90.1-2007 and ECBC 2008 and California's 2013 Title 24 Building Energy Efficiency Standards. In future several new, more stringent standards are likely to go into effect by 2020.

These changes in regulations implies that in future, businesses will need to implement technologies that enable highly energy efficient office spaces and factories and ultimately leading to zero-net-energy buildings - Office, Factory, or Warehouses.

To meet this challenge, several innovations are happening. Internet of Things (IoT) is the game changer and is enabling the revolution in managing energy requirements of buildings.

Some of the innovations include Smart LED Bulbs which can connect wirelessly to a central Building Management System - which monitors & controls the bulbs can lead to 70-80% of energy savings when compared to regular lighting. Smart sensors for Temperature, CO2, Humidity, Motion detectors help in optimizing air-conditioning, which leads to big power savings.

In short, the need to create sustainable buildings has led to a plethora of innovations in all aspects of building management. Building are now being equipped with intelligent networked systems for controlling and managing energy-related applications. Wireless networking removes a number of limitations, such as which devices (lighting, thermostats, plug-loads and CO2 sensors etc.) can be controlled.

Innovations in Building Lighting

Building lighting presents on the greatest opportunity for implementing energy savings and costs. Automated lighting control systems allow lights to be turned off or dimmed to accommodate time and usage factors, providing the correct amount of light where and when it's needed. These systems can reduce building energy consumption by 70 percent or more, and when combined with LED lighting, savings can top 90 percent.

Power saving from LED alone makes a strong business case to adapt LED lighting. But LED can offer several more advantages.

The new innovation in LED lights is Li-Fi. A new light based Internet connection system that will replace Wi-Fi. Light based data transmission can transfer data at 224 gigabits per sec!  Even at 1 Gbps, it is 100 times faster than Wi-Fi.

Smart lighting will provide several other benefits such as enhanced comfort to occupants, improved operational efficiencies and very fast Internet connectivity. Since the available bandwidth on Li-Fi is in several Gbps, one can create a mesh architecture where each Smart light device can connect to other devices and data  is passed through the wireless network from device to device. New technologies such as Li-Fi will eliminate the need for data wiring. The savings from eliminating wiring alone is an incentive enough for many building owners to make the move to Li-Fi systems.

Innovation in Smart HVAC Systems 

Building heating & cooling is a big consumer of energy in office buildings and optimizing it with smart sensors and smarts controllers will save operational costs.

Humidity, CO2 and temperature significantly affect personal health and comfort; thus measuring humidity and temperature in this context and reacting to the changes can improve personal well-being. Applications include temperature control, humidity control and quality of air.

Smart HVAC systems can sense the various air quality parameters inside the building and can change and control it automatically and efficiently. Smart HVAC systems use sensors that distributed across the building and have VAV fans to control the ventilation system to achieve optimal ventilation. And temperature control.

Measurement of humidity and temperature can help optimize processes and thus save energy and costs. Applications include automotive engine control, smart condensation control for refrigerators and optimization of A/C cooling cycles.

Smart Temperature Sensors will enable several levels of automation. Knowing the hot & cold zones in the building from the sensors will enable HVAC controllers to direct cold air via VAV fans to the required regions and avoid cooling/heating the entire building. Such systems can reduce energy consumption by as much as 25%.

Innovation in Elevator Control & Management

A bank of Elevators have become a mandatory feature in all office buildings. All elevators have a common feature - it annoys users in several ways. Firstly it makes people wait. Secondly it is impossible to know which elevator will take you to the desired floor quickly. Often we see one elevator being filled to capacity and the next elevator going empty.

Occasionally it make people happy when the elevator goes nonstop to the desired floor.

Smart Elevators are going to change this. Some of the new innovation in Elevator control and management. Instead of choosing the floor to stop after entering an elevator, users will have to enter their destination floor on a common keypad set at the bank of elevators.

The smart elevator management system instantly assigns the user to the elevator that will get him most quickly to the desired floor. Knowing how many people have similar destination allows for clustering of people into a common elevator. This allows elevators skip floors and minimizing stops. It also prevents random cramming into the first available elevator.

Another innovation in elevator management is use the information embedded in employee smart badges which reads the floor details and even eliminate the need to press buttons!

When elevator management system is integrated to motion sensors, it can automatically shutdown elevators when there are less number of people and turn them on when number of users increase.

Smart Elevators not only gets the users with less waiting, but the system saves energy and equipment wear by minimizing empty trips. Smart elevators also enhance user comfort by reducing waiting time and enhance user experience!

Innovation in Water Efficiency

Water is fast becoming one of the scarce resource all over the world. In India, we are already seeing critical water shortages. It may be our most precious resource. Where alternatives exist for energy sources, but there are no alternatives to water. It therefore makes sense to look at innovative solution to improve water management and improve water efficiency.

Office buildings require large amounts of water for Landscaping, HVAC chillers, toilets and taps/faucets. Water also has a direct connection to energy use. Every gallon or liter of water used may require some pumping or treatment which uses energy. Reducing potable water uses reduces energy consumption.

In most office buildings, monitoring and management of water is generally pathetic. How many facility managers can monitor and manage real-time water use in their buildings? Water is often seen as cheap and limitless resource.

Office buildings have two main needs for water. One is the plumbing system within the building and the other is the irrigation system for the building's landscape.

Green Building codes in form of USGBC LEED Certification in US or IGBC Certification in India, have defined building codes that specifies the type of fixtures, water recycling requirements, usage of recycled/reclaimed water and water metering systems.

For real savings in water usage, one must use smart technologies such as smart water meters which can detect leakage and alert facility management. Smart meters can record water usage for specific areas and generate reports & alerts when the usage pattern changes or crosses set thresholds.

Smart irrigation control systems can take inputs from weather monitors, timers and soil moisture sensors and then regulate the amount of water used for landscaping or irrigation.

Smart water management systems that monitors and manages water usage that will change the process from simply supplying water to managing the demand for water - thus saving water and reducing costs.

Innovations in Building Management Systems

Buildings today use complex systems. Each component inside a building has been developed and improved, allowing modern-day building owners to select lighting, security, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems independently.

For real savings, buildings must connect the various pieces in an integrated, dynamic and functional way. Smart building management systems will seamlessly integrate disparate systems while minimizing energy cost, supporting a robust electric grid and mitigating environmental impact.

At the most fundamental level, smart buildings deliver useful building services that make occupants productive (e.g. illumination, thermal comfort, air quality, physical security, sanitation, and many more) at the lowest cost and environmental impact over the building life cycle.

Today, Building Management Systems aggregate all data sources and data analysis tools can generate previously unattainable insights in real time.

For example, building management systems monitor multiple HVAC systems and detect performance anomalies. When HVAC systems in the campus have different power consumption - then the BMS will flag this alerting maintenance crew to find & fix the issue.

Smart building management system looks beyond the equipment and uses data from each system (Lighting, HVAC, Security, water meters etc.) to optimize total building performance. It allows buildings to be responsive to smart power grid and interacts with building operators to empower them with new levels of visibility and actionable information.

Imagine predicting when equipment is about to break down. Imagine having clarity into which retrofits can get you the highest ROI, before any project has even started. Imagine automating your lights so that when you are approaching peak demand, they dim automatically. Holistic building data analysis are at the heart of the hidden insights which were previously impossible to find.

Smart Technologies are more valuable when they are connected.  Data is meaningful only when it is holistic. Siloed data causes more harm than good. That's why smart building management systems connect various systems, thus enabling completely automated buildings that enhance user comfort and productivity and lower costs in the process.

Closing Thoughts 

Today, new building management software systems can collect data, organizing it, normalizing it and highlighting actionable insights which are then used to identify, quantify, implement and verify efficiency improvements.

At the heart of smart buildings lies IoT. A set of connected smart objects that create a powerful impact on how people interact with their environment.

Innovations in IoT is driving Smart buildings which not only improve energy & cost efficiency, but also increase the productivity of people working in those buildings. Data collected from smart systems helps architects and construction engineers to build better and smarter buildings that leads to real saving and create less impact on environment.