Behaviour Change and AfterCare
Erda Energy offers clients bespoke AfterCare plans to fit their goals. In simple terms, AfterCare is defined as general upkeep of a system after it has been turned on. But Erda encourages clients to go beyond this and invest in the future of their systems and energy of their business. This piece shares a real-life example of a client who, as their system matured, chose to implement Performance AfterCare to support continued success.
Setting the scene
The building in this example was a new build, which may have influenced the client’s decision to opt for maintenance and general system operation rather than system optimisation. It’s common for clients to expect that a new, modern building will integrate seamlessly from the beginning – however, experience shows that even new buildings can benefit from ongoing optimisation to achieve the best performance.
The first few years providing the AfterCare service to the system had challenges, including the time of the year the system was launched, continuous demand signals from the building, and real-world operating conditions that differed from design expectations.
Following the conclusion of the initial AfterCare service, the client’s understanding of the system’s requirements evolved. At this stage, “smart control” was not yet a focus, as optimisation sat outside the original brief — but the system was already performing well, with a clear opportunity to unlock additional value through targeted optimisation.
One area that was particularly of interest was the pumping energy usage. Due to specific design considerations, the system includes additional (network ready) pumps on the ground loop side, which naturally results in higher primary pumping energy. This highlights an opportunity where Optimisation AfterCare services can add significant value, helping to maximise efficiency and performance.
Optimisation
With additional AfterCare services in place, Erda was able to focus on one of its core strengths as a company, system optimisation. Prior to this, the client resolved an issue with building demand signals in the Building Management System (BMS). Following this fix, demand signals were observed only when expected, based on outside air temperature (OAT) and building occupancy schedules.
Pre-Y1 Optimised AfterCare Service
Table 1: Demand signals
As per table 1, the time for the space heating demand signal was reduced by 30% during the first year of the optimised service, with cooling demand reduced by 71%
Correcting the demand signals was a key first step in understanding the buildings’ true thermal demands. This insight created opportunities for further reductions in energy use, as the system could respond more accurately to real demand. In addition, periods when demand signals are inactive allow equipment to shut down simultaneously, further improving efficiency.
Erda improved how the circulation pumps operate by adjusting their speeds based on real-time building demand. This smarter control approach reduced energy use resulted in ≈ 60% energy savings for the first set of pumps. For the additional circulation pumps, the upgraded controls delivered ≈ 40% energy savings in the first year. The larger size of the initial pumps allowed for greater efficiency gains, which is why they saw higher overall energy savings.
Additional energy savings were achieved through heat pumps and chillers by reducing parasitic loads during off-season periods. With improved BMS demand signals in place, Erda’s AfterCare team demonstrated that space cooling wouldn’t be required when outdoor temperatures were equivalent to the building balance temperature (15 celsius for an Erda site). This meant the chillers could be safely switched off during winter and we could rely on free cooling from the earth (geo-exchange), while the heat pumps could be turned off over the summer months.
By the end of the first year of optimised service, total energy savings reached 39%. While there was an upfront investment, the long-term value was clear – the client saved around 2.8 times more in energy costs than the cost of the optimisation service in the first year alone. With energy prices continuing to rise, optimised AfterCare is expected to deliver strong value well into the future.
What’s next
In the first year, the optimised AfterCare service delivered strong energy savings for the client. Looking ahead, the focus is on continuing to reduce this building’s energy use because every kWh saved on this building is a kWh that could be exported to a future thermal energy network. It’s important to push energy consumption as low as possible and clearly understand the system’s minimum electrical demand before adding to the network.
The target for the second year of optimised service is an additional 4–8% reduction in electrical energy, equivalent to a further 1–2 kWh/m²/year savings.
AfterCare and Your System
Every building and system has unique requirements, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to achieving optimal performance. Erda Energy has the expertise to understand your building’s thermal characteristics and “true building demand”, and then meet that demand the minimum electrical requirement. The result is lower energy consumption, cost savings, and reduced carbon emissions. Want to learn more? Get in touch at info@erdaenergy.com