Feedback and Surveys

Feedback and Surveys

Part of the project’s aims was also to inform relevant stakeholders about the scope, progress and results of the project, and to establish a network of actors.

As shown in Figure 7 the established network of actors consists of 53% end users, 5% EU member States legislators, 22% building service professional bodies and 7% HVAC manufacturers.

Building Services Professional Bodies appeared more interested in how HERO operates, and in the energy performance of real buildings. REHVA and CIBSE adapted existing information and aligned their dissemination activities to include iSERVcmb results that were subsequently distributed through their own international networks consisting of more than 100.000 engineers around the world.

READINESS OF EUROPE TO PARTICIPATE: Current capabilities in buildings means that there is great potential for an iSERVcmb type approach to be implemented across Europe. It appears there is a significant population of buildings equipped with sub metering recording at sub hourly intervals, one which adheres to the prerequisites iSERVcmb sets.

REASONS FOR PARTICIPATION: There is great potential for an iSERVcmb type process to be implemented across Europe given the current state of technology available. HVAC Manufacturers consider that continuous monitoring of HVAC components is clearly helpful in reducing overall energy consumption in buildings, and most can provide energy and other performance data over the internet for use by their customers. Further cooperation with the HVAC manufacturing industry is required to address:

• The HVAC industry’s current reluctance to provide HVAC energy and performance data for use by their customers.
• The main barriers HVAC manufacturers believe to be preventing them from integrating online monitoring within their products.
• The HVAC industry’s scepticism on complying with a standard covering data requirements from HVAC components to allow their products to participate in an iSERV type process.

PROJECT FEEDBACK: A parallel process of holding local workshops at the end of each project meeting, contributed in recovering valuable feedback from the targeted stakeholders across Europe. During the workshops, building services professionals supported the project by sharing their experiences which allowed the project to develop the iSERVcmb process further.

The professional bodies participating to the project, CIBSE and REHVA, and the iSERVcmb Steering Group members were asked to provide feedback about the project. Overall, continuous monitoring at a sub-hourly level was recognized to provide unique information on the energy consumption of HVAC system and components. Benchmarks that derive from this real world ‘big data’ were considered to be invaluable in the evaluation of HVAC market products.

The lessons learned through the iSERVcmb project were noted to have the potential of allowing the creation of new standards and guidelines for on-site monitoring and benchmarking of HVAC system products. REHVA has already planned to produce a REHVA Guidebook about inspections of air conditioning systems, and the REHVA Technical and Research Committee has decided to include chapters about monitoring of air conditioning systems based on iSERVcmb results. EUROVENT is also considering producing guidelines for on-site monitoring of HVAC products and systems in the near future. CIBSE is interested in providing up to date guidance on the monitoring and management of HVAC systems, recognizing that the iSERVcmb project has produced invaluable information on this topic. At the time of this report CIBSE are in discussions with the Coordinator about how best to incorporate the project findings into professional guidance for their members.