Recap: Smahtah (Smarter), Safe-ah (Safer), Greener Buildings

Last night the Arch Energy team from Consigli hosted Boston Smaht in their office so we could discuss Smahtah (Smarter), Safe-ah (Safer), Greener Buildings. We had a good turnout of building owners, operators, consultants, and solution providers on hand to dig into the subject. It’s great seeing Arch Energy to be in a position to help the construction industry build better buildings. For us to achieve better outcomes for our built environment, we need to raise awareness of these subjects across all personas that support the development of or operations of our spaces, along with those who occupy the space. 

Arch Energy is a division of Consigli, that along with supporting the construction projects offers energy and sustainability solutions and projects to clients. Similar to an ESCO, without being one, Arch Energy helps clients procure and deliver projects on decarbonization, renewables, and Smart(er) buildings. They are finding more opportunities to leverage Division 25 to specify integrated solutions leveraging more connected infrastructure and systems. This helped transition the conversation into “Smart to Smarter” buildings. These are typically buildings that have IoT, connected infrastructure, building management systems, all positioning the facility to leverage AI and ML or similar to deliver outcomes. 

The room broke out into a conversation around challenges and observations adopting technology. There were some great points raised around the people aspect of change management and tech adoption. This is a people first problem, people need to be skilled enough or the tech needs to be intuitive enough for people to implement and use it. It also needs to make things easier, take work off

their already full plates rather than just add more. It was really encouraging to hear the level of participation in the conversation a long with the mixed viewpoints from different people in the room.

After the discussion, Arch Energy introduced us to a new VAV box they deployed with a client that enabled a high turndown ratio that delivered some key benefits. First, they greatly minimized the number of SKUs deployed. Second, the energy savings are significant as you can greatly reduce your minimum airflow while still meeting maximum requirements. Less wasted conditioned air has a huge impact. Third, it greatly simplified installation which reduced costs and disruptions to the client as they retrofit the space. 

That last comment ties in well with something that came up after the presentation. When we finished with the presentation, the group was able to network and catch up over some food and beverages provided by our hosts. Better isn’t always more expensive. Having the conversations we are having and sharing insights across the owners, architects, construction companies, vendors, and operators help de-risk and provide better clarity regarding decisions. Implementing technology like the new VAV box or an addressable lighting solution seem to be at a higher price point, however, many of these can de-risk the deployment, simplify the design, reduce components, and deliver a more adaptable and flexible solution. The immediate benefit there is that the device can be configured to deliver specified outputs rather than requiring a change order to physically replace the device or wiring. The key is talking about the benefits and familiarizing people with the tech so they see the opportunity for reduced costs rather than applying the standard unfamiliarity tax on new technologies. 

Big thanks to Nils Carlson, Kailash Viswanathan, Ciaran Hourihan, and the Arch Energy division of Consigli for your hospitality and enabling the intelligent conversation about buildings with our Boston Smaht members. Also a special thanks to Avish Bhalani of Distech, and a Boston Smaht Steering Committee member, for helping to coordinate this event.