Paid Off the Entire Investment in Two Years

The cuts mean the entire investment was paid off in under two years.

– We thought it would take between five and six years, but the investment costs were low and the solution has worked so well that it was actually paid off in under two years, says Technical Director at West Coast Invest, Arild Kallestad.

West Coast Invest carried out a test project together with Energy Control and Tommy Hagenes for a building of approximately 3,000 square metres that was built in the early 2000s.

– It is therefore not that old, but it was built at a time when electricity was almost free. Energy was therefore one of the first things we started looking at when we bought the building, says Kallestad.

The building had a small BMS, but it turned out that in practice the ventilation system was running at more or less full capacity around the clock.

– It was so bad that the system actually tripped the main fuse in the building because it was using so much electricity, says Kallestad.

First, he introduced simple time-based management of the system, which gave a more stable installation that no longer tripped the fuses and somewhat lower energy use. But Kallestad saw greater potential.

– I therefore contacted Energy Control and Tommy Hagenes, whom I had been following with great interest for some time, says Kallestad.

Energy Control came in and they agreed to install sensors so that they could start collecting data from the building.

– We found the building’s heartbeat and gained full control over both temperatures and electricity consumption, says Kallestad.

Part of the solution was to replace the fan motors in the ventilation system with pressure-controlled motors.

– These we can now manage based on data from the sensors. The results are absolutely fantastic, says Kallestad.

Following the measures, energy use in the building has fallen from 616,000 kWh to 350,000 kWh. This has produced a saving of 464,000 kroner. By comparison, the investment has been 365,000 kroner.

– The measures we have taken here have cost us 365,000 kroner, with the replacement of fan motors making up a significant portion of the costs. Had we done as our advisors recommended, we would have ended up with a total refurbishment, with the entire technical installation being replaced. That would quickly have cost between 1.5 and 2 million kroner. We have here managed to reduce electricity consumption by over 40 percent at a fraction of the price, says Kallestad.

He explains that they now have concrete plans to roll out similar solutions in a number of other buildings in their portfolio.

– For our oldest buildings it may be that we go for a total refurbishment, but we are looking at whether this technology can also be used in such cases. In any event, wireless sensor-based management is part of the future for our buildings, says Kallestad.

West Coast Invest is one of Bergen’s largest property operators. The company’s property portfolio consists of both hotels, retail and office premises and totals over 280,000 square metres. Some of the company’s buildings are located at Kokstad and in one of these, West Coast Invest has recently run a test project.

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