International. Honeywell has introduced Forge for Buildings, a product for building operations and systems management, with software, hardware and services designed to deliver results in terms of sustainability, operational efficiency, expertise, compliance, safety and resilience.
Forge for buildings was unveiled at Honeywell Connect 2023 and can be used in a single site or across an entire portfolio. According to the manufacturer, it presents improvements to its cloud-native software, which is oriented to sustainability and that leverages machine learning to help customers in their efforts to achieve both energy savings and their air quality goals.
"Building operations are evolving at a rapid pace, as many customers work to digitize their facilities. This means they need better integration and enablement capabilities for their smart building applications and solutions," says Sergio Gonzalez, general manager of Honeywell Building Technologies in Latin America.
"We include products that support multiple assets within the building thanks to Honeywell Forge's SaaS capabilities that enable a unique approach to building operations. The goal is to make it easier for our customers to address the critical outcomes for their business."
Health in buildings or energy efficiency?
Building owners and managers are facing increasing pressure to accelerate their digital sustainability transformation plans, as well as to improve indoor air quality (IAQ). Data from the World Economic Forum suggests that approximately 80% of current buildings will still be standing by 2050, meaning that the challenge of controlling growing energy consumption, especially in older buildings to meet carbon reduction targets, will continue to increase.
Carbon and Energy Management is a cloud-based, ready-to-use application. It helps building owners and operators optimise air quality, reduce energy consumption and achieve their carbon emission reduction targets. The Carbon and Energy Management Optimize package allows energy consumption and IAQ parameters to be optimized by zones based on occupancy levels and space use in real time. It also uses sensor data and Multi-Intelligence algorithms to continuously monitor and automatically adjust building controls at the zone level.
The vendor-agnostic solution connects to a Building Management System (BMS) and can work with many asset types, such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning and lighting operations, to help building owners continuously optimize operations and reduce energy consumption. It adjusts parameters in near real-time based on existing demand, occupancy, time and weather data to determine the optimal energy saving strategy without affecting the well-being of building occupants.
"Carbon and Energy Management debunks the misconception that improving indoor air quality has to come at the expense of energy efficiency. Our solution will enable building owners and facility managers to support the well-being of their occupants while managing energy costs and carbon impact. They no longer need to operate under the assumption that these two imperatives are mutually exclusive," Gonzalez adds.
