Building managers at Oxford’s Corpus Christi College knew they were wasting energy by heating rooms that were unoccupied. This is a common problem in many commercial buildings, exacerbated in an era of hybrid working generating more empty rooms, potentially wasting energy.

It was difficult for college administrators to ascertain how the energy was being wasted and how to solve the problem. So they spoke to EcoSync about its cloud-based platform, which facilitates room-by-room energy use monitoring and allows for heating to be automatically turned off in unoccupied rooms. 

EcoSync supplies intelligent controllers that can be retrofitted to existing radiators. The controllers are wireless and are connected to EcoSync’s cloud-based monitoring system. The controllers are battery-free, meaning there is no need for maintenance. The cloud-based monitoring system enables building managers to schedule, monitor, and adjust temperatures on a room-by-room basis. 

The intelligent controller present in every room takes a reading every three to five minutes, and provides information on the temperature and energy output of the radiator and the temperature of the air. 

Since each radiator’s intelligent controller is assigned a unique QR code – if you scan the code with your mobile phone, users are able to fine-tune the temperature by simply scanning the code with an app on their mobile phone. In doing so, they have the power to reduce their personal carbon footprint. 

Energy savings data is also fed back to users/room occupants in order to engage and motivate them to change their behaviours. Individuals can, therefore, do more to combat climate change. 

The complete system was installed at Corpus Christi in a matter of hours in a single morning. Intelligent controllers were attached to each radiator and the gateway – a device like a home internet modem which controls the system – was set up in the basement. The next step was to connect the radiators to the gateway and then the gateway to the cloud. The portal can then be accessed remotely from any location.

Failing to tackle the problem of wasted energy is going to cost organisations dearly in the long-term, with energy bills increasing substantially. An organisation’s initial outlay on EcoSync can potentially be recouped within two to three years. An added incentive is that EcoSync can offer discounts depending on the size of the building – the more radiators the building has, the bigger the discount.

Following installation, Corpus Christi compared the building’s energy costs with an identical building that hadn’t been fitted with EcoSync’s technology. The results were as follows:

  • January 2022: (incomplete month, since the technology had not been installed at the very beginning) Energy bill reduced by 37%
  • February 2022: Energy bill reduced by 47%
  • March 2022: Energy bill reduced by 50%.

The initial project involved 32 intelligent controllers, and the college has upped its order to include an additional 350. At the time of writing, discussions were underway for the installation of a further 150 controllers.