Resource Data Management (RDM) are pleased to announce a series of car dealerships have achieved a return on investment (ROI) of less than four years and significant energy savings. Following an HVAC control system upgrade and implementation of a new system control strategy at one flagship dealership, the staff and customer comfort conditions increased dramatically, but at the same time, preliminary figures suggest a reduction in energy use of nearly 30%.
The savings were achieved by addressing the unique challenges faced by car dealerships, using RDM’s open protocols and single controller upgrade strategy. This strategy has helped RDM’s clients over the years achieve a short ROI and car dealerships are now noticing its benefits too.
“When a single HVAC component, such as an air handling unit, needs to be replaced, it is common industry practice to replace not just the problematic unit, but also the wider structure around it,” Chris Edwards, Technical Applications Specialist at RDM explains. “Instead, at RDM, we replace only the specific part of the system that is required. There is no need to replace well-functioning equipment; it is expensive and creates unnecessary waste for the landfills.”
Energy savings were achieved by integrating separate HVAC units to communicate with each other via RDM’s open protocol strategy and then addressing business critical conditions with a new PLC strategy for the HVAC infrastructure.
Using RDM’s PLC software TDB, a new control strategy was written that considers irregular changes to working hours, sales events, comfort conditions in customer-facing spaces, environmental conditions needed in body shops, and building inefficiencies such as tall ceilings, glass fronts, and garage door openings. The new strategy ensures that comfort and operating conditions are met, while energy use is kept to a minimum.
RDM’s PLC software TDB for creating customised control strategies is pre-loaded on a range of RDM’s HVAC controllers, including the Intuitive controller range. The software licence lasts for the lifetime of the hardware without any hidden subscription fees. Free-to-download desktop editing software is also available.
