Intelligent buildings promise the ability to significantly improve energy efficiency and reduce operational costs by constantly monitoring and optimizing millions of data points from equipment and sensors. However, only newer buildings with modern automation systems can take full advantage of this. Older buildings which employ pneumatic and analog control technologies, typically constructed before 1999, must undergo very costly and disruptive upgrades to enable them to be smart. In recent years, innovative non-invasive technologies were introduced which significantly reduce the cost to retrofit an existing building compared to conventional Direct Digital Controls upgrade. This paper describes the project at 311 South Wacker Drive, a 65 story, 1.4 million sq-ft Class A office tower in Chicago which was upgraded to an intelligent building at 70% lower cost than using DDC, achieving a 1.7 year payback.
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