Since December 2017, TecnoVeritas started the renovation project of the energy efficiency of the Mafra Municipality building within the framework of the European project – MOEEBIUS.
An important step regarding the “Smart Cities” was given by the Municipality of Mafra in order to optimize their energy consumption. This is an early stage and pioneer project, concerning the use of large amounts of data on the energy consumption of the communal infrastructure.
For the first stage of the project, TecnoVeritas was selected as a technological partner. The company has been awarded the 1st International Prize of the Sea Trade Awards for Clean Shipping in 2012, reputed for the best engineering projects.
The Municipality of Mafra is now betting on a more efficient management of energy, looking to reduce unnecessary costs, being TecnoVeritas the responsible for the project and the installation of new control systems of air conditioning units and for the electrical mapping of the building, for lighting control and energy consumption monitoring.
The new system consists of the installation of LED technology, which light intensity can be adjusted automatically (according to the daylight) or remotely, and to reduce unnecessary consumption, tailored to the needs of those who work in the building
It will also allow monitoring of electrical consumption through the new energy analysers and air-conditioning units, which are adjustable remotely (via the internet). For example, if it is detected out-of-hours labour consumption (air conditioning or lights on) it is possible to access and disconnect the appliance, without the need for travelling to the place.
The Municipality of Mafra makes part of a European pilot project, – MOEEBIUS Project. This project came from the necessity of optimizing the energy performance of buildings, due to the requirements of being more efficient and because it was noticed that energy costs are very high and often unnecessary (see the graph on the right).
The main goal is to reduce the unnecessary expense of energy, optimizing its performance, by implementing new tools and methods, such as the implementation of software that allows to monitor and control remotely electrical systems of buildings.
This project shares the technical knowledge, but also a Big Data tool, designed by TecnoVeritas since 2010. The BOEM-S System, now installed on the Mafra Municipality, carries out the acquisition, management and control of the energy consumption, intelligently, without resourcing to human interaction.
Every company produces lots of data; however, not all of them are treated in real-time, nor delivered to the right person, in order to take proper decisions. The BOEM-S (Blue Overall Energy Monitoring System) intends to remedy this problem universally common.
TecnoVeritas with this all-in-one integrated management tool enables the optimized consumption monitoring of air-conditioners and electric systems, and its optimisation for better comfort of those who work in the buildings. This tool includes all units under monitoring and control, which allows conducting remote actions, enabling intelligent management of energy usage across many devices with access to one single platform.
The lighting and the air-conditioning systems are remotely controlled by BOEM-S, and by the respective server, which learns to control them in real time without human intervention.
This experience has been followed with a big academic interest, and the Municipality of Mafra, together with the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, is being an important tool and case-study for master students, who are currently developing their thesis on the Big Data theme and based on BOEM-S.
The project will continue over the next months in the Mafra Municipality building and in the Scholar Complex of Venda do Pinheiro, in Portugal.