Facility and operational managers in the educational built environment experience a unique set of challenges when it comes to managing their facility operations and the numerous systems and equipment that run their buildings. For many educational intuitions and school districts, facility operations and maintenance represent one of the largest operating expenses.
Universities and K-12 facilities are very complex environments that operate on a multitude of stand-alone technologies. It is very likely that you may be trying to blend newer and advanced technologies with some outdated legacy technologies that are no longer supported. In many cases, these systems or equipment function as individual silos, unable to interoperate and share data with each other.
A lack of interoperability between these systems can negatively impact the performance of a facility, their efficiency, and drive-up operating costs. This complexity makes it more difficult to take advantage of the information these systems provide and can result in poorly managed building systems.
The pace at which change is occurring is one major challenge. Operating and managing educational facilities are being driven by performance, financial optimization, efficiency, and safety. The rising cost of energy and maintenance, financial pressures to contain costs and the need to reduce risk are contributing to how we must operate and maintain these facilities. Integrating these systems and equipment and managing facility assets strategically by acquiring and maintaining reliable data and using it to identify priorities has a strategic business impact.
Investing in healthy and safe classrooms for K-12 schools and universities has now become a very important aspect of each school district or state’s budget. Recent health concerns have necessitated numerous changes within the built environment. Many schools are seeking ways to accommodate new mandates and requirements in the operation of buildings. Evolving health protocols for safe building occupancy has caused an increased focus on smarter ventilation systems while maintaining a set of comfort and safety standards for students, faculty, and staff.
As part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan passed by Congress, school districts have until 2024 to spend a stimulus aid of $168 billion that has been specifically allocated for schools to make upgrades where necessary to their facilities including improving indoor air quality (IAQ). See how to safely upgrade your ventilation systems at: Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
It is estimated that US school districts spend upwards of $8 billion/year and that only 25% of those costs go towards smart energy improvements. In fact, the cost of a school’s utility bills is the 2nd costliest expenditure— 60% of energy use goes towards daily heating, cooling, and lighting. Equipped with a wide range of systems and devices that control or monitor HVAC, energy management, lighting, and security—a new critical goal for many schools is maximizing the efficiency of these operations.
Universities, community colleges, and K-12 and technical schools are equipped with a wide range of systems and devices that control HVAC, energy management, lighting, security and more. The integration and interoperability between these systems and understanding how they are performing relative to each other and what opportunities exist to reduce or control maintenance costs is critical in maximizing operations. The challenge of getting these diverse systems that speak many different protocols to connect and communicate with each other and to the enterprise has been an enormous barrier. That is until now.
Lynxspring’s JENEsys Edge® Building Operating System streamlines all areas of your commercial building’s operations. Addressing such challenges as energy management, maintenance, and facility usage, JENEsys Edge delivers a proven solution. JENEsys Edge® provides K-12 schools and universities with an affordable option to optimize the energy performance of your HVAC systems and monitor smarter ventilation for students, faculty, and staff.
Lynxspring’s JENEsys Edge® portfolio of products—powered by the Niagara Framework®—combines remote data access and analytics, connectivity, interoperability, supervision, control, and dashboard visualization and analytics into a single architecture within an open, scalable, modular, and cybersecure environment. JENEsys Edge supports a variety of applications with the flexibility of common API’s, development tools, open access, and an open hardware platform. Our edge-to-enterprise technologies incorporate IP-enabled software frameworks and modular embedded hardware platforms that support multiple protocols, data exchange and analytics, and two-way communication.
The JENEsys Edge 534–N4 enables you to access data from different sources, make it consistent across multiple applications, have more capacity, offer higher levels of data processing and increased storage capabilities, and add a level of command, control, and security. In fact, the JENEsys Edge® 534 also satisfies all IT Security testing requirements for the General Services Administration (GSA).
The JENEsys Edge Building Operating System, powered by the Niagara Framework, is the ideal open, turnkey solution for single site buildings or even a multi-building campus environment. During the last twenty years, Lynxspring has worked with a network of over 350+ Niagara certified business partners.
JENEsys Building Solutions for K-12 Schools
Lynxspring JENEsys Edge Controllers K-12 Schools
Collier County Government’s K-12 School District
Learn how Lynxspring can best support your next smart building integration project by requesting additional information or a demo.