The Value of Real-Time Weather Data and Free Weather Servers

The Value of Real-Time Weather Data

There are several factors affecting energy efficiency in commercial buildings. Broadly, these factors can be split into internal and external factors, representing controllable and non-controllable factors respectively.

Some of the internal factors include building occupants, the purpose of the commercial building, location of the building, types of equipment used in the building (for example, the heating ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) unit).

With respect to external factors, the weather is the predominant non-controllable factor affecting energy consumption in commercial structures.

Use Case Examples

1. You can improve mechanical-system performance. "Weather data can help determine when to use a smaller chiller at full capacity vs. a larger boiler at half capacity to save energy and maintenance costs"
2. You can determine the viability of on-site alternative energy. If you compare the efficiency of devices then you need to control that they were operating under the same/similar conditions. In other words. Testing one device in hot weather and another in cold weather isn’t very useful.
3. Save energy by adapting to real-time weather conditions. Lights on/off times can be adjusted based on sunrise/sunset times as well as cloud cover.