Top Blog Picks from 2018

Stretching across the globe and between sectors, we have pulled together ten of our favourite insights and case studies from 2018 so you can find them all in one place.

1 - Remote Monitoring Whitepaper

In November we published our whitepaper - Remote Monitoring: Managing Multiple Assets from One Platform.

Most industry verticals, such as manufacturing, retail and hospitality, can have thousands of HVACR assets across multiple locations. Ensuring these assets run, not just effectively, but to optimal output, can be a time-consuming and costly task.

What if you could manage all of your assets in one location and within one single platform? What if this platform could transform your data into an easy-to-digest format, optimising performance and predicting failures? Well, it turns out you can.

Download our whitepaper for an insight into Remote Monitoring, providing an explanation of specific functions and features and how these benefit the HVACR industry alongside a case study to show the benefits as found within a real-life example.

2 - Smart Buildings Q&A

Smart Buildings Magazine interviewed our Group Head of Sales HVAC / BEMS Graeme Ross ahead of their Smart Buildings Show at the beginning of November. In this Q&A, Graeme answered a number of questions, including:

• What are the benefits of a smart building?
• Are there any particular technologies that we should be aware of, but are currently under the radar?
• What are the best and worst things about your job?

Read the full interview to find out more about Graeme's life, both inside and out of the Smart Buildings industry.

3 - Malaysian Hospital Success Story

In April we published our success story which delivered energy savings of 51% for a Malaysian hospital, with 20% of savings attributed to RDM controls. The solution, installed over a 30-day period in July 2017, featured a full air-conditioning replacement and new chiller unit and was facilitated by UEM Edgenta, the Joint Venture between RDM Asia and the UEM Group.

RDM equipment included control system front-end DMTouch, multiple Intuitive TDB controllers and sensors.

4 - Open or Proprietary Protocols Blog

In May we published our blog - Open or Proprietary Protocols? You Choose.

Typically, manufacturers that produce building automation equipment select which protocols their equipment will conform to. This means that users of this equipment are choosing not just the solution, but the protocol used to support it. Arguably, proprietary protocols lock customers in and take away their freedom of choice to expand their system with alternate suppliers.

Selected protocols, BACnet™, Modbus® and LonWorks®, for example, are compatible with almost every type of building automation equipment (BAS). This is why most building automation systems are based on one of these three protocols.

Read our blog post for an introduction to protocol types, an insight into their relationship with HVACR equipment and the advantages/disadvantages to the different options.

5 - Pets at Home Success Story

In October we published our case study with major retailer Pets at Home, where energy consumption was reduced by 34%.

As with many retailers in the UK, Pets at Home had an estate that was running far from optimal efficiency. With out-dated high bay and fluorescent lighting and minimal control of in-store equipment, there was a clear opportunity to modernise and make the HVACR estate more sustainable.

With animals in store, Pets at Home have strict temperature regulation guidelines, which can be challenging to monitor and maintain. They wanted to increase visibility and control for this critical element of their operation, which is central to their “pets before profit” ethos.

Read our case study to find out how, in partnership with Ignite Energy, we developed a solution which generated substantial energy savings alongside providing a notable increase in Pets at Home’s ability to control and monitor stores automatically.

6 - Cost-Effective PLC Control Webinar

In September, our Technical Sales Application Manager, Alan Herd, hosted a webinar in order to answer the question we are frequently asked: can PLC control be cost-effective?

In this 45-minute long session, Alan gave an overview of our free desktop editor, TDB, ran through the features and benefits of our efficient hardware and software options and discussed the viability of an upfront license cost versus the subscription model.

Watch our webinar recording to find out how to master your energy controls without breaking the bank.

7 - Bespoke Ice Plant Project

In 2018 RDM Asia completed an Ice Plant project which halved labour costs and reduced daily water consumption by 45%.

The end-user was NFH, one of the biggest ice producers in the Philippines, who wanted to streamline production in order to meet growing demand from the fishing trade, chicken processing plants and the hospitality sector. With the cost per cubic meter rapidly increasing each year and the salaries of machine operators doubling in 2018, they also had an urgent need to minimise costs and vastly reduce any wastage.

8 - 5 HVACR Trends Blog

At the beginning of 2018, we reflected on the HVACR trends to watch out in the upcoming years.

Estimated to be worth $130.7 billion by 2022, the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) systems market is predicted to grow at the impressive rate of 5.5% per year. This is a result of emerging innovative technology creating a new wave of opportunities in existing and emerging markets.

Read our blog to prepare yourself for the five next big things to hit the HVACR market.

9 - Winthrop Gardens Success Story

In December we published our latest case study with Winthrop Gardens SUPA IGA.

Winthrop Gardens is a privately-owned independent supermarket in Perth, Australia. They had previously made attempts to streamline energy performance through regular maintenance of their existing controls while also investing in eco-friendly solar solutions. However, the need for a new solution was at its most prominent when the system failed completely in June 2018.

Read our case study to find out how a quick response limited the effect of a complete system failure.

10 - Bluetooth 5 Blog

Finally, our latest technological insight came in the form of an introduction to Bluetooth 5.

The latest version of the innovative technology, Bluetooth 5 is a development of previous versions, including Bluetooth 4.0, and has successfully built on the Bluetooth Low Energy technology previously introduced to the tech world. But what else is new about the latest version? Which applications benefit from Bluetooth 5? Is it always the right option?

Find the answers to these questions and insight into this latest innovation in our blog post.