No Need to Switch Off Navy Yard Building Lights

Naval District Washington (NDW) testing a Energy Management System (CEMS) in Washington Navy Yard building. 


Testing of the CEMS in Building 101 is expected to last through April 2013, and CEMS building management is expected to last until April 2014.


CEMS is an NDW-sponsored technology demonstration designed to evaluate the effectiveness of intelligent occupancy-based building automation strategies to achieve energy savings. CEMS will manage building lighting and environmental conditioning systems based on the presence or absence of building occupants to optimize energy usage.


CEMS works by leveraging existing industrial control system and access control capabilities to automate the control of energy-consuming building infrastructures such as lighting, heating, cooling and other services based on occupancy. Simply put, CEMS will know how to regulate energy based on how many people are inside Building 101 at any given time. This optimizes energy usage throughout the day by ensuring that energy is not wasted when personnel are not in the building.



Personnel working in Building 101 can expect a few changes as a result of the CEMS testing later this year. An access card swipe will be required to enter the building by tenants and visitors at all times. This will enable CEMS to activate building lighting as well as environmental control systems based on the tenants entering the building. 

When tenants swipe in, CEMS will be notified of the building entry and activate the lighting associated with the tenant's work space.

The system will also utilize motion sensors and passive infrared occupancy sensors deployed throughout the building to determine occupancy and control the lighting accordingly. Environmental conditioning is also enabled when tenants swipe in, as CEMS will be notified of the building entry and control the heating or cooling of the area associated with the tenant's work space to maintain appropriate comfort levels.