Cloud analytics turns energy savings into profitability

BBP uses SAS^® Results to reduce environmental impact and save customers millions of dollars

Singapore-based energy services startup Barghest Building Performance (BBP) is helping industrial and commercial buildings increase energy savings by optimizing air conditioning systems – the most energy-intensive system in a building.

What started as a passion project by two Stanford graduates has quickly evolved into an innovative, award-winning solution, accredited by several Singapore governing bodies such as the Infocomm Media Development Authority, National Environment Agency (NEA) and Building and Construction Authority (BCA).

Singapore’s smart building movement has gained momentum and international recognition since the BCA set a goal of greening 80 percent of Singapore’s buildings by 2030. BBP quickly understood that the way buildings operate in Singapore must change to support this goal. With support from Singapore’s Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board, BBP uses advanced analytics from SAS to reduce the energy consumption of buildings by up to 30 percent.

Cloud analytics yields millions in cost savings

At the heart of BBP’s solution lies data analytics. The journey with SAS started with a results-as-a-service (RaaS) project, whereby SAS worked closely with BBP to define its business objectives and project scope, with the goal of delivering analytical models and business results. The high-performance cloud environment from SAS enabled quick and flexible deployment and value to be realized within three months after data collection.

BBP then added SAS Analytics to extend its innovation and capabilities. This allowed BBP to remotely monitor systems, gain deeper insight, and act to improve performance and efficiently maintain systems in real time – further optimizing their equipment by 20 percent and helping customers achieve up to millions of dollars in cost savings.

Awards in sustainability

BBP’s software-based proprietary central control system uses algorithms to ensure sustained efficiency, continuous improvements and cost savings of air conditioning systems. This central control system can be installed at any chiller plant without installation risks and works to operate existing equipment optimally.

Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), a resort and lifestyle destination in Singapore, is one such customer. With the help of BBP, RWS has improved the efficiency of its seven-year old chiller plant, leading to more than US$360,000 in annual energy savings and an NEA award.

Similarly, Philips Lumileds Singapore, a leading LED manufacturer, achieved a 27 percent improvement in energy efficiency for its 17-year-old chiller plant, amounting to nearly $300,000 in annual savings. As a result, the plant was awarded the Green Mark Platinum award for existing buildings, BCA’s most stringent award category.

Analytics as a key enabler

With a solid track record of success in Singapore, BBP began seeking opportunities to expand its reach in Asia Pacific. Support from government-led SME funding helped the startup achieve this vision faster than planned. In just five years, BBP has grown its presence in key markets such as China, Malaysia and Thailand, with locked-in revenue doubling each year, and has its sights set on other emerging markets such as India, Philippines and Taiwan.

Despite this growth, BBP has continued to remain lean, with just 35 employees serving its 18 customers across the region. “Analytics is a key enabler of globalization for us,” says Poyan Rajamand, CEO of BBP. “With a solid IT backbone as well as remote monitoring and advanced data analytics capabilities from SAS, we can drive regional customer acquisition, evaluation and post-installation support from Singapore. Today, we have intelligent buildings all over the region, providing important data to our experts here in Singapore. This allows for consistent, real-time data analysis for improvements to our algorithms, which in turn improves building performance.

“Singapore has made it easy for BBP to accelerate our growth beyond her shores. The benefits have been twofold, as we are helping companies in the region save costs without taxing the environment. SAS accelerated our innovation and speed to market, uplifting the capabilities of our solutions by more than 20 percent. Analytics, coupled with today’s hyperconnectivity, has truly allowed a homegrown player like us to make an impact on the regional stage.”

Tapping into the analytics economy

Looking ahead, BBP aspires to bring its innovation to the global stage.

“With SAS and the Singapore government as our partners, this vision may not be too far ahead,” Rajamand says. “BBP’s technology sits at the exciting intersection of business efficiency and sustainability goals. While analytics has always been a passion for us, today we see a lot more businesses beginning to understand the real power of data and insight to improve every aspect of operations. With our first global tender under our belt, we’re committed to uncovering new ways to harness data and bring faster, deeper and more accurate actionable insights to businesses across the globe.”