This summer, the continued high temperature in many parts of the world and the increasing climate change are enough to make people begin to think: our survival and development are within the capacity of the earth? It is imperative that humanity accelerate carbon reduction. As an industry with high energy consumption and high emissions, the sustainable development transformation of the construction sector is heavy, long-term and complex. How can we win the opportunity?

Recently, Schneider Electric won the “World Changing Creativity Award 2022 – Architecture Category Honor Award” issued by the world famous business magazine Fast Company with its newly created IntenCity project, which explores how to make buildings more sustainable, efficient and people-oriented. It is also a forward-looking and successful attempt on the road to achieve net zero carbon goals, and a strong proof of the value of Shijia’s net zero decarbonization strategy in the building industry.

Building the future – Low carbon, sustainable development

Relevant data pointed out that as a “carbon user” the construction industry, carbon dioxide emissions accounted for nearly 40% of the global total emissions. More than 30% of the energy supplied to buildings is wasted. It can be seen that in order to achieve the efficient use of building energy and accelerate the process of decarbonization, it is imperative to implement more digital and intelligent solutions.

IntenCity will be officially put into use at the end of 2020, setting a benchmark for sustainable development and efficiency in the “construction circle”. IntenCity integrates multiple sites within the project into a 26,000 square meter integrated space, reducing its own carbon footprint while providing safe, comfortable and pleasant office security for more than 5,000 employees.

The wisdom of net zero carbon buildings – increasing efficiency from the inside out

IntenCity’s energy consumption is less than one-tenth of the average energy consumption of European buildings, and net-zero carbon emissions have been achieved since the day of trial operation. So how does IntenCity accomplish this?

1. Clean energy to accelerate electrification

IntenCity projects actively reduce the use of energy and replace fossil fuels with renewable energy to reduce the CO2 emissions generated during the operation of the project. With 4,000 square meters of photovoltaic panels, two wind turbines and 300 kilowatts of on-site battery storage, the project can generate 970 megawatt-hours of energy per year, which can power up to 200 homes.

Solar and wind roof at IntenCity plant in Grenoble, France

2. Digitalization helps high-quality development

Using Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure™ solution and an end-to-end digital open architecture, IntenCity enables interconnected products, edge controls and applications, analytics and services in building power distribution systems to digitally monitor and analyze energy and carbon key performance indicators.

Intelligence and toughness go hand in hand

The Building management solution uses the EcoStruxure™ Building Operation System (EBO), EcoStruxure™ Power Monitoring Expert Power Management System (PME), EcoStruxure™ Microgrid Advisor Microgrid Advisor (EMA) etc.
•EBO achieves real-time monitoring of equipment and environment by integrating construction equipment, lighting control and other systems, and helps achieve strong openness, full integration and strong toughness through four advantages.

•PME monitors, tracks, analyzes and manages energy, power and other assets and integrates them with the building operation system to realize data analysis and exchange, and provides optimization suggestions for visual energy management;
•EMA uses artificial intelligence technology and algorithms to optimize new energy grid connection strategies, using photovoltaic power generation as an energy supplement to ensure the reliability of on-site power generation assets, reduce energy costs, and reduce carbon emissions. To provide IntenCity with a more secure, reliable, efficient and intelligent digital power distribution system;

people-oriented

The building management system can perform intelligent analysis based on the detailed data of 60,000 data points in the building, and adjust the operation status of the regional environmental system in real time according to the specific use of the room or area, ensuring that the building efficiency, resilience and comfort are “always online”.

We are proud to have received the “Changing the World Creative Award” for our IntenCity project. The energy management solutions applied in IntenCity are based on Schneider Electric’s advanced energy performance model, which is already an integral part of the future energy landscape. With innovation at its core, IntenCity represents our passion for the new world of full digitalization and electrification.