Without cooling, we would be unable to live the way we do today. It provides not only comfortable temperatures for us but also regulates crucial buildings like data centers and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Nevertheless, it’s important to note that cooling technologies can adversely affect climate change. The World Green Building Council discovered that 28% of global CO2 emissions come from heating, cooling, and lighting infrastructures in buildings. For example, in Singapore alone, buildings account for more than 20% of the country’s total carbon emissions.
With the increase in construction comes a higher demand for a better and greener cooling solution. In the next 30 years, the demand for cooling is expected to triple. It’s crucial that building owners prioritize a smart and sustainable cooling solution, and this is when Cooling as a Service (CaaS) comes in handy.
Cooling as a Service (CaaS) at a glance
Cooling as a Service (CaaS) is a modern method for building operators to deliver cooling inside their buildings without having to purchase, install, and maintain the cooling equipment themselves. This is a servitization business model that helps building owners achieve more efficient and ecologically friendly cooling while also decreasing operational costs.
This model is convenient for building operators because they don’t have to worry about the cooling system and its performance, unlike entering into an agreement for district cooling. The CaaS provider will provide and choose the best cooling system that meets sustainability goals and take care of the system. With this type of service, building operators also conserve resources more easily since providers will reallocate equipment when necessary. All building owners have to do is tell the provider what temperature they want and pay for cooling based on usage. Easy, right?
How CaaS works as a sustainable building cooling system
CaaS is a sustainable option for a building cooling system because it uses big data, analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to get the most out of a cooling system’s efficiency. Real-time monitoring and control reduce energy wastage. Those features also deliver optimal indoor experiences that can adapt to different conditions. They are something hard to achieve with traditional district cooling systems that prioritize hardware use.
The cooling system used by CaaS providers also allows for the use of solar power and recycled water. CaaS providers can provide AI-powered chiller plants that make use of 100% solar energy to provide cooling for varieties of buildings. They can be data centers, retail centers, factories, offices, educational buildings, and community places.
Solar-powered cooling systems are not the only way that CaaS providers could help building owners achieve their sustainability goals. They could also use a water-cooled chiller plant system.
How CaaS compares to other centralised cooling systems
The traditional centralised cooling system can be costly. Generally, the responsibility of purchasing, installing and running the system falls on the building owners. In addition to this, they often have to hire different contractors for repairs or upkeep.
Since several contractors are typically working on a project, and each is only responsible for particular equipment, none of them can be completely held accountable for the system’s performance. Also, sustainability improvements that would make the cooling system more efficient are often less of a priority because they’re usually expensive.
CaaS can be the answer to a better cooling
As we strive to lead more sustainable lives and protect our environment for future generations, it’s important that we’re always looking for new and innovative ways to conserve energy. That’s why the concept of Cooling-as-a-Service is so exciting – it has the potential to revolutionize how we cool buildings while drastically reducing our environmental impact.
Currently, cooling takes up 10% of the world’s electricity. In South East Asia, it is projected to consume 30% of ASEAN’s peak electricity by 2040. To avoid an enormous increase in electricity consumption and climate disaster, building owners must focus on clean and efficient cooling methods.
CaaS will revolutionize how cooling is delivered, making it possible for building owners to access clean and innovative cooling solutions in a sustainable way. This will help individuals, businesses, and the planet.
