When planning infrastructure expenditures related to building automation, many people will think that it is a very complicated and headache-inducing thing. After all, there are too many things involved in it, and it is not just about buying equipment! The so-called capital expenditure planning, simply put, is to make a comprehensive, meticulous and long-term arrangement and plan for hardware equipment that can bring value to building automation systems for a long time and last longer, such as automation controllers, sensors, actuators, and related software system development, and even post-installation and debugging. This is not something you can decide just by slapping your head. You have to think about it carefully!
1. Clarify the project goals and scope definition : The first thing to do is to clarify the goals that building automation needs to achieve – is it to achieve less energy and reduce operating costs? Or is it to make building management more convenient and make the people in the building feel more comfortable? Or to meet any special security protection needs? Different goals correspond to different device selection and functional configuration! Then, the scope must be clearly defined. Should the entire building be built, or should it be automated separately for certain specific floors or specific systems, such as air conditioning systems and lighting systems? Finalize these first so that you can do your work later and avoid going astray.
2. Carry out comprehensive demand analysis : After the goals and scope are clear, you must carefully analyze the needs. You need to understand the actual usage habits of different groups of people using the building. For example, the owners and employees in the office building may have different requirements for temperature and lighting; the structural characteristics of the building itself must also be taken into account – the problems faced by particularly old and newly built buildings during automation or new construction must be very different from the solutions adopted; and there is also the current operating conditions of various systems. If there is an old system with a foundation that is OK, can it be beneficial to renovate the old ones instead of replacing them all, which may save a lot of money! Provide global procurement services for weak current intelligent products! This is like finding a reliable "food supplier" for the project, which is very important.
3. Do a good job in equipment selection and technical evaluation : After the requirements analysis is completed, we will go to the step of selecting equipment and technology. Nowadays, there are many brands and models of construction automation equipment on the market, which is dazzling. At this time, you can’t just look at the cheap unit price, but you can’t buy it if the price-performance ratio is high! For example, what is the energy consumption level of the equipment? Is it energy-saving enough? Is it stable and not prone to failure when running? Is it inconvenient to install and maintain it later? Do you need to spend a lot of money? Also, it will be difficult to upgrade this equipment and technology in the future. Can it be compatible with other new systems? If the technology is updated in two years, the system I bought now will be completely useless, and the loss will be huge! It is best to choose manufacturers with relatively mature technology and continuous R&D capabilities. Although it may be more investment at the beginning, it is worth it in the long run.
4. Carry out detailed cost accounting and budget preparation process : This step is the core of the core, and money must be calculated clearly! The cost is not just the money spent on buying equipment. The software costs and installation and debugging costs mentioned earlier must be included. Also, some of the invisible expenses, such as the cost of auxiliary materials such as pipelines and cables, manual installation costs, and even some temporary and unplanned expenses that may occur during the project implementation process, otherwise the budget will not be accurate and it will be troublesome if the money is not enough in the middle. List all the costs you can imagine, calculate the approximate numbers one by one, then summarize them to see how much it costs, and then prepare a detailed budget plan based on this.
5. Set up a reasonable return on investment analysis and cycle evaluation link : After spending so much money on building automation, of course, you have to see when these investments can be recovered and how much returns can be brought! It can usually be calculated from the aspects of energy savings, reduced labor management costs, and maintenance and replacement costs that extend the service life of the equipment. For example, the original electricity bill was 10,000 yuan a month, and after automation, it could save 3,000 yuan a month, so that it could save 3,000 yuan a year. This would be a rough estimate of how long it would take to recover the investment cost. Generally speaking, mature building automation projects can see relatively obvious returns within a few years under reasonable planning. The specific length of time depends on the size of the project and the actual operation.
Q: Why is the post-maintenance cost of equipment also considered in the capital expenditure plan?
Answer: If you only want to buy equipment cheaper and buy equipment that is particularly expensive to maintain or broken every few days, the later money may be much more than buying the equipment itself! In the long run, this will be a huge loss, so you must consider it in advance, otherwise the planning will be incomplete and incomplete.
Q: Do you need to ask a professional consulting company for help when planning capital expenditure?
Answer: For some large-scale and complex building automation projects, if your company lacks experience in this regard, it is recommended that you ask some professional people to help – they know how to analyze and plan from a more professional perspective, and help you avoid many detours. Although you have to pay a consultation fee, it can often save you more money and energy than the consultation fee, and kill more than one kill.
In actual operation, you must always pay attention to the latest technology trends in the market and changes in product prices, and adjust the plan – because the plan cannot keep up with the changes! In short, scientific and reasonable capital expenditure planning is the most important and critical step to ensure the smooth implementation of building automation projects and bring expected benefits. It must not be treated carelessly.
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