Quick ROI and 30% Energy Savings for Car Dealership

Resource Data Management (RDM) are pleased to announce that a flagship car dealership achieved nearly 30% energy savings, a 70% cost reduction of service replacement work, and 50% ROI after only three months, following an HVAC control system upgrade. The system upgrade together with the implementation of a new system control strategy also dramatically increased staff and customer comfort conditions.

The savings were achieved by addressing the unique challenges faced by car dealerships, using RDM’s open protocols and single controller upgrade strategy. This strategy has helped RDM’s clients achieve a short ROI over the years, and car dealerships are now noticing its benefits too.

“When a single HVAC component, such as an air handling unit, needs to be replaced, it is common industry practice to replace not just the problematic unit, but also the wider structure around it,” Chris Edwards, Technical Applications Specialist at RDM explains. “Instead, at RDM, we replace only the specific part of the system that is required. There is no need to replace well-functioning equipment; it is expensive and creates unnecessary waste for the landfills.”

Replacing only the required equipment is possible because RDM’s solutions are based on open protocols. This means RDM controllers can communicate with the existing ones and serve as a translator between the third-party products that are so far not communicating with each other.

Using an open protocol solution offers another advantage: future-proofing the system.

“When exploring possible solutions,” Mr Edwards explains, “I ask clients to look at not just their requirements for today but also consider the ability to adjust and expand the system in the future without being locked into manufacture-set upgrade paths.”

The car dealership benefitted from RDM’s open protocol solutions and flexible HVAC controllers only three months after the project was completed. A failing third-party AHU control system was replaced with RDM’s Intuitive controller to manage the AHU which saved 70% of service replacement costs.

Energy savings were achieved by integrating separate HVAC units to communicate with each other via RDM’s open protocol strategy and then addressing business critical conditions with a new PLC strategy for the HVAC infrastructure.

Using RDM’s PLC software TDB, a new control strategy was written that considers irregular changes to working hours, sales events, comfort conditions in customer-facing spaces, environmental conditions needed in body shops, and building inefficiencies such as tall ceilings, glass fronts, and garage door openings. The new strategy ensures that comfort and operating conditions are met, while energy use is kept to a minimum.

RDM’s PLC software TDB for creating customised control strategies is pre-loaded on a range of RDM’s HVAC controllers, including the Intuitive controller range. The software licence lasts for the lifetime of the hardware without any hidden subscription fees. Free-to-download desktop editing software is also available.

All energy and cost savings achieved by the car dealership led to an ROI of 50% after only three months.

Contact us for more information about our solutions.