HVAC systems account for 30% of energy usage and expenses in commercial buildings and office spaces. It is an essential component of most buildings in cities worldwide.
Air Conditioning accounts for 10% of the global electricity consumption and the demand is expected to triple by 2050. Innovations and technical solutions are necessary to pave changes in the industry. One such innovator in this space is the Singaporean company, Kaer which is all set to bring cheap and efficient air conditioning to the Australian market.
Air Conditioning as a Service (ACaaS) is an example of a service model wherein companies provide access to services rather than ownership. For example, Uber provides ride-hailing services and Netflix provides access to licensed videos.
Kaer was founded in 1993 in Singapore and transitioned to providing ACaaS model in 2013.
Kaer provides Air Conditioning-as-a-Service to data centres, educational facilities, hotels, pharmaceutical companies, food processing companies, shopping centres, and real estate companies. It delivers air conditioning services on a pay-per-use model.
The company owns and operates the equipment, pipes, facilities management - installation and maintenance. For an existing HVAC system, the company purchases the equipment and manages the operations and maintenance including the bills for repairs and electricity or water. Kaer uses a BCA compliant monitoring system and verification system for 24/7 monitoring and optimisation of the HVAC systems.
This unique approach is beneficial for the customers as there’s no lifelong contract and the HVAC system is 10-20% cheaper than the self-owned model. This disruptive system will make air conditioning cheaper for building owners so they can focus on their core operations and save money for investments in their business.
With the pay-per-use model, the owners will only be charged for what they use which will lower the upfront costs and also make efficient air conditioners affordable. It also makes the industry more sustainable and circular. The pay-per-use model is effective as the building owners don’t have to pay when the HVAC systems are not being used. Moreover, the buildings will run on highly-efficient systems as they won’t have to worry about the installation and maintenance costs. The onus is on the vendor to run the air conditioners smoothly and efficiently.
The vendors can also scale up their operators and invest in AI, R&D to improve their operations. It also encourages manufacturers to design efficient products that can be reused.
Access to efficient cooling methods can: