ON OUR WAY TO A SMARTER PLANET

FROM THE COMBINED HEAT AND POWER PLANT TO THE LAPTOPS AND ELECTRIC CARS—THE ENERGY FLOW AT IBM’S GERMAN HEADQUARTERS IS NETWORKED. IT’S ALL PART OF THE “SMARTER BUILDINGS” CONCEPT, A PILOT PROJECT FROM IBM AND BILFINGER BERGER FACILITY SERVICES.

When Hanna Wegerich drives to IBM headquarters in the morning, she doesn’t exactly know where she will be working that day. The 22-year-old picks up her work material from her locker and goes in search of a vacant desk—just like all the other employees at IBM’s German headquarters in Ehningen, near Stuttgart. And it’s not only BA students like Hanna who have no offices—managers don’t either.

The open-plan rooms are austere and functional. Laptops clatter on desks, devoid of plants and knick-knacks. Even family photos are a rarity. Some employees lock their photos away at night in the lockers and take them out in the morning along with the files they are working on.

LESS OFFICE SPACE
This is the IBM “e-place” concept. A lot of consultants and programmers spend more time with customers than at the office, so there is no need for them to have a workstation of their own—which means less office space to rent, light, heat, cool and clean. The “e-place” concept has enabled IBM to significantly reduce its office requirements in Germany. The concept works because information technology and intelligent building management allow for it.

The company, which has long since ceased manufacturing computers and transformed itself into a software and consulting group with 430,000 employees around the globe, is, in many respects, a pioneer. Take for example the “Smarter Buildings” concept developed jointly by IBM Germany and Bilfinger Berger Facility Services. Ehningen is the first office complex in which every process is networked to the extent that the building can be operated on a fully sustainable basis.

EMPLOYEES SAVE ENERGY
Energy management, above all saving and sharing electricity, is the key to the concept in which IBM employees play a central role. In conventional office buildings, computers alone consume around a quarter of the electricity. A tool has now been developed for Ehningen that helps staff curb their energy consumption. BA student Hanna Wegerich wrote her bachelor’s thesis on this new application and demonstrates it on her laptop: “Each employee has an on-screen display showing how much electricity the building is currently consuming. This display is accompanied by tips on how to save energy. When the needle reaches the red zone, staff can run their laptops on battery power,” she explains. The needle is always in the red around midday. Wherever possible, Thilo Kälberer, 29, tries to avoid these peak loads: “The energy suppliers stagger their prices. Peaks are extremely expensive.” Thilo Kälberer is a consultant with Bilfinger Berger Facility Services and coordinates the many facets of the pilot project. “We combine multiple technologies to smooth out these peaks.”

One of these is the combined heat and power plant, which was built and is now operated by Bilfinger Berger. The 17-ton gas engine with an output of 3.35 megawatts drives a generator to produce electricity, while the waste heat is used to warm and cool the building. In this way, the plant achieves 90 percent efficiency. During the daily peak periods, the plant generates power mainly to meet the building’s own needs. But when calm winds and clouds pull the plug on Germany’s wind and solar power plants and prices on the electricity market soar, Ehningen feeds the bulk of its output into the public grid.

CONTRACTING REDUCES COSTS
“In such phases, we enjoy a healthy return,” says Arthur Dornburg, 47. He is Managing Director at m+p consulting, a subsidiary of Bilfinger Berger that developed the power plant within the scope of a contracting model: “After three and a half years the power plant will belong to IBM, so by then we must make enough savings to amortize our costs.” Before Bilfinger Berger, several engineering firms tried and failed to meet IBM’s time limit. “We solved this problem because we didn’t focus solely on the technical solution,” explains Arthur Dornburg. “We will cover our costs in time by trading energy, using the expertise of our commercial people.”

Arthur Dornburg is convinced that it is this interdisciplinary approach that produces genuinely “smart” solutions. The mechanical engineer has been interested in energy efficiency since his days as a student: “Up until a year ago I was opposed to electromobility—where’s the sense in introducing e-cars if they are going to be charged with electricity from conventional sources?” The German government has now, however, formulated a paper on changes in energy policy. That paper states that Germany can become the first major industrial nation with a high-efficiency energy system based on renewable energy sources. By 2020 the proportion of solar, wind and other renewables in the energy mix is due to increase from today’s 17 percent to 35 percent. “When the proportion of renewables is that high, e-cars can be charged using clean power,” says Arthur Dornburg. “Then e-mobility will make good environmental sense.” According to government plans, there will be one million electric cars on Germany’s roads by 2020, rising to six million by 2030.

Here, too, the building in Ehningen wants to be at the forefront of development. IBM rents e-cars from the Bilfinger Berger pool, not just to drive but also as buffer storage: They are charged when power from the grid is inexpensive, and discharge electricity when it is expensive and in short supply. The process is controlled by the IT system. The concept will become financially attractive as more and more employees switch to e-vehicles in the coming years. Their cars will then be integrated into the IBM building’s energy supply system. “With the batteries of just a hundred cars, IBM could save peak electricity costs running into seven digits every year,” says Arthur Dornburg.

OPERATING COSTS WILL DECREASE SUBSTANTIALLY
Bilfinger Berger manages IBM facilities in 24 countries. In Ehningen alone the company employs 26 engineers, technicians and administrators. They manage the premises, technical services and operations. To make IBM headquarters a “Smarter Building” they have formed joint task forces that integrate IBM’s software and networking specialists. With the technical barriers removed and individual administration and information systems fully networked, operating costs will fall by around 35 percent.

Ehningen is a pioneering real estate and energy concept. It is almost as if the management floor had been inspired by forwardthinking American economist Jeremy Rifkin. In his latest book The Third Industrial Revolution he describes how the conjunction of new communications technologies and sustainable energy systems will change industry and society: micropower stations, local energy storage, the switch to plug-in vehicles and decentralized interactive trading in electricity are the cornerstones of his vision.

Text: Bernd Hauser, Photos: Rainer Kwiotek, Christoph Püschner
Bilfinger Berger Magazine 1/2012