How SISAB Saves Energy in Schools with Demand-Based Temperature Control

How nighttime temperature control reduces energy use without affecting indoor comfort

Adapting heating and ventilation to how buildings are actually used is a key part of creating energy-efficient schools. At SISAB, this is achieved through demand-based temperature control, where building systems operate differently depending on whether the premises are occupied or empty. This approach reduces energy consumption while maintaining a comfortable indoor environment for students and staff.

“At SISAB, we use demand-based control to adapt heating and ventilation to how our buildings are actually used. This allows us to reduce energy consumption without compromising indoor comfort. By controlling systems intelligently throughout the day, we create both more sustainable properties and better environments for students and staff,” says Mats Carlqvist at SISAB.

School buildings are typically occupied during daytime hours and remain largely empty during evenings, nights, and weekends. This usage pattern makes them particularly well-suited for demand-based control. When buildings are unoccupied, indoor temperatures are allowed to fluctuate within a wider temperature range. Before the school day begins, the temperature is restored in time to ensure a comfortable indoor climate for students and staff throughout the day, while reducing energy use when the premises are not in use.

The graph illustrates how temperature follows building occupancy throughout the day. During nights and weekends, heating is automatically adjusted as part of the demand-based temperature control strategy. Before occupancy begins, the building is brought back to the desired temperature using optimization based on historical patterns and real-time data, ensuring the right temperature is achieved at the right time with minimal energy consumption.

The control strategy takes outdoor temperatures and building behavior into account and continuously improves over time.

Why Does Demand-Based Temperature Control Work?

There are several reasons why demand-based control delivers strong results in school buildings.

By adapting heating and ventilation to actual occupancy, less energy is used when buildings are empty, resulting in lower overall energy consumption. At the same time, the building’s thermal mass plays an important role. Because buildings naturally store heat, indoor temperatures can remain at acceptable levels even when allowed to vary within a broader range during nights and weekends.

A key component of demand-based temperature control is optimizing the warm-up period before occupancy. Rather than following a fixed schedule, the system uses data-driven control to learn how the building behaves over time. By understanding the building’s thermal inertia and considering outdoor weather conditions, heating can start earlier or later as needed to achieve the desired indoor temperature exactly when required while avoiding unnecessary energy use.

In SISAB’s schools, demand-based temperature control has been implemented and continuously refined with support from Myrspoven’s expertise in building operations and control, focusing on ongoing optimization and maintaining a stable indoor climate throughout the school day.

SISAB’s experience demonstrates that demand-based temperature control can deliver significant energy savings without compromising indoor comfort. When building systems are managed intelligently and continuously improved over time, energy consumption decreases while students and staff benefit from a safe and comfortable learning environment. This is why demand-based control, particularly during nights and weekends, plays such an important role in creating more energy-efficient schools.