{"id":4171,"date":"2026-06-09T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pirhome.com\/?p=4101"},"modified":"2026-06-09T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T09:00:00","slug":"case-study-smart-office-energy-savings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pirhome.com\/?p=4171","title":{"rendered":"Case Study: Smart Office Saves 40% Energy with PIR Occupancy Sensors"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Overview<\/h2>\n<p>A 50,000 square foot office building in Chicago, Illinois, was struggling with high energy costs from lighting and HVAC systems that operated on fixed schedules. The building was occupied from 8 AM to 6 PM weekdays, but many areas remained empty for hours at a time. The facility manager estimated that 30-40% of lighting energy was wasted lighting unoccupied spaces.<\/p>\n<h2>The Challenge<\/h2>\n<p>The building had several specific pain points:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Conference rooms were booked for 2-hour meetings but lights stayed on all day<\/li>\n<li>Private offices were often empty while employees worked from home<\/li>\n<li>Open office areas had partial occupancy (some desks empty)<\/li>\n<li>Hallways and break rooms had unpredictable usage patterns<\/li>\n<li>The existing thermostat schedule caused complaints about temperature in empty rooms<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The Solution<\/h2>\n<p>After evaluating several options, the facility manager chose Panasonic PaPIRs+ flat lens occupancy sensors for their high sensitivity and ability to detect seated occupants. Key specifications:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Model:<\/strong> Panasonic EKMB series with PaPIRs+ technology<\/li>\n<li><strong>Detection zones:<\/strong> 416 per sensor<\/li>\n<li><strong>Coverage:<\/strong> 15m diameter at 3m height<\/li>\n<li><strong>Output:<\/strong> 0-10V dimming for LED lights and BACnet for HVAC<\/li>\n<li><strong>Quantity:<\/strong> 125 sensors installed<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The sensors were integrated with the building&#8217;s existing BACnet control system. Lights were configured to turn on automatically when occupancy was detected and dim to 20% after 10 minutes of no motion, then off after 30 minutes. HVAC was set to maintain normal temperature when occupied and setback 5\u00b0C when unoccupied for more than 1 hour.<\/p>\n<h2>Implementation<\/h2>\n<p>The installation was completed over three weekends to minimize disruption:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Week 1: Conference rooms and private offices (45 sensors)<\/li>\n<li>Week 2: Open office areas (50 sensors)<\/li>\n<li>Week 3: Hallways, break rooms, and restrooms (30 sensors)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Each sensor was commissioned with room-specific settings. Conference rooms had 15-minute hold times for lights and 30 minutes for HVAC. Private offices had 10-minute hold times. Open areas used 5-minute hold times for lights near windows (daylight harvesting) and 15 minutes for interior zones.<\/p>\n<h2>Results<\/h2>\n<p>After 12 months of operation, the results exceeded expectations:<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\">\n<thead>\n<th>Metric<\/th>\n<th>Before<\/th>\n<th>After<\/th>\n<th>Reduction<\/th>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<th>Lighting energy<\/th>\n<p> 450,000 kWh<\/th>\n<p> 270,000 kWh<\/th>\n<p> 40%<\/th>\n<th>HVAC energy<\/th>\n<p> 620,000 kWh<\/th>\n<p> 434,000 kWh<\/th>\n<p> 30%<\/th>\n<th>Total energy<\/th>\n<p> 1,070,000 kWh<\/th>\n<p> 704,000 kWh<\/th>\n<p> 34%<\/th>\n<th>Annual cost<\/th>\n<p> $107,000<\/th>\n<p> $70,400<\/th>\n<p> $36,600<\/th>\n<\/tbody>\n<p>\u8868<\/p>\n<p>Additional benefits included:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Reduced CO2 emissions by 180 metric tons annually<\/li>\n<li>Improved employee comfort (fewer complaints about cold offices)<\/li>\n<li>Extended LED light life (fewer operating hours)<\/li>\n<li>Return on investment achieved in 18 months<\/li>\n<li>Eligibility for utility energy efficiency rebate ($12,000)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Key Lessons Learned<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Commissioning is critical:<\/strong> Each room needed different hold times based on usage patterns. Default settings would have caused false-offs in conference rooms.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Daylight harvesting works:<\/strong> Perimeter offices near windows saved an additional 15% with light sensors integrated.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Employee communication matters:<\/strong> Some employees initially thought lights were malfunctioning; signage explaining the system resolved confusion.<\/li>\n<li><strong>HVAC setbacks need longer delays:<\/strong> 30-minute hold times prevented frequent cycling.<\/li>\n<li><strong>High-sensitivity sensors are worth the cost:<\/strong> Standard motion sensors would have turned off lights while employees were seated at desks.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>This case study demonstrates that high-sensitivity PIR occupancy sensors can deliver significant energy savings in office buildings. The 34% overall energy reduction and 18-month payback period make a compelling business case for similar installations. The key to success was proper sensor selection (416 detection zones for seated occupant detection) and room-specific commissioning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview A 50,000 square foot office building in Chicago, Illinois, was struggling with high energy costs from lighting and HVAC systems that operated on fixed schedules. The building was occupied from 8 AM to 6 PM weekdays, but many areas remained empty for hours at a time. The facility manager estimated that 30-40% of lighting [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-case-studies"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\r\n<title>Case Study: Smart Office Saves 40% Energy with PIR Occupancy Sensors - PIRHOME<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pirhome.com\/?p=4171\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Case Study: Smart Office Saves 40% Energy with PIR Occupancy Sensors - PIRHOME\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Overview A 50,000 square foot office building in Chicago, Illinois, was struggling with high energy costs from lighting and HVAC systems that operated on fixed schedules. 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