Ministry of Justice / Kier Group

HMP Five Wells is part of the UK custodial estate and represents the type of complex, high-demand environment where building performance, resilience, comfort and operational efficiency all matter.

Future Decisions worked within the wider Ministry of Justice / Kier Group delivery environment, with Kier Group leading the contractor role. Our role was to provide the specialist data, controls and operational intelligence layer needed to understand how the building was actually operating — and where improvements could be made.

This included reviewing building systems, connecting operational data, analysing performance and identifying practical opportunities to reduce energy waste across heating, ventilation, lighting and water systems.

Large operational buildings often contain valuable data, but that data is usually spread across separate systems. Information may exist inside the BMS, meters, lighting controls, heating systems, ventilation plant, water systems and environmental sensors — but it is not always joined together in a way that supports clear decision-making.

This can make it difficult to understand:

• Where energy is being wasted
• Whether systems are running in line with real demand
• Whether comfort conditions are being maintained
• Whether hidden faults are affecting performance
• Whether control strategies are working as intended
• Where operational changes will deliver the best return
• How the building can be prepared for AI-led optimisation

Future Decisions helped turn this disconnected operational data into clear, usable insight.

Future Decisions analysed lighting operation to understand runtime, control behaviour, fault reporting and potential efficiency improvements. The analysis identified opportunities to reduce unnecessary lighting runtime, improve visibility of lighting faults and make better use of lighting control data for operational reporting.

Savings were identified through relatively simple control adjustments, with further value available through improved fault reporting and automated testing processes. This demonstrates how existing building systems can often deliver more value when their data is properly collected, interpreted and acted upon.

Water and hot water systems were reviewed to understand demand patterns and how those patterns related to building use. Future Decisions identified repeatable demand behaviour that could support more intelligent operation of domestic hot water systems.

Hot water systems are often operated conservatively, using energy to maintain readiness even during lower-demand periods. By learning actual usage patterns, Future Decisions identified opportunities to reduce waste while maintaining service quality, comfort and operational requirements.

Heating was a major area of opportunity. Future Decisions analysed heating behaviour, comfort conditions and operational demand to understand where control could be improved — identifying opportunities to reduce unnecessary heating demand, improve temperature profiles and better align heating operation with real comfort needs.

This is central to the Future Decisions approach: energy saving should not mean poor comfort. Buildings should be controlled intelligently, using data to reduce waste while maintaining the internal conditions people need.

Ventilation is essential for air quality, but it can also be a major energy consumer. Future Decisions used environmental and operational data to identify where ventilation could become more demand-led — supporting opportunities to reduce unnecessary fan and heating energy while maintaining air quality.

This creates a route away from fixed assumptions and towards smarter ventilation strategies based on real building behaviour.

Energy reduction must be balanced with comfort and wellbeing. Future Decisions combines energy analysis with environmental monitoring — including temperature, humidity and CO₂ where appropriate — allowing operational changes to be assessed against real internal conditions, not energy use alone.

The aim is to reduce waste while protecting comfort and supporting better building performance.

The project demonstrated how continuous monitoring can reveal issues that may be missed by periodic inspections or manual checks. The Future Decisions Digital Building Platform can compare live and historical data against expected behaviour — helping identify abnormal operation, sensor issues, control problems and inefficient system behaviour.

This supports a more proactive approach to facilities management. Instead of waiting for complaints, high bills or system failures, building teams can identify issues earlier and act with better evidence.