Smart facility is the key to achieve green building objective
Why Green Building Movement
Whether you want to admit it or not, at some point, everyone will have to follow the green movement. Buildings are responsible for nearly 30% of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. Fortunately, reducing energy demand in buildings also represents the most cost-effective way to tackle climate change and better buildings can add important co-benefits, like improving health and quality of life for residents and workers.
The U.S. EPA says
“Green building is the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building’s life-cycle from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and deconstruction.”
Well, here we are concerned with the operation and maintenance part of the definition.
How do we define Smart Facility Management:
“Technology-driven digital facility management that deploys advanced concepts & tools like AI, CAFM, real-time energy monitoring, asset energy consumption optimization, IoT/sensors, and predictive analytics in a realistic and well-planned way to achieve a reduction in the energy requirement of a building and increase in operational efficiencies”
What are the main components of smart facility management:
1. Energy monitoring and measurement and verification:
Energy management and monitoring provide a very detailed and accurate database with real figures for the actual energy consumption in each building. By utilization of an energy monitoring system, the real energy performance identification and energy losses estimation in the respective premises would be enabled. It allows better control of energy flows in the buildings, and adequate thermal comfort and rates for building lighting can be provided with minimum use of resources.
2. Demand management:
Understanding current energy demand is very important for grid reliability. Utilities have to know how much power they’ll need to supply and want to avoid generating too much. Facility managers want to avoid high demand charges for using too much energy at the wrong times. More data on energy consumption and the characteristics that drive that use (such as weather and occupancy) can translate into better predictions about how the grid will behave. With this knowledge, it’s possible to reduce energy demand.
3. HVAC optimization:
HVAC optimization involves automatically controlling HVAC systems to deliver needed heating and cooling at energy-efficient levels. Smart FM systems can provide cost savings by pre-cooling a building in the early mornings based on calendar/meetings and historic occupancy data. The building’s HVAC system would start early in the morning, when energy is less expensive, and begin cooling space for the day ahead, all without human intervention. Optimization solutions measure the system input (i.e., electric, gas, water) and the system output (i.e., heating, cooling, airflow, water flow), and use that data to operate the system in real-time.
Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Digital FM systems are now solving a huge number of operational and maintenance challenges through IoT and AI. Data collected via occupancy and motion sensors, security systems, HVAC systems, lighting, and electrical patterns are providing valuable information with respect to consumption patterns which in turn is helping in a huge way with improvements.
Factech’s Kaizen digital FM system is designed and continuously improved to comply with the long-term vision of the Smart facility management system that will empower the operations and maintenance aspects of SMART & GREEN Buildings.
Please click here to learn more…
How to get IoT’s implementation right in facility management?
Leave a Comment