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One of the most important upgrades to a building isn’t found in the addition of new systems. It’s in the implementation of analytics solutions that can transform your building management system (BMS) from an automation system to an advisor.
Analytics solutions provide critical, actionable information so you can make timely and smart decisions. Leveraging standards built into the analytics tool and customizing rules to fine tune your processes will ensure you get the most out of your building operations.
Buildings have never been simple to manage; the advent of the IoT means there now are potentially large numbers of smart devices in a building that are capable of collecting data —temperature, humidity, equipment status, etc. The volume of data being collected can add a new level of complexity; how can a facility manager best decide what information is important to focus on?
Historically in a facility, there were one or two guys who pretty much knew everything about every system in a building — the nuances, the idiosyncrasies and the bugs. They were well-versed in manual assessment of performance and able to react to issues. Now, the implementation of an analytics solution allows facility managers to be able to focus on the important issues and problems in a building on a real-time basis.
This state of analysis is reflected in a recent survey from Schneider Electric where although 70 percent of facility managers reported their building management staff is “very” or “extremely skilled” in data analysis, only 27 percent actually utilize data-driven analytics solutions.
Yet, things are changing fast and this old-school approach won’t do. Many of the obstacles to analytics adoption are being removed as the industry transfers to more open protocols, so existing components will easily integrate with new solutions. Processing power has also increased and IT systems can now handle the huge amounts of data being generated.
Getting More out of Your BMS
Smart, connected technology has taken us beyond the human ability to manage what can amount to hundreds of thousands of data points in large buildings. Efficient operations require a proactive response.
Analytics solutions effectively manage the new state of information overload created by a digital world and filters out what’s not valuable to you. Data for data’s sake is useless; now it’s as important to know which data to ignore as it is to act upon.
As a result, analytics solutions provide the insight to enable you to fix problems when they are first observed, before total failure. With a proactive maintenance approach, you can preserve capital assets as well as realize significant energy savings.
Implementing analytics is not a one-shot event; it’s an ongoing process as buildings are ever-changing entities. To get started, sit down with a professional to develop an overview and assessment of your processes and the energy consumption in your facility. Take a look at trends and begin with the largest energy consumers (and the most expensive to repair) like the central plant.
Ensure that all of the appropriate stakeholders are involved during implementation and that there is plenty of communication between departments. From the building engineers who know all the ins and out of operations and the IT managers who manage where the BMS sits, to financial and property managers. Analytics touches how the building works, who is paying for it, those who ensure tenant satisfaction and the professionals installing the technology.
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