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In the last couple of years, the facility management scenario has been evolved into multifamily real estate technology FM applications. Starting from space management to asset optimization and recently with the advent of VR, AI and ML, it has even explored the digital twins’ concepts. Proptech and CRETech startups are building an ecosystem of tools and SaaS solutions based on core facility management platforms and tech stacks such as Niagara, Tridium.

Forward-thinking facility management firms have been future-proofing themselves and strategizing on when to buy or when to build a solution based on their technology roadmap. For mid to small-size FM firms the scenario is different rather more complicated as they have more choices from a plethora of FM applications they can either buy or partner with which often leads them to a paradox of choice. Regardless there is an immediate need for sustainable facility management solutions keeping in mind the rapid advancement in technology.

A well-planned tech stack can seamlessly touch upon various aspects in the firm including operations and maintenance, customer engagement, sales and business development. It can streamline workflows, minimize dependencies and reduce customer complaints, all that while better leveraging the occupancy and building-related data. 

In the first part of this article series, we talked about the different aspects of choosing FM applications, like strategic and functional aspects of the decision. We also discussed the Gartner’s pace layered approach to find the perfect fit. So Further elaborating on all the factors that shape the strategy of the enterprise-wide tech stack. 

Quantifying all the micro factors for the evaluation is necessary as it provides important depth to the decision making framework while looking out for FM applications.

Why you should consider partnering with a tech firm

1. Customization/control:

Control over functionalities of the finished product. Most of the tech applications that lie on the differentiation or innovation layers have a lifespan of 5+ years and during that period they often evolve with the needs. Having control over the product development trajectory can only be possible if you build or partner with the tech firm. 

If the product lies in systems’  record layer or there are other constraints to build it in-house then you can choose from multiple SaaS offerings that come with decent customization.

2. Cost Aspect:

The cost factor can be broken down into two or more subdivisions. It’s not just the product cost that’s in question, if it’s a SaaS application then you have to consider the subscription cost, annual service, or maintenance related cost. On the other hand, for in-house development, you often spend more on resources such as creating the team and basic infrastructure..

3. Compatibility:

Ever wonder why there is still scope for on-premise applications when cloud applications have proved themselves? Not all the parts of the tech stack get updated at the same time leaving a range of hardware/software with different compatibility settings. Finding compatible applications can be a challenging task. In such cases building one or partnering with tech for the right solution can be a way out. 

4. Opportunity Cost:

Even though you have all the resources, budget and capabilities to build an application of your need do not mean you should invest in it. You should evaluate your options and if there are other ways to use those resources that give a better outcome then you should take them. 

That’s why sometimes subscribing to a SaaS application rather than asking an in house IT team to build one makes more sense.

Economies of scale

Developing an application for select 20-25 clients has different economics than building for 500+ clients. If the applications have been implemented over multiple sites and frequently used by the front desk or clients for engagement then it makes sense to have it built in-house. 

There are plenty of such applications that often go as white-label where branding and customer engagement are in the focus. For example, workplace management applications.

So if we want to put micro as well as strategic factors in the same frame to have a view of the comprehensive decision-making framework it will look like this. 

Steps to follow

1. Identify where does that application lie in the tech stack.
2. What’s in the focus while making that decision?
3. Micro factors that influence the most.  

Steps 1 and 2 could go in parallel sometime as there could be exceptions while finalizing on building or partnering for the product. As there are certain business processes that need a custom solution, built by in-house IT teams who have a complete understanding of the firm’s unique business offerings and challenges.

In conclusion, this framework can give you a complete grasp on all the influencing factors that make or share your build Vs buy decision.

If anything that’s becoming clear differentiation for the new age facility management companies specifically in recent times is none other than how they manage their technology stack. Building, maintaining, and scaling this stack to meet client needs has emerged as a vital determinant of success. As performance-based contracts tighten competition and operational costs demand reduction, an efficient tech stack has become indispensable for facility management teams to bring the best of them. Let’s delve into the strategies for crafting an ideal tech stack as discussed by Bart F. Holsters, GM Engie, in his thought leadership talk on the future of FM.

Understanding the Tech Stack Essentials

Creating a strong foundation for the service delivery stack is paramount. The process begins with comprehending client pain points and harnessing both internal and external capabilities to craft tailored solutions. Subsequently, the application/software should be standardized according to demographic and competitive market conditions. Continuous experimentation involving combinations of partnerships and in-house application development further refines the tech stack.

Well, that was sounding too theoretical so decided to invite someone who has done it before and understand his thoughts on building an ideal tech stack for the future of FM.     

Here are the key takeaways from the discussion Umesh Bhutoria Founder, CEO Xempla had with Bart F. Holsters, GM Engie at the RE.connect virtual event.

Key Takeaways from the Discussion

Clarity of Intent in Technology Adoption

Bart started the discussion by questioning people’s intent for adopting technological innovations such as big data, AI and MI in that case. He also stressed on the part that people should be very clear on what they want to achieve, whether it’s energy reduction, better asset management, or tenant management. They should set a roadmap and select technologies or applications that align with their objectives.

Clients won’t pay for deploying AI-enabled workplace management tools unless they really get the intended results out of it. If that job can be done by the simple application then go for it instead. 

Strategic Partnerships and Data-Driven Decision-Making

Engie’s focus lies in establishing strategic partnerships with clients, given the increasing commoditization in the market. Their clients expect a team that is equipped enough and can trust them for making data-driven decisions. Engie, with a background in data and asset management, actively seeks tools offering predictive intelligence. 

Energy management is also high on the agenda as Engie being a leader in that space. If the solution or application helps their facility management teams to improve operational efficiency while reducing the cost then it would be on their list.

Key Elements for an Effective Tech Stack

For the tech stack, Bart recommends having the following things checked 

1. CAFM System: A foundational tool for facility management.
2. Workflow Management Application: Offering comprehensive reporting and violation tracking.
3. IoT Sensors and Platforms: Enabling data acquisition H/S and analytics.
4. Analytics Software: Providing insights for informed decision-making.
5. Optional VR/AR Applications: Depending on client-specific needs.

Integration for Comprehensive Insights

Streamlining different data sources to provide insights across all the assets and modules is simply difficult to imaging by a single standalone platform. One would need to keep the stack open for third-party integrations. One can not depend on one application to provide forecasting and energy efficiency insights at a single go.  

There are many applications out there which are excellent in specific areas so we should look for integration as per the client’s needs and deliver what’s client is expecting out of it. Bart highlighted saying that they are technology agnostic and work with multiple tech providers. 

Effectiveness Trumps Exclusivity and Cost

When asked what would he choose between the stack exclusivity or the cost? Bart instantly replied that it’s not about the tech stack that matters. It should be the right combination of technologies or applications but how you work with it that matters. You can set up Maximo on basic mode or very advanced mode. It’s all up to your team how well it handles that technology stack to optimize their applications.

So it’s the strategy and operations teams’ capabilities to work with the tech stack that’s more critical than the exclusivity or the cost. 

Involvement of Operations and CIE Teams in selecting a Tech stack

We have seen how the discussion around digital transformation heated up in the last couple of months. There is a parallel motion going on to reduce the overall operational cost of the facilities to save a little on diminishing margins. So if we put both the things in perspective we can see that most of the decisions are weighed down by the procurement teams as they would have to keep the check on funds available.

Bart also highlighted the same observation he had in recent days. He said although the technology adoptions are taking up a pace, decisions should remain under the operations and CIE (Center for innovation and excellence) departments as they are the one who knows what’s going on the shop floor and which application can help them optimize their asset.

Once the procurement team has the options available they should do the techno-commercial analysis on all of the applications and take a CIE or Operations team’s feedback to freeze the decision.   

Engie’s Approach to Application Sourcing

Bart shared insights about how the Engie works when it comes to sourcing new application or developing an in-house software. 

Engie employs a balanced approach to application sourcing, combining in-house development with external solutions. They have a plethora of services and solutions, and there is a separate entity which is called Engie digital, which is responsible for investing in R&D and startup acquisitions. Teams at Engie digital, work as an interface between the problems their facility management arms face at the facility levels and the solutions available at the global level. Largely Engie doesn’t invest much on building software but choose to work on integrating it with the tech stack providers.     

Bart Holsters’ insights offer valuable guidance for optimizing facility management technology stacks. Clear intent, strategic partnerships, effective integration, and operational involvement are pivotal.

Hope you have found these takeaways Insightful and practical in nature. 
Planning to build on your existing stack or want to know more about where to start? Schedule a call with Umesh Bhutoria (Founder, CEO Xempla) to gain further insights and initiate your journey towards an efficient facility management ecosystem.

Asset performance management (APM) is considered as the first dedicated step towards digital transformation. Getting it right is essential for the subsequent stages of the journey. While the concept has been around for some time, we must ask ourselves if we are truly implementing it effectively.

As technologies evolve and client expectations increase, we need to rethink our Asset performance management strategies in terms of both experience and operational cost. In this article, we explore the thoughts of Derren Mccredaie, head of estates at Sodexo healthcare, on the topic of APM and its importance.

Let’s look at the key takeaways from the session we had with him at RE.Connect event. 

Experience and Data: Pushing Engineering Limits

Looking back on the previous year, Derren acknowledges that it was a year filled with uncertainties and unexpected conditions. He emphasizes that the challenges presented opportunities for his team to explore innovative approaches to engineering assets. They moved from assuming that assets would always perform according to their original design to finding ways to make assets do more than originally intended.

Derren’s team leveraged their wealth of operation and maintenance experience, combined with data analysis, to accomplish various tasks. According to Derren, understanding the capabilities and limitations of assets proved invaluable and should be considered as hidden data within the human brain.

Holistic Asset Performance Management

There are multiple definitions or ways to look at Asset performance management. Every stakeholder offers a unique perspective to look at APM. Derren believes there are three critical aspects of APM that should be included in applications: energy management, life cycle monitoring, and loss reduction.

Of course, energy management and life cycle monitoring is something that has to be there to identify and reduce the losses.

He added, it should be a combination of manual and technology/system interventions as there are some critical things for which you can not depend on systems. For instance, in healthcare they have specific areas where they do manual controlling and monitoring although they take the help of technologies.

The Path Forward: Are We There Yet?

The pandemic has made us realize the importance of reliability. Yet, when it comes to clubbing energy management, life cycle assessment with work order management systems in order to have a 360-degree view of the facility, how far are we from that actually being in the practice?

Derren think as an industry, we have a way to go there. And there are two reasons that hinder our progress: tech capabilities and a proven roadmap.

He said, “In general, I don’t think we have embraced the technology as disruptors or innovators would do. In my experience, we still rely on the manual process rather than going digital. In most cases, the service delivery model is inefficient that emphasizes manual work delivery. 

It’s important to demonstrate the vales/use cases of APM and pursue those who are higher on the ladder.”

Start with small steps towards bigger accomplishments:

Derren suggested a gradual approach to digital transformation. It is important to start with pilot projects. It allows for smoother change management which comes in handy when you are on a journey to digital transformation as there will be many things you encounter which you haven’t seen before. So divide your progression into little steps to make your team or people on the shopfloor understand what they are doing and how digital will help them simplify their work. This will help in fostering greater acceptance and support.

Build it In house or partner as required:

Now once there is clarity on applications and tools that are going to be needed in the future. Facility management teams need to decide on how much of it they can build in-house.

To this dilemma Derren replied, “I don’t think most of the FM companies have an appetite to do that themselves, they depend on service providers through close alliances. Most of it depends on the type of FM contracts they have signed. If it’s just maintaining the existing tech stack then FM firms won’t need to introduce their own stack as a differentiator. Ideally for long-term contracts yes having a unique tech stack can be leveraged to win the client in the next bids.”

Well, that covers up when to approach a third-party technology provider for applications and when to leverage the in-house team’s capabilities to come up with innovative solutions.

We hope this session will give you clarity on holistic asset performance management, and help you start with it. Has your company found an asset performance management software yet?

In case you want to know more about the steps to start with your first trial project, this ebook will guide you through.

Planning to build on your existing stack or want to know more about where to start? Schedule a call with Umesh Bhutoria (Founder, CEO Xempla) to learn more about it

It’s already 8:40 AM, you are 10 mins late to the office and you don’t have your car parked in your garage. 

What will you do?

You will probably book an Uber to the office?

But what if uber is not showing any cabs nearby? Will you wait for it or just take a conventional taxi and get a ride to the office?  

Although that detour sounds a little nostalgic in today’s WFH environment I am sure you would still take that taxi to reach the office. As we all would do the same. Why? Because reaching office asap is your priority and it does not matter how you reach there.    

This is one of the simplest examples of the “Jobs to be done theory”.

Clayton M. Christensen, A business consultant who developed the theory of “disruptive innovation” once said

“When we buy a product, we essentially ‘hire’ something to get a job done. If it does the job well, when we are confronted with the same job, we hire that same product again. And if the product does a crummy job, we ‘fire’ it and look around for something else we might hire to solve the problem.”

This is even more applicable to our professional life as every task or project we handle should make a positive impact on our organization. Every innovation should create value for our customers or stakeholders otherwise it does not make business sense to continue it just for the sake of it. 

When the discussion around innovation and digital transformation in Facility Management is buzzing everywhere, some nasty revelation came across from the survey conducted by the property services specialist DMA Group. Although 68 percent of facilities management professionals felt confident knowing where smart tech could save money, time, and improve service delivery quality, around 27 percent of respondents reported that their organization’s FM/property teams are unlocking the full advantages of smart technology in the business process automation.    

So it’s evident that there is a gap in understanding how technology can help a facility management professional to do his job efficiently. According to IWFM’s report ‘bridging facility management’s digital divide,’ that gap needs to be filled by improving the ‘digital literacy’   

Why is there a digital divide in Facility management?

Facility Management is a people-centric business. Although hard services manage the buildings and run behind the show scene, it’s the soft services and customer relations that keep them moving. Just like any other conventional profession, FM professionals were habitual to managing facilities in a particular way as it has proven the right way to do business for a long time. 

But since the inception of Cloud services, changing perception towards comfort and environment FM would have to think upon issues they had never thought before. Not every facility management firm could adapt to this sudden shift in business perception leading to the digital divide.

Ways to improve digital literacy?

According to the Egyptian academician Maha Bali, Digital skills focus on the ‘what and how’ of the problem whereas digital literacy focuses on the ‘why, when, who, and for whom.’

Understanding how effectively a CAFM application can be used is important, having complete knowledge of what goes behind the digital twins is impressive, but knowing when it is suitable and feasible to my facility is real digital literacy. It can be learned and adopted by following a few simple steps. 

Questions you should ask before taking any digital initiative

1. What value does that initiative create for us and to the people we’re doing it for?
2. Has it been successfully implemented anywhere else?
3. Are we doing it because it adds value or because we’ve always done it before?
4. Is there any alternative to this initiative? Is there a better way to achieve expected outcomes?
5. How other sectors (non FM) are perceiving this technology? 

These questions are necessary to be answered as they focus on the outcomes of the initiative. Such questions help in understanding users’ perspectives.

Facility managers are great at managing customer expectations, contract negotiation, budgeting and administration work. But expecting them to understand critical asset-related issues or ways tenants are interacting with the building’s core functions (workplace data) could be too much to ask for. For that exact same reason, there are technology firms that can identify and understand the problems which FMs are missing out on and needs that might be addressed through digital technologies.

How does a technology firm address the problem statement?

For a tech firm, solving a client’s problems is the only way to gain more business from that client, hence it comes naturally to them to master the art of framing the problem.

There are three components of that process,

A) Persona B) Journey mapping C) Jobs to be done.

Persona represents that stakeholder’s perspective of the situation, his expectations, needs, and ambitions. For example, a Facility manager fits into different characteristics than the O&M head or Procurement lead. Journey mapping is the timestamp of his interactions with the different functions of the facility. It captures all the tasks he carries out on a typical day. In the end, when it comes to Jobs to be done, it is a clear understanding of the expected outcome from his activities and what needs to be done to achieve it.      

So before implementing any application FM team should ensure that who is going to use that application? How will he interact with it and how will it ease out his work? Fortunately, digital partners can take up that work from FM teams.  

Digital partners can collaborate with FMs to find out such niche areas where they can offer unique solutions to their clients and create a business case around it. Digital technology companies can offer fresh insights and practices from their understanding of the problems and use cases across the sector. By applying agile project management skills they can come up with a Minimum viable product (MVP) to solve that particular problem and then scale.

Technology partnerships can be a smarter and cost-effective way for progressive FMs to understand which technology is suitable for them, how to leverage it into their existing stack, and gain a competitive edge in the market. 

Has your FM team ever applied JTBD theory to come up with innovative solutions? If yes, share your experience with us here.  

Net-zero as a term has been there for quite some time. It can be described as the reduction in the demand for energy and materials to a level that can be met solely by resources that do not emit greenhouse gases. In simple terms, it is a function of resource consumption during the design or construction and the operational phases.

As per the Paris Agreement signed in 2016, most of the private and public listed enterprises have committed to achieving carbon-neutral or carbon positive, science-based targets between 2030 – 2050. 

If developed economies want to follow the path of net-zero carbon then they will have to focus on the buildings, specifically commercial real estate, where most of the resource consumptions can be controlled and monitored in a better way. Facilities management and sustainability go hand-in-hand.

Will this race to net-zero create a new business opportunity for FM firms? Or how can they leverage this initiative to strengthen their ties with clients and get strategically involved in it? Umesh Bhutoria talked about such challenges and implementation methodologies in his session on a net-zero building.

Ways to Achieve Net-Zero Targets

Facility management companies can concentrate on two main aspects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: 

1. Supply-side Measures

One approach involves adopting on-site renewable sources like solar, wind, fuel cells, or entering into off-site PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) contracts with renewable energy producers.    

2. Demand-side Measures

The second focus area is on demand-side changes, which are often more cost-effective and controllable. This involves improving the energy efficiency of assets and influencing occupants’ behavior (without causing any discomfort). Umesh suggests that facility management firms can play a significant role in demand-side changes, given their insights into facility operations, assets, and occupants’ behavior.

Opportunities for Facility Management Companies

By embracing the net-zero initiative, facility management companies can unlock two major opportunities:

1. Increased Revenue Generation

A facility management firm handling a site/facility which has taken a net-zero target will eventually see an increase in revenue through auxiliary services such as maintenance, project management etc.

2. Strategic Involvement with Clients

Since the Facility management teams have quite a bit of insight on how the facility operates (either asset or occupants behavior) they can suggest ways to reduce the consumption and get into a strategic partnership with clients to help them get there faster, better and in a cost-effective way. 

Recently, we all have seen how the tech giants of the world such as Google, Microsoft are making moves into the smart building space. We have also heard the news about CLP, an energy distribution company getting into the building management space. Likewise, there are other unusual competitors entering into building analytics market giving a strong competition to conventional facility management firms. 

Leveraging FM Advantages

Facility management companies have inherent advantages that differentiate them from new threats:

1. Intelligent Insights

Umesh highlighted that the facility management companies have the key advantage of having intelligence around the intersection of an asset, data, asset, and maintenance.  

FM can leverage those insights for Buildings retrofits, asset optimization, or project management-related tasks by working with the client around the lifecycle of assets to suggest design or process changes. 

2. The technology stack:

FM teams can use this opportunity to further build on the existing data accumulation and processing stack. This is crucial to have that asset and facility-level wisdom to get into strategic talks with clients.  With more clients committing net-zero targets, FM firms would need to now strengthen their focus on digitalization especially on hard services (something that’s always missed the due credit).  

3. Leverage Capital

For the larger facility management companies, this could be a time for acquiring ESCOs having significant insights on building energy management systems or suites of energy services in their portfolio.   

To conclude his presentation Umesh, mentioned that to be able to meet the net-zero targets, facility management teams need to maintain the operational performance standards. This means ensuring the improvised facility on energy performance over time, by setting minimum energy intensity benchmarks. Building analytics helps facility managers explore the hidden potential of their data and provide much-needed push towards resource and ultimately operational efficiency.

If you want to know more oh how your FM teams can be benefited from Net Zero initiatives then Schedule a call with Umesh Bhutoria (Founder, CEO Xempla) to learn more about it.

We can definitely say that “Building Analytics” is one of the most loosely used words in the build environment or technology space. It is somehow losing its substance due to the repetitive usage of the word without fully knowing the implications. It’s not just affecting the real applications but also creating the wrong perception in the minds of clients. Then the cycle of false expectations starts there.

Building Analytics not only identifies past issues but also provides insights to overcome similar challenges and enhance resource efficiency. It provides a wide range of insights to descriptive, prescriptive and contextual ones. Despite all of these benefits, we rarely come across a facility that has fully leveraged its data resources and have delivered an effective solution for multiple use cases. What’s been missing? The right approach or the sufficient use cases?

So we took this opportunity to discuss this issue with the CTO of one of the leading property developers in India, who is known for his acute knowledge and candid personality.   

Here are the takeaways from the discussion with Chirag Boonlia on finding the missing link in data analytics in the built environment.

Seamless Transition to Contactless Technology

In light of recent events, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a remarkable shift towards contactless technology in the realm of Building Analytics. Chirag Boonlia emphasized that although COVID-19 has accelerated tech adoption, the focus should not solely be on improving infrastructure.

The pandemic did bring about positive changes in communication and remote working practices, leading to unified communication and reduced travel and unnecessary meetings.

Operational Efficiency: A Vital Transformation Aspect

When most people talk about technology in the CRE sector they probably discuss the part that is customer or client facing such as space management, workplace management, or improving the occupant’s experience. According to Chirag, you cannot do the transformation just for the outer world and ignoring the hard services.

He wanted to unfold the less spoken and less glamorous part of the CRE which is operations and maintenance where the main part of the savings comes from. 

Operational efficiency is very important to cater to the seamless experience to the tenants so it has to be a hand and glove relationship between them. So if the vendor ecosystem or the employees do not maintain the expected work efficiency of the assets then it will ultimately cause trouble to the tenants.  

After working with proprietary BMS solution and overall FM data architecture, Chirag wanted to build a cohesive integrated solution for the facility management platform. Then move to the sustainability, energy management, and space management modules which can be built-in on the top of the data infrastructure.  

The Journey from Data to Wisdom

When asked that the building analytics as a term has been there for quite some time but the adoption rate is still low. According to Chirag, analytics as a term has almost become baseless in recent time due to it’s overuse everywhere. If we have to identify what’s missing in the current proposition is the accountability and the responsibility of tech vendors.

He continued by saying, “The first and foremost part of the solution is that you must invest in data acquisition. You should have quality data at the required frequency. Then put the context around it and convert it into information, convert that information into a knowledge base, and feed it to your design and building activities and then use that as wisdom for making the roadmap. This entire journey is not followed clearly.”  

For the vendor or partner ecosystem, you should be able to put your skin in the game. If you are confident about the saving then make it on paper. That accountability and responsibility are missing.

Agility and Nimbleness of Startups

As the discussion moved from the technology to the tech providers, Chirag mentioned that he is always excited to work with startups because of the agility and the nimbleness they provide. He also highlighted the fact that they bring in non-bureaucratic solutions and co-create those solutions with your R&D which is a very unique and value-driven approach.

On the closing note, Chirag stated that his team is working with 30+ startups currently and his doors are always open for innovative ideas that can bring him savings.

It is necessary to steer away from the superficial use of the term “Building Analytics” and instead focus on the complete journey from data to wisdom. Operational efficiency and seamless technology adoption are crucial factors that should not be overlooked in Building Analytics. Collaboration with startups can also provide innovative solutions and achieve cost reductions in the built environment. By implementing these ideas, organizations can bridge the gap in Building Analytics and open up new opportunities for growth.

We hope that you have found these takeaways insightful and practical in nature. Is your organization using a building analytics software yet? If your team wants to fill the missing link in the building analytics and wants to know where to start? Then  Schedule a call with Umesh Bhutoria (Founder, CEO Xempla) to learn more about it.

In the past few years, concepts of the ‘Sharing economy’ are getting widespread across the globe. Products to services, creators to consumers, everyone who is part of the value cycle is taking responsibility for proper transactions and business continuity. 

The commercial real estate sector, being one of the top energy consumption industries has been trying to incorporate multiple applications of the circular economy and sustainability principles to reduce resource consumption from design, material selection part of the process to operating or maintaining the building. 

Applications of analytics are not new to the CRE sector, changing expectations from the tenants, increasing competition from the tech giants, facility operators are bound to leverage technology to survive and win the next bid. In a continuation of our efforts to discuss different aspects of analytics for the built environment, this article will shed a light on how predictive analytics can play a key driving factor to help your O&M team to become more operationally efficient.

Maintenance scheduling with Predictive Analytics  

I am sure your O&M team must be using some kind of quarterly or monthly maintenance scheduling program. Now, these tools are part of the CAFM applications and come in handy to link inventory, help desk tasks during the maintenance process. However, besides all these features there is a huge value that can be created with the help of ‘Predictive analytics’.

If you are monitoring the granular level asset data, it can tell you a lot about the operation behavior of the asset, you can correlate the pattern with the surrounding context. For example relating the weather data with cooling required, the effect of occupancy on the air circulation, AHU filters, etc. 

With the help of predictive analytics, you can identify the best time for the maintenance of a particular asset. Not every Chiller would need the same periodic maintenance, based on its running time and load capacity you can predict the next ideal time for the maintenance. This way your O&M team does not just save on time but also on the operational life of the asset. 

Building Load Profiling: Optimizing Energy Demand

Understanding a building’s daily load capability and segregating it into baseload and peak load is not a new concept. There are multiple energy management applications are available to help you manage your peak load demand. However, most of the insights they provide are on the scheduling side of the operation, which is shifting the load to a different time band. 

There is a missing link between the asset’s operational capability and forecasted demand which can be fulfilled with the help of predictive analytics. For example, If there is an annual function at your facility in the next week and you are expecting 2X visitors would be there to celebrate. Now, this seems a normal situation but what if we add one more aspect to it? It is sunny weather and the forecasted temperature would be higher than normal. Would you be able to shift the load? Of course not.  But if you have sequencing data on the chiller and its capacity utilization you can optimally set up the right sequence for that day.

This can not be possible without knowing the optimum chiller sequencing and forecasting the load profile on that particular day. 

Risk Modeling for Enhanced Asset Management

While assessing the existing data predictive analytics powered by AI can identify the anomalous behavior of the asset. The pattern which has never been seen before or an outlier point that has never occurred before can be falsely categorized as a failure if the right logic is not in fault detection diagnostic (FDD).

Predictive analytics can suggest and create all the sets of possible situations that assets can come across in the future, generating a valuable pattern database for the FDD logic to improve upon. Similar principles can be used in workplace management or budgeting of the facility. 

Predictive analytics can scan through potential areas of risk from the massive number of data points collected across different aspects of the facility (O&M, Inventory, work order, tenant management, etc.) and use it to come up with the risk modeling to identify the situation that can impact on the day to day operations or the bottom line of the FM firm.  

Leveraging Predictive Insights

There are other use cases where predictive analytics has proven a valuable resource to the FM teams. Most of the analytics applications come up with predictive insights, however, the logic and depth of insights may differ a lot. It is always ideal to take a trial of the application and understand all the variety of insights it can generate before deploying it. 

In conclusion, predictive analytics is transforming the way energy management and sustainable building operations are conducted. Facility operators can optimise maintenance scheduling, improve energy demand management, and identify potential dangers proactively by utilizing advanced data analytics and AI-driven technologies. Leveraging predictive analytics can result in enhanced operational efficiency and cost savings, making it a vital tool for any forward-thinking O&M team in the commercial real estate sector.

How was your team’s experience with predictive analytics? Does any innovative use case your team has come across? We’d love to hear your insights!

Remember the incident when Tony Stark and Rhodey were at the restaurant discussing the secrecy around Mandarin and his recent mischiefs? Suddenly Tony starts feeling uneasy and steps out to get into his Iron man suit. He then asks Jarvis to check his heart and brain activities. Jarvis does a quick check on his vital signs and suggests that he is experiencing an anxiety attack. 

Now note that he never had an anxiety attack before. Hence, there were no historical conditions that existed to classify it as a symptom of anxiety yet Jarvis detected it accurately. This is perhaps the closest real-life example of what Fault detection diagnostics is and it’s marvelous benefits.

One may go deeper to point out that Jarvis might have collected a similar vital data pattern from the internet. Then came up with the logic to classify it as an anxiety attack, an excellent case of learning a new fault scenario. Well, let’s leave it for geeks to interpret it further.   

In the context of commercial buildings analytic solutions, Fault detection diagnostics (FDD) identifies anomalies in the operation of critical assets such as HVAC networks, elevators, or boilers and notify the operator along with the root cause analysis. If we break down the term into two parts then fault detection can be considered as a process of pinpointing anomalous behavior in the asset while the diagnosis is a process of isolating probable causes of the fault after getting detected. 

For example, in Air Handling Unit (AHU) sensible wheel gradually started running at 60% of its rated speed, which was higher than the normal condition. An FDD noticed the change in behavior and started examining other parameters to come up with the diagnosis that the set point for the cooling coil was fixed at lower than the optimum value. This was causing temperature disparity and excess energy loss in heating up the already cooled air to the desired Supply Air temperature. 

Why Fault detection diagnostics (FDD) stands out?

Blind spots:

Now what differentiates an FDD from other basic logic in Building management systems (BMS) or Building automation systems (BAS) is its ability to identify the ‘blind spots’ in the operational behavior of an asset. In the above example, BMS couldn’t flag the issue since the operator had fixed the setpoint to a lower temperature. In fact, BMS is not supposed to give any insights as fundamentally it is not built for that. Whereas FDD can examine such human interventions and suggest corrective action. 

Contextualization:  

It is not just about creating a logic that alerts an operator once the threshold value is crossed. FDD can collect contextual information about the entire network of influencing asset parameters and then judge the change in the asset behavior. If the blowers in AHU start drawing more current than the rated value that could be a sign of an electrical fault or a clogged air filter. One can tell the exact reason only after contextualizing the issue with the surrounding conditions. 

Library of fault scenarios:

A highly experienced technician can remember the probable causes of the faults that occur in an elevator. But his knowledge or understanding is limited to him only, making his facility management team dependent on him to monitor and manage that particular asset. With the changing occupancy rate and adapting to a new tech stack assets can come under entirely new operational scenarios. Something even an experienced technician has never perceived. Fortunately, an FDD algorithm can automatically run multiple scenarios and suggest the team if anything is about to go wrong.        

There are different mathematical models, methods and approaches available to classify faults and detection analysis. But usually, three distinct approaches find their way into an ideal FDD application: Quantitative model, qualitative model and process history-based. However recently, a hybrid approach is gaining momentum as it eliminates the loopholes in individual approaches.  

Berkeley Lab published a report on FDD, in this report it suggested that using FDD tools and adopting efficiency measures based on FDD findings can save 5-30% of energy. As a facility manager, once you understand the relevance and benefits of FDD for your building management. The next and probably the most decisive question arises, how to select an ideal FDD application for your building? Should you go for the product or service. 

We will cover that discussion in the next article. Till then let us know your journey to explore or if you are already using it then share your experience with us. What kind of building analytics solution are you using? How does it help to optimize your building management? Share with us!