One of the charges of facilities teams is wise use of resources, which is not only responsible but less expensive. Then there are compliance requirements.
Building energy performance standards (BEPS) have been around for several years, and each year more states and cities adopt them. Compliance generally starts with energy and emissions reporting and shifts to meeting compliance reduction targets. Meeting energy and emissions reduction targets, particularly as they become more stringent, can be tough for many facilities.
Between the need to operate efficiently, emerging BEPS requirements and balancing limited resources, facilities teams need help identifying where improvements can be made.
Enter AI analytic tools, which can analyze building automation data, energy use patterns and even weather data to identify operational inefficiencies, make recommendations for optimizing setpoints and start-up times and identify inconsistencies in performance data. This leads to efficient overall system operations.
In one example, an HVAC system was supposed to operate at minimum ventilation levels when in cooling mode. The facilities team began receiving too-hot complaints. The BAS indicated the outside air dampers were at minimum, and the unit was in cooling mode, but space temperatures were running high.
What had changed? Were there suddenly more people? Was there a heat wave? It turned out that, contrary to the BAS, the outside air dampers were stuck open. Once that problem was fixed, the system was able to keep up with space cooling needs.
Other common scenarios involve heating and cooling valves stuck open or closed. AI analytics can catch these types of problems more quickly, saving staff time and operational dollars.
One of the most difficult duties for many managers is communicating effectively with an organization’s leadership. There are many reasons for this issue. Some are linked with experience and skill, and others are linked to the complex, ever-changing and ever-expanding facility dynamic that managers juggle daily.
One key to success in this area is to connect facility needs with organizational priorities in words leaders can understand quickly and relate to so they can make informed decisions. Leadership tends to prioritize safety, financial performance, the occupant environment or experience and regulatory compliance. How can managers use AI to communicate more effectively related to these priorities?
AI tools shine in pulling together information, analyzing data and synthesizing it to quickly provide insights. For example, in building a long-term capital needs plan, AI can analyze the life cycle of systems and equipment along with maintenance histories to highlight potential risks to critical systems. Managers can link these risks to leadership priorities.
Imagine a cooling tower on the top of a critical facility where the thermal comfort of those working inside is essential to the success of the organization. Loss of the cooling tower means loss of cooling. Unplanned loss of cooling means an expensive emergency space conditioning plan has to be put in place.
By using AI to review equipment life cycles and maintenance histories of systems and equipment in the facility, managers can identify the cooling tower as a failure risk. Now they have a data-driven analysis coupled with an understanding of business risk: Thermal comfort is critical. The manager can align needs with risk, leading to faster approval of projects.
Managers also can use AI to model capital spending scenarios using equipment information to inform budgeting needs over time. Informed by organizational priorities, it can help prioritize capital projects, which then can be communicated through the lens of what is important to the organization and its leadership.
Advances in AI for facilities are exciting. New analytical tools are truly enhancing staff capabilities, enabling responses to be more predictive and proactive. They have become part of the toolkit that helps managers meet their goals of having efficient, safety and compliant facilities that meet the needs of the people who occupy them.
Laurie Gilmer is president and chief operating officer of FEA. She is past chair of IFMA’s Global Board of Directors and serves on the National Alliance for High-Performance Building Operations leadership team.
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