What is IoT? How Smart Building Technology is Changing Facilities Management

Facility management is an evolving and challenging job that comes with a large number of responsibilities and demands. Just like the captain of a ship, facility managers are responsible for the entire facility like security and safety, space management, environment control, property management, and many more. Moreover, the ecosystem in which all this takes place in a dynamic one. Changing government regulations require urgent compliance changes to be made. Apart from this, the age of the facility along with changes in energy costs, tenant expectations, and much more changes resulting in maintenance and management headaches. This is the reason why the Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming so popular among facility managers every day.

What is IoT?

In facilities management, IoT is a network of devices that help make any facility smarter. The important factor here is a technology that can introduce smart energy meters that would eliminate the need for routine visits to get the meter readings. IoT also includes but is certainly not limited to the use of environmental controls and connected thermostats, motion sensors to know where a person is within the purview of the facility, diagnostic sensors for cameras and machinery, and security sensors for the entire facility. By deploying sensors in an office space, you can optimize the workspace better. For example, you can know how the spaces are being used and at what time and when. Facility managers can use this information to find out whether a conference room is over or underutilized and this helps improve the employee experience. 

Moreover, since IoT is able to capture and analyze information on a real-time basis, facility managers are able to make quick and effective changes in the sections of the facility that requires immediate attention. Facility managers can now respond to current traffic and utilization patterns on a real-time basis. 

IoT and savings

Facilities are able to make significant savings by making use of some of the same tools to measure and analyze occupancy for various other applications like controlling climate and managing lighting. With the help of a wide range of data about space and work like temperature, light, CO2, and humidity, and volatile organic compounds as well, facility managers can improve the well-being of the residents and tenants. As per research, it has been found out that people are more prone to headaches whenever there is a high level of CO2 that is contained in a confined space. IoT is able to monitor CO2 levels and automatically increase air circulation. With the rise of smart buildings and technologies, the facility management sector is getting smarter as well. 

Predictive analysis 

Predictive analysis is an extremely powerful feature of the IoT. With the help of integrating senators with mechanical assets which are able to measure things like power, temperature, quality, and the like, facility managers are able to derive real-time feedback on the status of equipment. One of the other important factors is IoT analytical tools are able to access data and make predictions when equipment requires maintenance and when it might fail. For example, vibration data is able to strongly find the impending faults in all the HVAC systems. This means that action can be taken before failure which is different from preventive maintenance resulting in causing inconvenience to tenants while performing unplanned emergency operations.

Additional benefits 

When facility managers start instrumenting the facility, it can pay off in really unexpected ways. For example, climate-controlled storage facilities having sensors on the doors found that its huge bill was the result of employees and clients keeping doors open for an extended period of time. The IoT technology can notify staffs when any door has been left open for a prolonged period of time. Additionally, IoT can solve the problems of energy waste that is caused by visitors and tenants who have access to thermostats and different environment controls. No corporate policy mandating a designated temperature setting will really do any good if the thermostat has not been locked down. By centralizing the control with the help of IoT automation, facility managers will be able to eliminate the problem. This will also help the facility managers gain control of outside lighting as and when needed for security purposes and safety without wasting any energy on any useless illumination.

Just like IoT, there are different technologies that have done a world of good to the facility management sector. One such technology is a facility management app or facility management software. This enables facility managers to get immediate access to important information about the facility and its equipment. Therefore, facilities teams can now have ready access to floor plans, shut-offs, As-Builts, emergency procedures, and many more, from their mobile devices and from any remote location.

The world is changing and so are the operations of facility management. The introduction of new technologies like IoT, smart buildings, and apps are offering a competitive advantage to facilities teams to improve tenant experience, cut costs, and enhance resources at the same time.