Six benefits of building management system automation that you may be overlooking

Shaon Shahnewaz
CloudApper
Published in
5 min readDec 2, 2022

This article was originally published here

More and more building owners are seeking for data that will provide them with a complete picture of how their facilities operate, what equipment they have, and how efficient they may be.

The initial step for many folks is to install a building management system. A building management system, on the other hand, will not provide you with the simplified data or attractive graphics you want to get the most out of smart building technologies. You need an analytics platform with sophisticated data mining capabilities and actionable insights to maintain a continual watch on construction systems, uncover genuine issues, and address them swiftly.

Contractors and engineers may assist clients fully comprehend the advantages of building system management systems by employing an intelligent building analytics platform, enabling them to automate additional activities.

Six advantages of using analytics to automate building management systems

Building management systems (BMS) are becoming an essential aspect of new construction and renovation projects as smart technology develops and energy efficiency becomes more important to building owners.

The fast expansion of the BMS business demonstrates that building owners recognize the value of data. Building management systems may provide a wealth of information about what is going on in a structure. Many of the advantages of automating building management systems are lost without targeted analytics to cut through the noise and make the data meaningful. A system that can be automated and includes features such as an analytics dashboard and customisable reporting will make it simpler to design data-driven initiatives that increase team and equipment efficiency.

When you combine a BMS with the correct analytics software, six major advantages take building management and automation to a new level and provide genuine value to your clients.

1. Obtaining a complete image
Instead of wading through extensive lists of warnings and information, an automated building management system with powerful data analytics allows you to concentrate on the big picture with straightforward, actionable answers. Analytics, in particular, may provide:

Data on total energy use that is simple to grasp.
Building conditions, assets, and equipment are all updated in real time.
Access to focused information rather than a large amount of data. This will enable building management systems to adapt to the demands of each customer.
2. Making it easy to create custom reports
Reporting may be tailored to fit the demands of customers and is an important component of optimizing facility operations. The greatest data analysis tools will provide reports that:

Display trends and progress toward your efficiency targets.
Provide answers to issues before they occur.
On demand and at regular intervals, automatically made
Are assigned to the appropriate individuals and are easily accessible to consumers through customer-facing interfaces.
When BMS systems are integrated with smart data analytics, they provide personalized reports that are simple to interpret and highlight particular areas that need modification.

3. Facilitating the internal system
A building management system with an analytical dashboard allows many teams to continue gathering and evaluating data. Here’s what you should know:

Household air quality
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system efficiency
Lighting circumstances
Rate of occupancy
Use of water, gas, and electricity
A completely regulated, streamlined system is created when a building management system takes data directly from the field and integrates it with an analytic dashboard.

The alarm sequence should be determined.
Find and correct issues that may otherwise go undetected.
Act before systems fail or repairs are required.
Avoid inefficiencies in the future.
Data analytics systems monitor building equipment and circumstances to avoid operational bottlenecks, malfunctions, and dysfunctions.

4. More time spent on the work
Regularly monitoring the performance of assets and equipment is critical for keeping systems operational. Not only do building owners benefit from this, but so do integration, maintenance, and service teams. Here are some examples of primary and secondary systems:

BMS alarm systems in use today
Generators of electricity
Equipment for both the airside and the waterside
Analytics dashboards focus on areas where downtime may be minimized. This increases operational efficiency and reduces costs by allowing crucial insights to be extracted from massive volumes of data.

5. Additional methods for saving money on electricity and utilities
The information necessary for the automation of smart building management systems and energy efficiency initiatives is provided by data analytics. Building owners often desire to do this since it may save them a significant amount of money. According to some estimations, automating the HVAC and lighting systems alone may save energy use by up to 30%.

Intelligent analytics may assist to improve energy and utility efficiency by doing the following:

Keep track of how much energy is used and produce energy efficiency reports.
Provide helpful airside analytics for HVAC, fan coil, and variable air volume systems, such as determining when heating and cooling systems aren’t performing as well as they should and adjusting the hours heating and cooling systems are on.
Make provisions for the administration of equipment setpoints.
Identify valve leakage
Intelligent reporting and analytics enable building operations to save energy and money on utilities on a daily basis.

6. Better maintenance crews
Traditional maintenance models are based on preventive maintenance visits that are optional. Maintenance may be improved via data-driven analysis and automation by:

Getting rid of unnecessary maintenance
Monitoring equipment and assets effectively to reduce system breakdowns. Improving the efficiency of field service visits so that fewer maintenance teams are required to do the work.

Developing maintenance plans based on the unique needs of each facility ensures that maintenance employees are sufficiently staffed and focused on true issues.

Implementing data analytics for true BMS automation
Building management systems are an essential tool for property owners. However, if you simply have a building management system and no data analytics, you will be left with an overwhelming amount of data to manage, which may be more of a problem than a solution. To properly organize, mine, prioritize, and apply this data, a smart building management system designed to enable analytic dashboards and reporting tools may be deployed.

A comprehensive solution, such as CloudApper facilities, is an excellent alternative for sophisticated building management.
CloudApper services provide relevant, easy-to-use data and help teams and equipment perform more effectively. Contractors and end users may benefit from complex data analytics with a simple no-code solution like this without learning how to code or investing money on additional technical resources to develop their own programming teams.

Because CloudApper is a no-code application, customers may simply integrate their own analytics to further customize the product. CloudApper facilities convert data into meaningful insights and make them accessible to all users by utilizing CloudApper to construct coherent and cost-effective data analytics applications.

Building owners and facilities managers will benefit greatly from analytics-enhanced BMS automation. Buildings that utilize the correct technology are simpler to operate, require less energy, and are more valuable.

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Shaon Shahnewaz
CloudApper
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Shaon Shahnewaz is a digital marketer, tech enthusiast & blogger who enjoys reading & spending time with his kid.