Building Operations Management

The “Internet of Things” and the “digital building twin” (Building Information Model, BIM) represent the next evolutionary stages in building automation. These technologies allow additional information about the equipment status to be acquired, distributed and managed digitally. In this way, they provide a better overview of increasingly complex building technology and enables requirements on comfort and energy efficiency to be met better.

In addition, they provide finely resolved measurement data and meta-data for innovative analytical and diagnostic methods. These can be used as input to train and apply machine-learning procedures, which continuously monitor the operation of systems and components. Defects and sub-optimal operating states in building operation can thus be recognized quickly and building operators soon receive all the information needed to solve the problem via suitable web platforms such as “Mondas” or “TOPAs”.

Parallel to cloud computing, numerical decomposition procedures allow distributed integration of the monitoring methods using inexpensive computer units. Fraunhofer ISE is developing and testing innovative methods for fault detection and diagnosis for technical building plants which are connected to BIM and contribute significantly to increasing the energy efficiency of building operation.