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April 9 2024
April 9 2024
Harnessing IoT Connectivity for Optimized Facility Management
Facility management, as a field, is hugely important to the businesses, offices buildings, healthcare facilities, schools, and other common spaces that people utilize every day. According to the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), facility managers and their staff ensure that systems in the built environment work together as they should, that buildings fulfill their intended purposes, and that personnel are healthy and productive.
With a range of smart technology at their disposal—from labor-saving autonomous cleaning robots, to environmental monitoring, to predictive maintenance management—facility managers now have the ability to optimize building operations like never before.
Bringing these technological aspects together is what’s known as the “Internet of Things” (IoT). Powered by a diverse range of small, connected sensors, and ideally integrated into a centralized facility management software platform, IoT-supported smart facility management is enabling operational transparency, workflow efficiency, and data-driven decision making to a staggering degree.
Let’s take a look at the wide range of IoT sensors and their attendant software integrations that are revolutionizing the way facilities are managed and maintained.
Understanding IoT Sensors in Facility Management
IoT sensors are small, connected devices equipped with the ability to detect and record data related to various inputs such as temperature, humidity, air quality, motion, light, location, etc. Often no larger than a postage stamp and easily adherable to a variety of surfaces, these sensors collect data and communicate it over a network, allowing for real-time monitoring and analysis. In the context of facility management, IoT sensors are deployed throughout buildings and infrastructure to gather critical information about the environment and usage, ideally triggering alerts or activity when certain criteria are met.
Let’s look at some common IoT sensor examples:
Environment - These sensors measure environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity. They have numerous applications, and are of particular benefit to facilities that must maintain strict indoor environmental ranges such as certain manufacturing facilities, food processing facilities, healthcare facilities, etc. They’re also ideal for settings involving food storage and preparation, such as restaurants and commercial kitchens.
Water - These sensors detect the presence of water—usually in places where it shouldn’t be! Small enough to be placed nearly anywhere, they can immediately detect unexpected leaks, protecting buildings and assets from water damage.
Doors - Door and window sensors, commonly used in both commercial facilities and residential homes as part of security alarm systems, can also help facility managers gather data on room occupancy and utilization, adjust smart cleaning workflows, or allow for things such as cold storage unit monitoring.
People Counters - Often mounted above doors or thresholds, these sensors typically use thermal or camera technology to count and record the number of people entering and leaving a space. From a facilities management perspective, this information is useful for analyzing space allocation, determining cleaning priorities and workflows, or even capturing the effectiveness of a new marketing campaign in a retail/hospitality setting.
Occupancy - Occupancy sensors can be used to capture information about occupancy of rooms and spaces, or even individual desks/workstations. This allows facility managers to better understand space utilization and plan accordingly.
Touch/SOS - Tactile touch sensors are designed to be used, rather than discreetly placed for monitoring. Businesses and facilities can place them in visible locations to generate data on things like customer preferences, facility cleanliness, or urgent maintenance issues.
Useful Applications of IoT Sensors in Facilities Management
Energy Management and Sustainability
Traditional buildings often waste significant amounts of energy due to inefficiencies in building materials, insulation, heating, cooling, and lighting systems. IoT sensors enable precise monitoring of things like energy usage, indoor environment and heat loss, allowing facility managers to identify areas of waste and implement targeted solutions for optimization.
For instance, sensors can automatically adjust heating and cooling systems based on occupancy levels and external weather conditions, ensuring optimal comfort while minimizing energy consumption. Additionally, real-time monitoring of energy usage patterns can help identify opportunities for equipment upgrades or retrofits to improve efficiency further.
For large facilities or campuses, sensors can also help facilitate the integration of renewable energy sources such as solar panels by providing data on energy generation and consumption.
Cleaning, Maintenance, and Asset Management
One of the strongest cases for IoT sensor connectivity in facilities management is within the realm of cleaning, predictive maintenance, and equipment asset management. Not only can door and occupancy sensors give facility managers a better understanding of true space utilization, but those insights can be leveraged to quickly adjust janitorial workflows to ensure that cleaning happens when and where it’s needed most. So too can water, temperature, touch, and other sensors alert facility managers to immediate or impending maintenance issues, allowing them to get ahead of potential problems before they cause real headaches. Now add in the increasing adoption of automated equipment assets such as floor cleaning robots, and the synergy between IoT sensors, autonomous robotic units, and holistic facilities management software platforms really starts to shine.
For example, let’s say “Fred” is a facility manager who oversees cleaning, maintenance and janitorial staff. His company has recently added two CC1 floor cleaning robots to their cleaning equipment roster in order to increase efficiency and allow the janitorial team to spend more time on detailed cleaning and complex tasks. Because his company has also invested in IoT sensors and a centralized facilities management system (FMS), he has a wealth of resources at his fingertips to ensure optimal facility cleaning:
- Cleaning reports and “health” data provided by the robots are integrated into the FMS in real time.
- IoT sensor data is always available in the FMS and can be analyzed for immediate action or historical trends to adjust workflows.
- Standard daily tasks can be created and pushed through to custodial staff via an associated task management app for custodians, such as Pringle Pristine. These task lists can be continuously refined based on real-time data and trends provided by the robots and IoT sensors in the FMS.
- Thresholds and alerts can be set within the FMS to automatically trigger new cleaning/maintenance tasks based on IoT-sensor data relating to facility user feedback, room occupancy, water detection, supply levels, etc.
IoT sensors can also provide valuable data for management of other assets, including equipment utilization rates, maintenance histories, and lifecycle analysis. This insight enables informed decision-making regarding repair, replacement, or upgrade of assets, ensuring optimal performance and resource allocation.
Enhanced Safety and Security
Safety and security are essential components of facility management, and IoT sensors have a strong role to play here as well. Motion and thermal sensors, video cameras, and access control systems can be integrated into IoT networks to monitor premises and detect unauthorized access or suspicious activities in real time.
Additionally, sensors can monitor environmental conditions such as air quality, temperature, and humidity, alerting facility managers to potential hazards or safety concerns. For instance, in industrial facilities, sensors can detect gas leaks, lithium-ion battery off-gassing or chemical spills, triggering immediate responses to mitigate risks and ensure the safety of personnel.
Data-Driven Decision Making
As mentioned earlier, one of the most significant advantages of IoT sensors in facility management is their ability to generate vast amounts of data that can be analyzed to gain valuable insights. By aggregating and analyzing sensor data using an FMS platform, facility managers can identify trends, patterns, and anomalies that may indicate areas for improvement or optimization.
Data analytics tools and machine learning algorithms can process sensor data to predict future trends, optimize resource allocation, and streamline operations. For example, occupancy data from motion, door, or proximity sensors can be used to optimize space utilization, leading to cost savings on real estate and more efficient cleaning and maintenance protocols.
Marketing and Sales Evaluation
B2C businesses with physical storefronts can use IoT door sensors or people counters to evaluate the success of specific marketing/sales campaigns or new product offerings. For instance, a restaurant might install these sensors and then try out a few different digital and direct-mail marketing campaigns, using sensor-provided occupancy data to evaluate the effectiveness of each one, refining as needed. The same concept can be applied to nearly any consumer-focused business with a physical location.
Bringing it all Together
It’s an exciting time for the facilities management field. IoT sensors, autonomous service robots, and comprehensive facilities management software platforms are emerging as game-changing tools in the quest for transparency, efficiency, and optimization. And while the physical nature of facilities management necessitates an analog approach to much of the work, the potential of these new technologies should not be underestimated.
If you’re looking for guidance in optimizing your facility through the incorporation of autonomous robots or IoT connectivity, get in touch with our experts!
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