Research indicates that nearly five to six times the construction cost of a building is spent on operational costs during the building’s lifetime. Today, with the increased demands building owners, operators, and facility managers place on buildings, they must also look for ways to operate their facilities not only for comfort and efficiency but also for total operational performance—operating systems optimized for occupant wellness, productivity, transparency, streamlined operations, lower operational expenditures, corporate social responsibility, and reduced building operating risks.
We are able to deliver total operational performance through the convergence of operational technology, building automation, information technology, and intelligent building operating systems. These systems not only support efficiencies and improvements in energy management, maintenance and repair, and occupant experiences, but also integrate with operational applications for real-time insights that deliver measurable KPIs and targeted operational performance metrics.
Building operational systems include software and hardware that provide insights into building performance. Hardware, such as controllers, sensors, gateways, and edge devices, collect and communicate operational data. Software then monitors and analyzes that data to deliver actionable information to facilities managers. In addition, these systems provide real-time monitoring for faults and raise alarms so that issues can be predicted, detected, and addressed ahead of failure.
Operational Performance Framework
At the center of delivering operational performance is creating an operational performance framework. An operational performance framework is the scenario in which a building’s systems and equipment operate as intended and a facility achieves efficiencies while continually finding savings throughout its entire operation. The framework provides an environment that supports the changing dynamics of the workplace. It enables building operators to shift from a reactive stance to a predictive one, reduces forced downtimes, and helps in capital planning decision making. In short, the operational performance framework consists of connectivity, data, analytics, and continual improvements so that a facility can operate at its peak performance level in the best way financially.
Guiding Principles
Several guiding principles help establish an operational performance approach. These include:
-Strategy -Discovery
-Financial Baseline -Data Identification, Gathering, Use
-KPIs -System Integration and Automation
-Technology -Prioritizing and Funding
-Monitoring/Measurement -Reporting and Results
-Continuous Improvement
Employing an operational performance approach drives positive business outcomes: improved operations through better spending decisions, increased control of and reduced maintenance costs, reduced energy and water use and spend, better building control and manageability, predictive operational approach rather than a reactive one, reduced unexpected operational setbacks and costs, better occupant experiences, extended lifetime value of equipment, and increased building value.
Operational performance is transforming how we manage and operate our facilities. It is also changing the way we work and interact with our facilities because it presents new opportunities for creating, operating, and servicing buildings and leads the way for new business value delivery. Building operations are no longer just about comfort and efficiency—optimized building operations provide total operational value, increasing the ROI of systems over the life span of a facility and mitigating operational risks.
How Can Albireo Energy Help You?
At Albireo Energy, our goal is to reduce the complexity and time needed to deliver better services faster. We improve how buildings and facilities are managed and operated. With a deep understanding of operational performance, combined with our portfolio of capabilities, services, and deployments encompassing millions of square feet of the commercial building world, we enable high operational performance in facilities such as data centers, labs, commercial high-rise properties, institutes of higher education, schools, federal buildings, military installations, and healthcare institutions.
