Diagnose The Building Problems Proactively With Fault Detection

The proactive maintenance of the facility could result in reduced maintenance costs and the elimination of system breakdowns up to a considerable extent. What can be the result? 10x return on investment! Building fault detection and diagnosis can help facilities to achieve this goal.

The infrastructural industry has taken massive steps toward implementing better systems to monitor and control building operations. Unfortunately, it still struggles to adopt the technology that can pinpoint and diagnose building problems quickly and provide facility managers with actionable information. The current tools are incompetent and just do not fit the demands of modern users.

Fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) can help facilities overcome the setbacks of building management and minimize the chances of equipment downtime. Industries such as aviation, automotive, and manufacturing are already using FDD technology to rapidly diagnose problems in buildings and notify operators of what needs to be fixed.

The powerful fault detection and diagnostics technology

Most facilities rely on a building automation system (BAS). Yes, they are essential for the entire operating system, including electrical, security, and lighting control. In reality, they are not very effective at supporting proactive maintenance of the equipment. What’s the reason? They are incompetent in providing actionable information that makes it challenging for operators to identify the root cause of the problem.

Just having a BAS backbone is not enough to maintain the peak performance of the building. Equipment can degrade over time. Also, the deteriorating factors in the building systems go unnoticed. To overcome these setbacks, it’s necessary to implement fault detection and diagnostics technology.

FDD has the power to identify the source of the problems in lighting, HVAC, elevators, and other critical equipment with minimal human intervention. It can function under steady-state and dynamic conditions. As a result, performing in-depth analysis and pinpointing the root causes of problems to take corrective actions becomes possible for the staff.

How does FDD identify potential discrepancies in complex systems?

Facility managers face challenges in handling the building’s most complex systems. They consume a significant amount of energy and are difficult to operate. The consequences can be expensive if these systems do not work properly. HVAC systems are the top examples of these complex assets. Automated fault detection and diagnosis technology depend heavily on data derived from sensors or measures of performance. It takes four key procedures into account, namely fault detection, fault isolation, fault identification, and fault evaluation.

Once FDD identifies the faults and isolates them according to the environment and time of detection, it then evaluates them as per the comfort, energy, and cost. After that, facility managers can take corrective actions to rectify equipment faults.

Not just this, it also helps in:

1. Accurate analysis of building systems to detect discrepancies smartly

It’s necessary to understand how building systems work and behave under certain conditions. Facility managers get the chance to take responsive action before equipment anomalies turn big.

Take an instance – If the fault is identified that an air flow or static pressure sensor is reading below its setpoint for an extended limit, other systems should take this into account before they run.

2. Automated root cause analysis in minimal time

Apart from the identification of faulty systems, it’s crucial to analyze the root cause behind them. Fault detection and diagnosis automatically and dynamically determine root causes at each fault analysis to suggest a few recommended actions.

3. Automated prioritization of the equipment fault detection

After these two processes are successfully fulfilled, FDD then quantifies the impacts of each fault, including costs, energy, comfort, and maintenance. It helps facility managers to prioritize which faulty systems need to be corrected first.

With these processes, it’s easy for anybody to ensure the proactive maintenance of the building systems. Facilities have to pay later if FDD is not implemented on time.

Make the most out of the fault detection and diagnostics technology

Faulty equipment and redundant systems leave a negative impact on the building operations. They do impact energy efficiency up to a considerable extent, leaving no scope for facility managers to ensure energy savings and a sustainable future. Fault in the equipment is also caused by poor performance or human error. That’s the reason why modern audiences need to be proactive in building management. Fault detection and diagnostics improve energy efficiency and operational performance by addressing the problem timely.

Zenatix fault detection system takes the comfort and performance of the building to the most efficient level by eliminating the risk of equipment failure and downtime. As a result, users will be able to reduce energy consumption and save their precious time and money.

Facilities will be able to run-down current system performance when they can monitor them individually and real-time data for identifying the operating issues. Improve your bottom line and see the positive changes real quick by implementing our smart FDD technology!