Automatic analysis of building management systems

Abstract

The traditional building management systems are often incapable of detecting impaired performance of heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment, so noticing and fixing the performance errors is up to the skill and motivation of the operator. This thesis examines the implementation of a tool offering automatic analysis to the work of Schneider Electric´s eService unit. The main goal is to examine the effects of automatic analysis to the work description and to the service quality and effectiveness of eService. The thesis is divided into two parts. In the literature study part, the methods used for automatic analysis of BMS are studied. In order to be able to evaluate the effects of automatic analysis to the service quality of eService: the background of service management is discussed, an introduction to service management is provided and the base for evaluating the development of service of eService is created. In the second part of this thesis a pilot study was conducted in order to study the usability of automatic analysis in the work of eService and to evaluate the usefulness of one tool utilizing automatic analysis. The pilot study indicated that automatic analysis allows utilizing more data from the buildings, which may dramatically change the work of eService. The effects of automatic analysis on both effectiveness and service quality of eService were discussed. The results of this study suggest that the diagnostic technologies alone will not result in system efficiency improvements, and that there are some improvements still needed to make the piloted tool more usable. When the capabilities of the tool however are fully utilized there will be improvements in both efficacy and quality factors of eService.