FIATECH

Overview

This project is determining the current state of Intelligent Buildings and Intelligent Building Roadmaps. Several organizations are working on different aspects of Intelligent Buildings and we need to look overall at what is being done, determine what gaps exist, how these should be addressed, and how this fits into the FIATECH Capital Projects Technology Roadmap. For example, CABA (Canadian Automated Buildings Association) is currently starting to update their Roadmap, which was published is 2002, thru the Intelligent Building Leadership Forum.

As pointed out during FIATECH discussions in October 2005, information and data transfer needs to begin during project pre-planning, which leads to interoperability. Currently several organizations are developing standards, including the National Building Information Model (BIM), which includes the Construction to Operations Building Information Exchange (COBIE). Interoperability is key to information exchange and such organizations as oBix (Open Building Information Exchange) and MIMOSA (Manufacturing Information Management Open Systems Alliance) are working on open standards to improve the interchange of data between programs that must include current and future systems.

The challenge as noted by both CABA’s Roadmap and FIATECH’s Roadmap is the lack of quantification of the benefits from Intelligent Buildings that put the discussion beyond first cost and into life-cycle costs.

Project Contacts

Technical Lead: Allan D. Chasey, Ph.D., PE,  480-965-7437 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

FIATECH Project Manager: Nicole Testa Boston, 202-669-3935 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Challenge

Intelligent buildings are a buzz word that has been around for over 20 years. As noted by the Intelligent Building Institute in 1985, “An intelligent building is one that provides a productive and cost-effective environment through optimization of its four basic elements – structure, systems, services and management – and the interrelationships between them. Intelligent buildings help building owners, property managers and occupants realize their goals in the area of cost, energy management, comfort, convenience, safety, long term flexibility and marketability.” Our FIATECH Roadmap appears to be a step beyond the current focuses of other intelligent building roadmaps as we have envisioned future capital facilities that will be programmed, designed and constructed to be an intelligent integrated system of systems. These intelligent systems will utilize the data flow from self monitored equipment and systems to manage the actions necessary to ensure conditions and performance necessary to enable safe, secure, and continuously optimized facility operations.

Benefits

According to the report done by the National Research Council entitled Investments in Federal Facilities: Asset Management Strategies for the 21st Century, operations and maintenance account for 60-85% of the total life-cycle costs.  The costs for staffing, furniture, equipment and information technologies is estimated to be 2 to 10 times higher that the cost of the facility over its life-cycle.  It was also estimated that $4 to $5 in capital liability is incurred for every $1 in deferred maintenance.  The benefit to FIATECH members will be development of the resources to enable fulfillment of a true Intelligent Self-maintaining and Repairing Operational Facility.  The first step is to understand what is currently going on and then to analyze the various projects and make a coherent roadmap available indicating successes, gaps, and research needed.

Project Participants

Arizona State University

Project Deliverables

This project will provide a report on the current state of the Intelligent Building and integration into FIATECH's Capital Projects Technology Roadmap. It will also develop a research agenda for a path forward to realization of giving facility owners, operators and service providers powerful capabilities for determining the best response to changes in business and/or environmental requirements to ensure continued support for the facility for the intended use, now and in the future.