The phrase has been appearing in headlines, blogs, and broadcasts for the past few years, but AI goes beyond self-cleaning vacuums and robots making coffee. It is being incorporated into many built environment technologies and structures, changing and improving everyday operations in frequently imperceptible ways.
For instance, "smart" buildings are built with AI technology integrated right from the start, offering intelligent lighting, security, cleaning, maintenance, and even parking automation.
According to experts, incorporating AI into corporate processes has enormous potential benefits, with trillions of dollars potentially being pumped into global economies. The leading causes are increased productivity by automation, in which machines or humans perform the work, or by augmenting the labour force with devices that help them in unique ways.
These advantages fit well with objectives like resource conservation, minimizing operational costs, and reducing wasted time—three goals that everybody in facilities management is highly aware this is especially true for people in charge of large-scale operations involving numerous buildings, where the effects of waste and inefficiency can compound in weird ways.
The excellent news for FMs is that AI functions by allowing networks and machines to learn from experience, process massive volumes of data, and adapt to new inputs by identifying patterns in this data. Facilities management (FM) software with AI capabilities may automate time-consuming, repetitive processes like approving work orders, scheduling preventative maintenance, and assessing labour spending, performing them with little to no human involvement.
Let us take a deeper look at four cutting-edge applications of AI in Facilities Management.
1. Facility maintenance scheduling software to predicts Errors and faults.
Facility maintenance scheduling software helps to predicts Errors and faults. The International Society of Automation estimates that machine downtime costs the world $647 billion annually. Appliances and machinery are prone to future problems, which can cost your organization money in several ways. These failures might be brought on by seasonal changes, more significant usage, or aging.
AI-enabled FM scheduling software may forecast and even prevent breakdowns by evaluating and interpreting historical data on previous asset failures, services, and labour requirements. It then uses this knowledge to produce work orders automatically and send them to suitable suppliers.
IoT networks that monitor the health and performance of devices and appliances using learned benchmarks of "normal" and "abnormal" input and output can readily integrate AI technology. AI technology can locate the problem, estimate the time and cost to rectify it, and schedule qualified labour whenever a result is reported as "abnormal." As scheduled work orders are automatically created, cancelled, approved, and paid correctly by analysing bell curve data from prior orders of comparable scope, billing also becomes more effective.
The Decision Engine from Service Channel is one example of AI-enabled FM software that can help with these and other duties. With AI-enabled automatic care and failure detection, small facilities management teams can manage hundreds (or even thousands) of buildings and assets with far less machine downtime. This help in reduces spending and gives FMs more time to concentrate on crucial issues.
2. Lower Energy Expenditure
Businesses spend more money overall on building management than any other category on energy resources, including heating, cooling, ventilation, electricity, and water. This is a category that management should pay attention to for cost-cutting and environmental awareness.
While there are countless ways to cut energy use in buildings, AI offers a hands-off approach to problems like HVAC, refrigeration, and power. Artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled technology can monitor and manage energy consumption more effectively in real-time, for instance, by reducing the heat during inactivity based on historical usage patterns.
One excellent example of AI technology that is now extensively used is the Nest thermostat (since 2011). This AI-powered thermostat "learns what temperature you enjoy and organizes a routine around yours," as stated on the brand's website.
Independent studies have demonstrated that the Nest thermostat can reduce home users' heating and cooling costs by up to 15%. Although only currently accessible for commercial use in offices and small buildings, the potential for savings in these settings is probably even more significant.
In addition to real-time monitoring, AI technology may detect energy leaks and operational strays, such as improperly fitted HVAC ducts or a defective electrical transformer, and even forecast when these leaks are most likely to occur.
3. Recognize security threats
In commercial facilities, AI is transforming physical security. Most FM teams place a high value on safety, but it is rarely given top priority when setting priorities. Thus, it can be simple to take something for granted (until a breach occurs). AI can fill in the gaps where manual assessment and management fall short as surveillance systems get more complicated, and the amount of security-related data grows.
Any corporation with huge facilities or a retail presence would benefit significantly from this AI-enabled technology. The more thorough the surveillance, the more security staff are needed to oversee it, making traditional surveillance systems expensive investments far from failsafe due to the possibility of human mistake. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a potent option because it can scan vast amounts of visual data without becoming tired and can identify less visible risks (that would likely go missed by a human observer.
4. Smarter Analytics & Reporting
Every FM team must have a robust analytics program to succeed. Managers can increase visibility, make data-supported decisions, and plan strategic initiatives using the insights gained from evaluating facility data while keeping an eye on the budget and long-term objectives. Currently, AI is upending the conventional analytics model. In previous decades, choices were made based on an analyst's "gut sense," and facility data were manually filtered. AI is now automating these procedures to produce quicker, more accurate insights based on a thorough analysis of previous data. AI-enabled FM software can more effectively separate capital and operational expenses, improve predictability, and enhance demand forecasting by eliminating the possibility of human biases and errors.
Consistency is another advantage of AI in Facility Management analytics: with AI-enabled software, even a new or inexperienced person can make wise asset management decisions. The most rational, cost-effective course of action can be suggested by prescriptive analytics supported by years, or even decades, of facility data. There is little to no manual research involved in any of this. With the help of AI-powered analytics, your company can reduce expenses, avert malfunctions, and maintain the satisfaction of both consumers and staff.
Final Remarks
Although IoT and AI applications in facilities management are still in the early stages of development, they have a promising future. FM may be the sector to gain the most from AI in the future years, especially considering the volume of repetitive, time-consuming operations it does.
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