Education Facility Management

Universities and K-12 facilities are very complex environments that operate on a multitude of stand-alone technologies. It is very likely there are some that are newer with feature advanced technologies while others utilize technologies which are not widely supported anymore.
In many cases, these systems and equipment function as individual silos, unable to interoperate and share data with each other. A lack of interoperability between these systems can negatively impact the performance of a facility, their efficiency and drive up operating costs. This complexity makes it more difficult to take advantage of the information these systems provide and results in poorly managed building systems and wasted resources.
The pace at which change is occurring is one major challenge. Operating and managing educational facilities are being driven by performance, financial optimization, efficiency and safety. The rising cost of energy and maintenance, financial pressures to contain costs and the need to reduce risk are contributing to how we must operate and maintain these facilities. Integrating these systems and equipment and managing facility assets strategically by acquiring and maintaining reliable data and using it to identify priorities has a strategic business impact. Universities, K-12, community colleges, technical schools are equipped with a wide range of systems and devices that control HVAC, energy management, lighting, security and more. The integration and interoperability between these systems and understanding how they are performing relative to each and what opportunities exist to reduce or control maintenance costs is critical in maximizing operations. The challenge of getting these diverse systems that speak many different protocols to connect and communicate with each other and to the enterprise has been an enormous barrier. That is until now.
Characteristics
- Must work within a tight budget
- Political pressures to contain costs and reduce risk
- Inconsistent scheduling for events
- Energy costs amount to 40% of total operating expenditures
Business Value
- Preserve existing system investments and integrate them with new open, standards-based technologies
- Provide access and control of all your facility operating systems
- Combine information from different systems to support better overall facility operational performance and energy management
- Enable you to specify systems and applications from multiple vendors, thereby reducing the potential for vendor lock-in
- Operate in a cyber-secured environment
Technology Value
- Multi-vendor interoperability
- Edge-to-Enterprise
- Flexibility and extensibility
- Supports multi-party software and hardware
- Real-time data driven dashboards
- UI on web, desktop, mobile
- A single tool
- Co-existence of multi-applications
- Open system/open standards
- Device universality
- Easy, rapid deployment
- Scalability
- Remote access & management
- Secured & protected environment{\tabs}
Operating Value and Return on Investment
Financial/Business Management
- Data and analytic information to plan accurately for future facility expenditures
- Capture data and use it
- Streamlines operations by integrating all building systems in the enterprise
- Speeds resolution of revenue-impacting problems
- Improves profitability by lowering cost of operations
- Provides better control and manageability of multiple facilities from a central office location
- Improves workflow and resource managemen
Energy Management
- Supports improved energy control and management
- Reduces utilization and costs
- Provides knowledge of individual consumption patterns and trends
Facility and Equipment Management
- Increases system and equipment functionality
- Identify underperforming equipment and systems
- Get down to system-level data and understand how these systems are actually performing
- Understand the real use of the systems and equipment
- Reduces equipment downtime and maximizes lifetime value
- Improves visibility into operational assets
Maintenance and Operations
- Speeds maintenance and problem resolution
- Supports preventative maintenance
- Enable remote diagnostics and repair