Information Technology for Energy and Maintenance Management

Abstract

We describe the design of a tenant interface for energy and maintenance systems (TIEMS) in commercial buildings. TIEMS is designed for use by occupants (tenants) of commercial buildings. Our hypothesis is that by allowing tenants access to information from the energy and maintenance systems and by giving them some control over these systems, energy and maintenance performance can be improved. We used interviews with potential users and existing energy and maintenance databases to guide the design. Results of a field trial demonstrate the utility of TIEMS. We also describe the design of a maintenance and operations recommender (MORE). MORE uses information from computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) and energy management and control systems (EMCS) to recommend what maintenance personnel should do in response to a maintenance service request. MORE integrates text descriptions of problems with sensor information related to the problem. After work orders are closed, MORE uses the information about what was actually done to solve the problem to learn how to improve its recommendations.