Integrating intelligent AI solutions with facilities management

Facilities Management as an industry has seen a transformational shift, with rising trends of integrating advanced technologies within FM operations and the digitisation of fundamental elements of day-today activities. The COVID pandemic only further accelerated this trend as people didn’t want people in buildings and wanted more automation.

Among the various trends, leading regional and international FM service providers have implemented intelligent

AI technology in their systems to increase operational efficiency and conserve energy which goes handin-hand with companies looking to achieve net-zero and ESG goals and control overall energy usage.

As FM service providers, we exploit this technology and use it to enhance our services in a way that benefits the customer and society as a whole.

In terms of AI technologies used in FM, we at Inspire Integrated, use multiple solutions that cater to all areas of the business. Facilities Management comprises various aspects and we work with our experienced technical team to develop unique solutions that enhance efficiency across these different aspects.

Through machine learning, our software , integrates AI with Building Management System (BMS), giving AI the control of systems across the building.

AI integrated buildings have the ability to collect information from different data points and systems, analyse that information, then use it to make decisions and apply changes that would make subsystems across the building work more efficiently.

For example, AI can collect information about the weather forecast, outside and inside temperatures, building occupancy, working schedules, etc. and based on that decide fresh air allocation, how to optimise the variable frequency driven chillers etc. The more we apply this concept across different aspects and subsystems in the building, the more efficient our operations become, and the more energy and resources are conserved.

At Inspire Integrated, we implement a series of AI-powered solutions as such, each serving distinctive purposes. We then connect them all through our PropEzy platform, which is a digitised software that amalgamates systems and operations from the built environment and unifies all the data on one system.

Reinforced With Ai Technology

Another area of Facilities Management that is being reinforced with AI technology is planned maintenance. Traditionally, with planned preventative maintenance as per SFG20 guidelines, FM teams implemented a maintenance schedule irrespective to the asset usage.

For instance, if a routine maintenance is scheduled for 12 times in a year, it means that maintenance teams will need to visit the site and check on the condition of the equipment at least once a month to make sure operations are running smoothly.

However, with the integration of AI technology and IoT sensors, facilities managers can now adapt a predictive maintenance plan. In this case, smart sensors are utilised to monitor the

Analysing information AI integrated buildings have the ability to collect information from different data points and systems, analyse it and use it to make decisions and apply changes to improve efficiency.

Predictive maintenance plans equipment and indicate any irregularities by alerting the FM team to resolve the issue. This allows FM managers to reduce the frequency of planned maintenance schedules and analyse data that will help in understanding patterns and simplify future planning.

AI can be integrated into buildings to reinforce planned maintenance plans and respond quicker to irregularities, say Vinod Kumar and Geoff Warr.

Using AI to amplify one’s FM operations results in saving transport time, resource and materials, without affecting the final output. This technology can be implemented depending on the project or equipment at hand and is not a standardised process that can apply to all assets. Lastly, intelligent AI solutions can also enhance the asset’s visitor management system. AI-integrated visitor management systems are equipped with smart technologies which facilitate seamless entry for visitors from the parking area all the way to the apartment/office. These technologies include Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) at the parking entrance, facial recognition and smart access control via the authorised users’ mobile phone. A visitor management system provides live monitoring of visitors, access for authorised people only, facilitates drop-off/pick-up arrangements, daily visitors log, etc.

There are many ways Facilities Managers can incorporate AI to enhance their operational efficiency and work towards achieving their ESG goals. In addition to the previously mentioned solutions, we at Inspire Integrated rely heavily on the unique capabilities of PropEzy.

Our FM teams can control, monitor and analyse the performance of assets through the data generated on it’s PowerBI dashboard, which is sourced from various data points including the mobile application that technicians use to record the progress of jobs and activities.

The dashboard generates valuable information that aids the planning and decision-making process of managers, such as the number of hours saved, printing cost saved, calling cost saved, number of trees saved as a result of paper-less activity and much more.

It is clear that investing in AI is a step forward for FM service providers to remain competitive and as more companies implement these solutions, it becomes more apparent the value they provide, not just in terms of efficiency, but in terms of resource allocation and reduction of carbon footprint which is critical to hitting our Net Zero goals.