Technology Management and Innovation (MRC 1113) Building Management System (BMS) In MENARA ANSAR

By:

MR111100 MR101043 MR111019 MR111025 MR111011

Supervised By:

Dr.Batiah Mahadi
TMI MRC 1113 International Business School Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Table of Contents:
1. 2. 3.

Page
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Executive Summary Introduction Why BMS is important nowadays? Components Case Study: Building management system in Menara Ansar 7 5.1 Background of Menara Ansar 5.2 Problem & Issues

4. 5.

6. 7.

SWOT Analysis Results and Findings 7.1 Findings from SWOT Analysis 7.2 Burgelman Framework Analysis

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8. Discussion & Recommendation 9. Conclusion References Appendixes

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1. Executive Summary With premises nowadays getting ever more sophisticated as well as the needs to optimize the maintenance and energy cost, more and more facilities managers or building owner are seeking a robust system to manage their premises. Management System (BMS). BMS offers a variety of tools for managing the maintenance aspect of the premises, such as Power System, Illumination System, Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning System (HVAC), Security System, Closed Circuit Television System and a host of others. BMC basically offers the users the ability to control, monitor and optimize the various systems in the building. This paper will provide the readers with the understanding of BMS, which covers the functions, anatomy as well as a real case study example of the application of BMS in one of the buildings in Johor Bahru, the Menara Ansar. Apart from that SWOT analysis as well as Burgelman Framework has been included for this case study. One of the options is to turn to Building

2. Introduction Building Management System (BMS) is a computer-based system that monitors the operation of the equipment, or other building and management activities which is integrated into a dedicated network. BMS uses network technology and computer to efficiently control as well as to manage the total building environment. This system controls and monitors the buildings mechanical and electrical equipment such as ventilation, lighting, power systems, fire systems, and security systems. Below are the some examples of the equipment involved in BMS as well as devices that monitors and control building functions: a. Security Applications Card readers, keypads, video monitors and cameras, motion detectors, and electronic lock mechanism b. Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) Output Actuators, fans, dampers, large relays, and motors
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c. Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) Sensors Monitor pressure, humidity, tank levels and temperature d. Lighting Controls Lamps, occupancy sensors and electronic ballasts

Figure 01: Example of Building Management System Its core function is to manage the environment within the building which is to control the heating and cooling. It manages the systems that distribute the air throughout the building (for example by operating fans or opening/closing dampers), and then locally controls the mixture of heating and cooling to achieve the desired room temperature. A secondary function sometimes is to monitor the level of human-generated CO2, mixing in outside air with waste air to increase the amount of oxygen while also minimizing heat/cooling losses. Since 1990s, the development of microprocessor and personal computers has lead to the revolution of heating and ventilating control. With the use of the latest technology which combines the communication techniques, the BMS were produced which could be configured, monitored and modified from the central Workstation. Any activity that is conducted (which is configured, monitored and modified) shall be captured in a data form and these data shall be kept in a server. Since all these are connected to an identified communication network, it
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allows information transfer between areas in a building in a second which enables quick response. Apart from controlling the building's internal environment, BMS systems are sometimes linked to access control (access doors which controls any individual of accessing a building). Besides that, BMS can also be linked to other security systems such as closed-circuit television (CCTV) and motion detectors. Fire alarm systems and elevators are also sometimes linked to a BMS, for example, if a fire is detected then the system could shut off dampers in the ventilation system to stop smoke spreading and send all the elevators to the ground floor and park them to prevent people from using them in the event of a fire. The level of control via the BMS is dependent upon the information received from its sensors and the way in which its programs tell it to respond to that information. Hence, BMS can alert a person for any abnormalities occurrence but it all depends on how precise the controller/system is.

3. Why BMS is important nowadays? The rising of energy costs and also the greenhouse effects on the environment have become factors that made a lot of firms move towards building management system. BMS play an important role in reducing energy consumption as well as operation cost. A BMS enables building managers to provide an optimal working environment in maintaining a buildings energy efficiency rating. Effective BMS utilization allows for optimal building performance by extending the operational life of equipment and systems through reducing loads and operating hours. Maintenance and capital costs are therefore reduced and less embedded energy is consumed through equipment replacement and upgrades. A BMS will show increases in energy use due to equipment failure or adjustments to operating parameters, for instance, opening heating valves when the building requires cooling for extended periods due to cleaning activity.

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A BMS is also a primary tool for identifying energy intensity improvement opportunities, for example refining the size and number of lighting time blocks, providing meaningful reports to the Building Management Committee on issues and opportunities, and enabling identification of faults, maintenance planning, and energy saving upgrades. Following are the examples of benefit gain of using the BMS: i. Exterior System a. Automation Parking System - Capturing the occupancy and availability of parking lot from time to time. b. Outdoor surveillance cameras c. Outside lighting For schedule the timing of on and off ii. Building Access/Surveillance a. Tracking time and attendance b. Control room accessibility c. Manage fire and life safety system d. Resolve the alarms iii. HVAC/Mechanical a. Monitor the performance of multi systems b. Identify and resolve the issue iv. Gas/Contamination a. Monitoring smoke and track biological agents. b. Trigger alerts whenever out of the parameters v. Elevators a. Real time monitoring and maintenance. b. Any case of emergencies can be override control vi. Interior Lighting a. Optimize the energy consumption for interior lighting. b. Schedule holiday and after office hour lighting.
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vii.

Utility Monitoring a. Analyze rates and manage the usage of energy consumption and cost for energy budgets. b. Forecast consumption based on cyclical occupant needs, weather and usage trends.

viii.

Connectivity a. All the facility systems can be accessed through IP network so the operators monitoring can manage facilities from any duly authorized IP connected device.

4. Components A typical BMS has the following components:

(a) BMS File Server

File server is a place where all the records for the Building Management System (which is in SQL database) are stored. (b) Field Controllers

Field Controllers are the microprocessor-based controllers which are programmed to monitor HVAC equipment. Controllers are stand-alone and are capable of operating independently of each other and any other controllers.

(c) Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) System

HVAC system is a system for conditioning and delivering air to the rooms for the purpose of removing waste heat and maintaining occupant comfort, air cleanliness, and room to room pressurization.

(d) Human Machine Interface (HMI)

HMI is the display whereby anyone who handles it can monitor, set the settings or control and also navigate associated with the any parameter settings.

(e) Operator Workstation (OWS)

The computer terminal where operator monitors and/or controls the production area environment, HVAC, utility equipment, and control system.

In most of the cases, BMS will utilize two distinct networks for communications. An Ethernet LAN shall provide communications between the BMS File Server, Operator
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Workstations, and the Network Controllers. A dedicated Field Network will provide communications with the Network Controller and the local field controllers. A server for the BMS Files will be provided and located in the Data Center. The server will utilize a SQL database and serve as the storage location for system configuration and programs, security and user rights information, archived data, and audit trails.

Figure 02: BMS System Configuration

The workstations are the primary operator interface to the BMS and will display information relating to the HVAC System status. Normally only authorized personnel will be able to monitor the system status of the BMS via web client within the premises. A Network Controller will provide the required interface between the Field controllers on the Field Network and the BMS File Server and Operator Workstations served by the Ethernet LAN.

5. Case Study : Building Management System in Menara Ansar, Johor Bahru 6|Page

In this study, the team has identified Menara Ansar building as the case in discussing the BMS system in the controlling the air conditioning system, lightings, energy consumption, access control, video surveillance, intrusion, fire and smoke detection.

5.1 Background of Menara Ansar Menara Ansar is situated between Plaza Kotaraya and Puteri Pacific Hotel which is a prime location within the Johor Bahrus Central Business District ("CBD") as per figure 03. . Menara Ansar is a 16-storey sophisticated office tower comprising with a 5-storey podium and three (3) basement car park levels. The tower is declared as one of the most intelligent building in the region because it conceived to coin a highly use of the facilities in the building, namely Integrated Building Management System (IBMS). The intelligent features within the building include Building Control System, Intruder Detection, Fire Alarm Detection System and CCTV Alarm recording. The tower is equipped with the state-of-the-art building automation system that features centralized air conditioning and lighting systems. Security-wise, the management has equipped Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) and 24 hours mobile security services which safeguard the whole building including 3 floors of basement car park. The building management system which installed in Menara Ansar utilizes the Continum System produced by Andover Control USA. Andover Controls Continum is a comprehensive range of microprocessor based intelligent, and stand alone controllers connected via a high speed communications network to a multi-tasking user interface. For the safety of the device, it complies with Malaysia and also the International Standard Regulatory. Because of the IBMS, the Menara Ansar is able to attract 96% of average occupancy rate for the past several years. Following are the existing tenants of Menara Ansar: Japanese Consulars Office, Price Waterhouse Coopers, KPMG, Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Malaysia Berhad (Bank Rakyat) and several key public sector establishments including Companies Commission of Malaysia, SOCSO and Ministry of Domestic Trade & Consumer Affairs.

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.
Figure 03: Menara Ansar Location

5.2 Problem & Issues Building intelligent experts have a lot to say about the benefits in the BMS system especially in terms of the efficiency aspect, the cost aspect, the environmental aspect, the health aspect and the security aspect. As for this case, the team had conducted interview a few technicians which lead by Mr. Khairuddin Bin Kosnin. During the interview, the team covers the efficiency aspect, the cost aspect and the security aspects.

5.2.1 Efficiency Aspect Technicians (the one who operates the BMS) in Menara Ansar found that BMS is a very good system that assists them in their day to day operation. However, only 80% of the BMS system functions had been used, while the remaining 20% are yet to

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explore. The 80% usage of the BMS functions limits to only air conditioning system, lightings, access control, CCTV surveillance, fire and smoke detection. They have yet to install the control of room temperature, ventilation, electrical distribution, power quality and monitoring and web based control. As a result, when there is a complaint from the tenants at certain floor level that the room is warm, the technicians will have to manually adjust the damper settings in the exhaust ducting as to control the air flow onto the specified floor. Based on this finding, it revealed that the MENARA ANSAR management did not look into the system capability seriously especially on the usage of the system for energy saving. Even though, the high tech BMS is in placed, technicians often found that the system interrupted and therefore affect the consistency of their services to the tenants as well as to their customers. Should there be any system malfunction or breakdown; the technicians do not have any back-up system or contingency plan.

5.2.2 Cost Aspect According to the technician, the BMS system found to be user friendly and easy to manage. The system requires only one person at a time to operate the system. As such, the management does not require additional manpower to handle the maintenance or the facility of the building. However, they found the cost involved to upkeep the system is quite high. The BMS system in Menara Ansar found to face frequent breakdown. In addition to that, any parts replacement due to wear & tear is very expensive. Another important point highlighted by the technicians that they were trained only to carry out maintenance and monitoring of the BMS system. They were not taught on the new configurations
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settings as well as developing new program, system upgrading or service maintenance. Anything that goes wrong to the system requires vendor attention. In other words, the system is vendor dependent which induce high operating cost. No matter how sophisticated the BMS system is, it has its disadvantages. A quite numbers of the components or devices used for the BMS have obsolete whereby some of the spare parts are no longer available in the market. The current BMS system in MENARA ANSAR has been upgraded twice since 1997 and each installation and upgrading incurred an approximately RM 140,000. In addition to the above, Menara Ansar has not kept any data in terms of energy savings in the past years and therefore, they could not determine whether the BMS system had really provided energy savings to the building. Lack of focus from the management induce the loss of potential energy saving.

5.2.3 Security Aspect As for the security aspect, technicians revealed that they are not required to perform 24 hours monitoring because should there be any incident occur, the alarm shall be triggered which alerts the security to check the affected area. Hence, there is only one person required to keep an eye on security functions. The person who monitors the security function is able to know who access the door or room, which eliminates the need of a group of security personnel. Should there be any fire; BOMBA can easily identify the exact spot of the fire from the control system. Hence, it helps BOMBA to take immediate action in

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stopping the fire from spreading. A fire drill activity was carried out recently in Feb 2012 and BOMBA claimed to be satisfied with the BMS system in Menara Ansar.

However, due to its limited level of intelligence, it is therefore inclined to committing errors such as wrong signal or false alarm. The system may also be hacked and accessed by criminal through internet and this will endanger the building in terms of its security.

6. SWOT ANALYSIS SWOT Analysis is a useful framework for analyzing the strengths and weaknesses, and the opportunities and threats that an organization faced in any circumstances. It helps to focus on the strengths, minimize threats, and take the greatest possible advantage of opportunities that is available. 6.1 Strengths Building Management System is a computer based used especially in a new building that control, monitor and optimize the usage of any system. For instance, BMS is able to determine to control the temperature and humidity of a said premise even though the whether outside the premises changes or varies obviously. This is good for those industries that need a proper control of clean room or control room in the premises. There are times, certain product or goods that are manufactured in the building needs a special control of temperature or humidity as to preserve the quality of the product produced. For instance, the production of semiconductor, critical electrical device and the medical products requires a special room condition in order to preserve the quality of the product. Also, not forgetting offices such as MENARA ANSAR that requires a comfortable environment for the staffs to work as well as for them to welcome and discuss with the customers. One of the biggest strength of using BMS is the capability of saving the energy for the entire building. It monitors the critical areas for alarms, air conditioning as well as the light.
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When there is no one working in a room which can be sensed by the control system integrated to the BMS, the air condition shall be shut off. This applies to the lights where the motion sensor is place and should there be no one present in a particular room, the light shall turn off. In early day, manpower is required to hold a handheld device to monitor from room to room in order to check the room temperature and humidity. It will be time consuming for that particular person to check for the entire building which may fluctuates from time to time. Apart from that, the respond to a change will be delay before an action is taken to solve the issue. BMS is a one station or one screen for a person to monitor the entire building. By setting the specification which includes the lower and upper limit, the system shall trigger a person who monitors the BMS screen. The staff that monitors the system wills quickly response to any changes happened to the particular room or environment. As such, the staff productivity shall increase. Besides that, BMS is capable to provide exclusive setting or configuration from one room to another room. Hence, there is no additional or unnecessary manpower required to maintain the entire building in terms of building environment and the building safety or security. The CCTV system is controlled completely by using an Internet protocol (IP) backbone. This system converts the composite video signal into a digital signal with full redundancy built into it. When the network fails, all CCTV video recordings will be recorded locally onto an IP encoder which has storage built into it. Once reconnection of the network happened, the information will be automatically downloaded onto the main file server. As such, all historic data are stored in a server and should there a need for analyze purpose; the data can be retrieved from the server.

6.2 Weaknesses BMS requires installation of devices and sensors as well as wiring for the entire building hence, it is more suitable for a very new building. Should there be any BMS needed for the existing building or old building, and then there is a major renovation (including hacking if necessary) required in order installing all the necessary gadgets or devices. The cost of having BMS installed is very huge. As the cost is very high, many businessman or investor will think twice before getting BMS into their building even though
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there be will energy saving in long term. A proper costing need to be made to calculate the Return of Investment before a huge investment is made.

The BMS system is still new in the market even though it has been there for a couple of years. There are very few BIG players who have developed the Building management System and the technology used varies from one vendor to another. As the technology used for this BMS system is not mature enough, this will end up of frequent change of devices, as well as components and the software upgrade. There are times, vendor take this opportunity to install and used that as their training ground to improve the skills which benefits them and NOT to the customers. This resultant, the cost to maintain BMS will be unexpectedly high. Till today, there is no back-up program established when the BMS doesnt work. Only those who are trained can handled this system. Hence, a person who is going to operate the system must know what to do in terms of technical error, resetting the system when there is parameter out of specification. It takes time for a person to master the BMS. Should the person be no longer in a company/building, then there is a need to train another person to handle the system. 6.3 Opportunities As more and more people looking into the cost saving program, the demand for having BMS in a building regardless the kind of business applied is very welcoming. There are many people aware of the need of BMS where they can save millions of dollars especially in long terms in terms of energy saving. This includes the saving of using electricity which comprises lights, air conditioning, chiller usage etc and also saving in manpower. Based on the feedback from the technician of the MENARA ANSAR, there is a need for the team to look at remaining 20% which has not been explored. The biggest saving actually comes from the control Heating Ventilation Air Condition (HVAC) system. By optimizing the BMS usage, the team is able to switch off unnecessary components or equipments for example the chiller from operating. At the moment, BMS is very expensive as there are a lot of gadgets and devices used are customized. As more and more vendors venture into these kinds of businesses, it will induce price competition among the vendors on the BMS system. Hence, BMS will become more prices reasonable and user will obtain the BEST technology for the price they paid.
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6.4 Threats The biggest threat for this BMS system is some of the components or devices used which is part of the system goes obsolete. It is found that any control components or parts used such as IO (Input- output), relays, control devices and communication devices only used for a specified period of time. Sometimes, the availability of the parts is so difficult to get as it is not a frequent usage and it only last till stock has. Then a newer or upgraded version parts shall be introduced by the manufacturer which claimed to be an improved version but there would be high chances that it may not be fit or compatible to the system. Hence, the entire BMS may need for a major modification which end up the user may give-up the use of it. Another aspect to worry about is how secure the building management system. Since, there are experts hackers around, they would probably use the network system which is part of the BMS to enter into the system and may misuse it for their own benefit.

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7. RESULTS & FINDINGS 7.1 Findings from SWOT analysis

Internal Analysis

Strengths Control & Monitor according to the needs.

Fast - Immediate Action

Weaknesses Not suitable for old premises. High Cost Installation Preventive maintenance Cost is high (frequent breakdown) No back-up Only Trained can handle the system Weaknesses - Opportunities Strong negotiation among vendors for lower cost of installation.
Provide more knowledge on

after alarm detection

External Analysis

Good Tool for energy saving.

Data are stored, good for

retrievable.

Less manpower

Opportunities To explore the remaining 20% functionality of BMS

Growth of BMS in the

Strengths Opportunities Optimize the BMS usage for better energy saving. Analyze the history data as to focus area for energy saving. Well-utilize manpower.

market.

the BMS to build-up users confidence for better preventive maintenance program. depend on vendors.

To train more users as not to

Threats

Strengths -Threats

Weaknesses - Threats
Good preventive

Obsolete BMS components Ensure vendor guarantee on the components for a Beware of Hackers long duration.
The components or

maintenance enhances the life of components or parts.

devices must be easily available & changeable. Purchase some critical components as a standby

Ensure all the users are well trained and are updated to the latest technology development as to prevent hackers. To perform annual audit onto the BMS

To have a better user access management to prevent hackers.

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7.2 BURGELMAN STRATEGY ANALYSIS 7.2.1 External Technology Sourcing

7.2.2 Internal Technology sourcing

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7.2.3 Product Development

7.2.4 Process Development

7.2.5 Technical Support

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8. DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION Based on the SWOT analysis made, it is obvious that there is a need of the MENARA ANSAR management team to look seriously into the existing building management system. They should explore on the remaining 20% functions of the BMS which could provide a better energy saving. In fact, the biggest saving comes from the heating ventilation air conditioning system which falls under the 20% category. The current air condition usage was a waste at the moment as the whole building receiving the same amount of air regardless of human concentration as well as business activities. The management team should actively look into the history record as to understand the amount of energy used and using that as a reference for subsequent action. The management should also invest and extend the implementation of BMS system to the rest of the buildings under their management and supervision. By taking this strategy, the value of the building will increase instantly due to the high demand from customers on Intelligent Building. Since Johor is just next to Singapore, Intelligent Building will be able to attract more international tenant from Singapore to open up their office in Johor Bahru.

Inadequate knowledge among the technicians may resultant of poor maintenance of the existing building management system. Again, the management team should invest in educating their employees by providing intensive training to the technicians so that they would not be too
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dependent onto vendors for any breakdown. As for now, every single breakdown, the vendor is called for maintenance which is not a value added. By getting the Menara Ansar maintenance staff trained, it will assist them on reducing the cost related to the development of the BMS system. Apart from that the management should enforce on periodic service maintenance from time to time instead of ad hoc basis. This will definitely reduce the maintenance cost due to wear and tear.

Menara Ansar management team would not know whether the existing BMS is working properly or not. Hence, as to preserve the security level, it is good to conduct an annual audit or if necessary to call for an external auditor to audit the functionality of the building management system. A correctly configured BMS with an adequate number of correctly located monitoring points is the only way a building manager alerted to problems which could otherwise remain undetected. Hence, by having the audit on the system, one can assure that the system is also free of any misuse which will also prevent the hackers from interfering.

9. CONCLUSION With the advancement in technology, the BMS-Continuum System has enhances the competitive advantage of Menara Ansar at Johor Bahru Central. However, the lack of focus of top management in remaining 20% functions which is not fully utilized, they would unable to achieve energy saving in their tower. So, the management should develop their Internal IT expert in order to optimize the function of existing building management system in order to maximize the customer satisfaction, cost and energy saving.

REFERENCE A Building Management System - (Bms) The General Concept. Retrieved May 15, 2012 from http://www.bristol.ac.uk/environment/energy/BMS_Overview.pdf Building Management Systems-Australian Government Department of climate change and Energy Efficiency, October 2010.
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Kosko, K. (2010). Building Management System Integration. American Power Conversion Building Control and Management. Retrieved May 18, 2012 from http://www.dexteran.co.uk/index.html Figueiredo, J. & Cosata, J.S. (2008). Operative Platform Applied to Building Automation. Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering 24 pp:26 40 Kastner, W., Neugschwandtner, G., Soucek, S. & Newman, H.M.. (2005). Communication Systems for Building Automation and Control. Proceedings of The IEEE, Vol.93, No. 6, pp:1179 1203 Menara Ansar. (2010). Operation Manual: Continuum Lan Software Upgrading of Building Control System (BCS). TAC: Andover Controls Overview. Retrieved May 18, 2012 from http://webserv.andovercontrols.com/Corporate/index_corporate.htm

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