Integration of IoT can play a crucial role in transforming utility equipment systems’ function and help building systems work more sustainably, allowing for utility cost control, preventive maintenance of assets, avoiding resource wastage, etc. It also enables building systems to invest in innovative paraphernalia, like motion detectors, temperature sensors, automatic ventilation systems, etc., to improve utility equipment management. There are many examples of IoT assimilation into existing utility systems for any business or industry.
So how does IoT work with utility systems?
Utility systems consist of HVAC systems, chillers, Genset, and water pumps that require electricity, diesel, and water as primary energy sources. Often, these equipment faces problems caused by a lack of granular visibility into its real-time performance, health, and maintenance. This often leads to the following troubles:
- Wastage of energy, water, and diesel due to subpar functioning
- High maintenance costs of inefficient machines due to untimely upkeep, resulting in breakdowns
- Poor asset management due to lack of follow-up on existing maintenance schedules
Checking the condition of every piece of utility equipment from the facility level to the individual machine level is a necessary, albeit complex, task. One of the significant roles of IoT integration is to monitor and provide data on this overall analysis of the equipment setup. The granular visibility provided by IoT grants access to tasks like tracking energy, fuel and water consumption across multiple segments, monitoring asset health and overseeing machine behaviors across parameters through multiple timelines.
Most solutions are attained through well-placed alert systems, which can help save unnecessary expenses and downtime in case of sudden asset breakdowns or emergencies. For example, sensors and trackers can monitor and gauge power consumption across utility equipment on individual levels such as area, central, and load-wise. This can also assist in managing the resources for the full utility equipment setup, avoiding wastage and extra expenses of procuring them.
So how does one get these critical notifications and alerts to carry out necessary actions for utility issues?
The Tor Shield is a state-of-the-art utility equipment management module that provides the coveted end-to-end visibility and control over the entire utility system. It is a collective product suite designed for complete visibility and control over utility systems. It provides the user with end-to-end management of the assets and resources. The suite consists of solutioning, IoT platforms, edge gateways, proprietary Shield Insights, customizable applications, and analytics.
Out of the entire interconnected IoT structure, the dashboard is probably where the action takes place, literally and figuratively. It directly lets the user or facility manager gain insights into comprehensive as well as individual aspects of the utility functions.
In the image, we see the dashboard of the Tor Shield application. The dashboard is probably the most viewed piece of IoT layout. It showcases all the results at a click on a common platform instead of going back and forth between multiple sections. It is where the managers can access a concise and descriptive top-to-down view of the entire system and separate views for each component.
The Tor Shield dashboard also gives a comprehensive view of the following:
- Maintenance schedules and alerts are displayed in broader categories and divided into energy, fuel, and water sub-branches.
- Alerts that convey ongoing maintenance or recent servicing of any asset.
- Apart from individual report tabs, a singular Report tab also showcases the comprehensive data of the equipment in one place, without going back and forth between multiple tabs.
- Ability to compare energy/resource trends through multiple timelines for resource consumption and loss analysis.
- Narrow down the problem points through comparative data across multiple segments (plant-wise, area-wise, CDC-wise, etc.) to reach the root of the issue by choosing which alerts to focus on.
- Check resource consumption (fuel, electricity, and water) from its start point (source) to the endpoint (asset) to figure out potential resource loss or supply obstruction.
- One can access separate notifications on individual sections (premise-wise, location-wise, office-wise, etc.)
- Loss of resources along the transmission process can trigger an alarm to notify the exact loss point.
Conclusion
Commercial spaces rely on healthy utility systems for the smooth functioning of their building systems.
With its ecosystem of devices and cloud capabilities, IoT has gained importance due to its effectiveness in comprehensive and timely data collection across locations & equipment, which assists with timely actions. At the same time, compatibility between the current equipment systems and IoT is also essential for optimum results seamlessly. Hence, conducting thorough research and consultation with companies that offer end-to-end and tailormade IoT services is necessary.
As necessary it is to integrate IoT into your facilities; it is also equally essential to pair different IoT utility sensors like pipe pressure, electricity load, water quality, etc., with suitable advanced analytics and computing systems that allow us to identify resource and energy waste and inefficiencies and breakdowns with high precision and help eliminate them before they become a liability. This ensures proper ventilation, temperature sensing, predicted vs. actual resource consumption per outlet and equipment, timely maintenance, etc., throughout the facility structure.
We have been assisting businesses in managing their utility systems with our customizable solutions and product line. Tor Shield is one such solution that delivers the essentials of IoT integration with a flair of its own and much more. A sustainable and intelligent future for commercial spaces has never looked closer.
