tinyAI Forum on PdM & Anomaly Detection: HVAC monitoring in commercial buildings using anomaly…

HVAC monitoring in commercial buildings using anomaly detection
Jon NORDBY, CTO, Soundsensing

There are millions of commercial buildings in the world, from offices, to schools, hospitals and stores. Most of these buildings are fitted with heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, in order to provide a productive and comfortable indoor climate. As with all electromechanical systems, HVAC systems are subject to breakdowns and must be maintained in order to keep them functional. The most common strategy is time-based inspections by the building operations personnel and HVAC service providers. This labor-intensive approach is costly, but many failures still slip by because they happen between inspection intervals.

In early 2022, Soundsensing started to deploy condition monitoring to HVAC systems in commercial buildings. The solution uses vibration- and sound-sensors to monitor rotating equipment in these systems. We find that the system is able to provide early-warning for many mechanical issues, enabling operations teams to schedule maintenance before the system goes down. Furthermore, we find that many systems repeatedly have problems with running when they should not, or not running when they should – and that most of the buildings lack Building Management Systems that accurately detect these issues. Both of these failure modes are monitored using an Anomaly Detection approach, and
combined, the solution provides both cost savings and lower downtime.

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