Environmental Monitoring and Assessment for Buildings
A lot goes into maintaining a secure commercial building. Risks such as water leaks and indoor air hazards can impact a building's safety, and they're not always obvious. That's where environmental monitoring and assessment can help.
Environmental monitoring and assessments use Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to track key building functions. They can help management and staff monitor environmental conditions and changes that signify a potential issue to address. In this guide, we'll cover how environmental monitoring solutions can support your team's maintenance efforts.
What Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Means for Commercial Facilities
Environmental monitoring is an ongoing process used to establish a baseline of an environment — in this case, a commercial building. It tracks trends of specific property concerns, such as indoor air quality, energy use, moisture levels, and temperature. This data helps maintenance teams recognize when there's something wrong.
An environmental assessment is a one-time evaluation that identifies building hazards or contaminants. It may be performed to fulfill regulatory requirements or during a property sale. The results from an assessment can inform buyers, sellers, residents, and other stakeholders of any environmental risks.
Environmental monitoring and assessments go hand in hand. Monitoring alerts property owners and staff to a problem before it festers. That way, they can take care of the issue. When it comes time for a formal assessment, there's less chance of misconceptions about the building portfolio's analytics.
Commercial facilities may be open to the public. Some house residents or businesses. With many people coming in and out of the property, it's critical to have continuous visibility into risks that can potentially impact their safety or health.
Environmental Conditions Monitored in Commercial Buildings
IoT sensors can track multiple environmental conditions in a commercial property.
Indoor Air Quality
Monitors can evaluate levels of harmful gases and air particles, including carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), radon, and more. These pollutants usually don't have a smell, so people may breathe them unknowingly. This can have adverse effects on their health.
Temperature and Humidity
Excess humidity and extreme temperatures are uncomfortable for building inhabitants. They can also damage a building's structure or components. Sensors can detect abnormal humidity and temperature levels, allowing building staff to address issues.
Water Leaks, Moisture, and Energy Usage
Leaky pipes, damaged insulation, and malfunctioning HVAC systems can impact a building's efficiency. Sensors can monitor water and electricity usage and notify building staff of unusual utilization caused by broken components.
Traditional Assessments vs. Real-Time Environmental Monitoring
Monitoring systems are relatively new. It's only within the past few decades that building owners have begun using them for environmental monitoring. Before that, traditional methods such as spot checks, manual inspections, and annual audits formed the basis of environmental assessments.
Some commercial properties continue to rely on traditional methods to uncover issues. However, traditional techniques aren't foolproof. They can fail to catch problems early, which can lead to further difficulties, such as:
Unexpected Costs. Water and HVAC issues that go undetected can cause utility bills to skyrocket. Fixing the issue when it occurs can prevent unnecessary expenses.
Missed Emerging Issues. Maintenance staff may inspect certain building elements sporadically. If problems aren't detected early, they can worsen and cause further damage.
Health Consequences. Unknown air quality issues can cause serious side effects for building residents and visitors.
Real-time monitoring solutions fill in the visibility gaps. IoT sensors placed strategically across a property collect data 24/7 and transmit it to building management. Monitoring provides data access through dashboards, which highlight key metrics and send notifications when anomalies occur.
Benefits of Continuous Environmental Monitoring Systems
Taking advantage of environmental monitoring tools and trends reassures property owners of building safety. These tools protect building investments and safeguard resident and visitor health. Here are some of the benefits they offer.
Early Issue Detection and Faster Response
Whenever there's an issue with an HVAC system or plumbing, signs of breakage occur. For example, a faulty pipe may leak water onto walls or ceilings, leaving visible water stains. Dirty filters or a malfunctioning compressor can prevent an air conditioner from blowing cold air. However, these issues may go unnoticed for some time, especially if they don't impact high-traffic areas.
With a monitoring system, building managers can view energy and water metrics in real-time. If there's a surge in usage, they can investigate the cause immediately. Issues won't remain undetected for days or weeks at a time.
Historical Data for Trend Analysis and Root-Cause Investigation
Environmental monitoring systems retain a building's historical data. Metrics that test indoor air quality, temperature, and energy usage are available for trend analysis. This allows teams to set baselines and view changes over time.
Historical data can help teams diagnose an undetected issue. For instance, say electricity costs rise for several apartments in a multi-family property, but other homes aren't affected. The maintenance team could narrow down the cause to the systems shared by those units.
Automated Alerts That Reduce Operational Burden
Building managers handle a lot of tasks, and overseeing maintenance is only a part of their job. With a monitoring system, staff can receive instantaneous alerts whenever there's an issue. This reduces operational burden, allowing them to focus on other strategic tasks.
As an example, say a building's carbon dioxide levels rise above a safe limit. Even if the team isn't sitting in front of the monitoring system, they'll receive a notification through their smartphone and email. They can take swift action to protect tenants and visitors.
Practical Use Cases for Schools, Construction, and Multi-Family Buildings
Environmental monitoring systems are useful for all types of commercial buildings. Schools can use them to stay in alignment with regulatory requirements and support a healthier learning environment. On a construction site, environmental monitoring can protect building materials and alert workers to changing conditions.
Multi-family properties can use environmental monitoring to prevent building damage, avoid complaints, and reduce system downtime.
Attune is the only customizable indoor air quality monitoring solution on the market. As a market leader in IoT with over 45 patents, we offer a complete suite of environmental monitoring systems for commercial buildings. To discover how Attune can benefit your property, schedule a demo with our team.
