Run Your Building Like an Athlete Creating Smart Buildings – Part 1

This post is part of The Adaptive Energy Management Guide.  

Whether you are a sideline spectator or a fierce competitor, any sports aficionado has witnessed the test of time. That point when things don’t work quite like they used to: when tennis elbows and creaky knees mean deteriorating performance. Or, worse yet, the threat of injury nips at the heels. Like any machine or piece of equipment, our bodies have limits, require regular maintenance cycles, and in the event of a malfunction, warrant repair.

Like the human body, building systems and equipment are also subject to wear and tear, overuse, and ultimately breakdown without proper care. But beyond the obvious parallel, where can athletes and building operators find common ground?

When you think about the athlete’s paradigm, it’s easy to sit with eyes fixed on the rear view mirror after an injury has taken place. A tweak here, an adjustment there, and perhaps the athlete would be in the game, rather than on the injured list. After all, hindsight is 20-20. But, what if foresight was 20-20 too, and athletes used tried and true statistical facts to predict injury and took steps to prevent it? To that end, what if smart building operators used statistical data to preempt breakdown in a way that goes beyond routine preventative maintenance?

Adaptive Energy Management - How to Use Your Buildings as a Battery

Enter the concept of prehabilitation — conditioning the body (or building) in such a way so as to ensure optimal performance, prevent injuries (or equipment breakdown), and facilitate recovery (or repair) if injuries do occur. It is a proactive approach that helps to prevent injury rather than mending it after the fact.

So can the concept of prehabilitation be carried over from sports medicine to building science? Absolutely. The fact of the matter is routine preventative maintenance by itself isn’t enough to condition buildings for optimal performance. Just as professional athletes must condition their bodies to stay at the top of their games, building managers must also go beyond routine preventative maintenance and incorporate key aspects of prehabilitation — such as being data centric, targeted and proactive — to achieve optimal building health. In short, healthy bodies drive longevity and better performance for athletes, just as healthy buildings drive longer equipment life, lower energy use and optimized, cost-saving performance.

Tune in to "Run Your Buildings Like an Athlete Creating Smart Buildings - Part 2" to find out how building owners and operators can go from sitting idly by on the sidelines to becoming game MVP.

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