The objective of this demonstration is to help determine a path forward for effective use of Fault Detection & Diagnostics (FDD) technologies at Department of Defense (DoD) installations. FDD has the potential to maximize use of existing Building Automation Systems (BAS) for improved operations and maintenance, energy efficiency, and installation resilience. By comparing key FDD features with business-as-usual BAS functionality and quantifying FDD benefits, DoD installations can make strategic decisions about FDD procurement and implementation to cost-effectively enhance their facilities management programs while meeting cybersecurity requirements.

Current BAS product delivery using DoD specifications results in a building network of equipment controllers connected to a graphical front-end interface where facilities management personnel can view, analyze, or adjust HVAC and other building system operations. Basic BAS alarms currently in use at DoD facilities are intended to help maintenance teams but can require significant investigation and diagnosis by already overloaded installation staff, FDD software can process BAS data to generate more detailed information on the source of and solution to common performance issues. State-of-the-art FDD can use thousands of algorithms to calculate improved setpoints, diagnose errors, or automatically adjust operations. The project team will evaluate FDD tools and their capabilities at representative DoD installations to quantify key performance metrics. Successful demonstration will result in determination of cost-effective and resilience-promoting FDD approaches that can be packaged into specification language for future DoD new construction, renovation, and retrofit efforts.

Anticipated cost and performance benefits of FDD demonstration are represented in the project success criteria of facility energy usage (> 15% total energy reduction), system economics (< 10 year payback), user satisfaction (> 75% satisfaction), and system availability (> 85% availability). Performance metrics will be evaluated in comparison to standard use of graphics and alarms for BAS delivered via contemporary DoD controls specifications. To maximize the potential for identifying cost-effective and rapidly deployable FDD solutions, the primary project emphasis will be on FDD packages available as add-ons to commonly used BAS front-end systems.