BMS Alarm Fatigue and How IoT and Analytics Can Solve This Problem

Understanding BMS Alarm Fatigue

Building Management Systems (BMS) are essential for monitoring and controlling various building operations, from HVAC systems to lighting and security. However, the efficiency of these systems can be hampered by "alarm fatigue," a phenomenon where the sheer volume of alarms overwhelms operators, leading to missed or ignored critical alerts.?

According to a recent study, the average facility experiences about 12.5 daily alarms, with over 50% receiving as many as 30 daily. This excessive number of alerts, compounded by the inability to differentiate between high and low-priority alarms, results in data overload and contributes to BMS alarm fatigue. Common causes of alarm fatigue include:

Incorrect Settings: Alarms triggered by improper configurations.

Repetitive Alarms: Continuous alerts for the same issue.

Faulty Hardware: Malfunctions causing erroneous alerts.

Redundant Alerts: Multiple alarms for the same problem.

Unactionable Alerts: Notifications that don't require immediate action.

The Impact of Alarm Fatigue

Alarm fatigue can have severe consequences, including:

1. Reactive Maintenance: Around 40% of facilities adopt a reactive maintenance strategy, addressing issues only after they occur, which can lead to unplanned downtime and costly repairs.

2. Overlooking Critical Alerts: The high volume of alarms makes it easy to miss or ignore essential notifications, potentially compromising safety and efficiency.

3. Operational Inefficiencies: Alarm fatigue can lead to operational inefficiencies, as staff may become desensitized to alarms, delaying necessary actions.

Leveraging IoT and Analytics to Combat Alarm Fatigue

The integration of IoT (Internet of Things) and advanced analytics into BMS can significantly mitigate the issue of alarm fatigue. Here's how:

Enhanced Data Collection and Analysis

Vast amounts of real-time data from various building systems can be monitored and analyzed with IoT-enabled BMS. Advanced analytics can then process this data to:

• Prioritize Alarms:?Analytics can help prioritize alarms based on severity and likelihood of occurrence by analyzing historical data and patterns.
• Reduce Redundant Alerts:?IoT and analytics can identify and suppress redundant alarms, ensuring each alert is meaningful and actionable.
• Identify Root Causes: Advanced algorithms can detect the underlying causes of repetitive and faulty alarms, enabling proactive maintenance and system optimization.

Condition-Based Maintenance

Traditional maintenance strategies often rely on fixed schedules, which may not align with the actual condition of the equipment. IoT and analytics enable condition-based maintenance by:

• Monitoring Equipment Health: IoT sensors continuously monitor equipment health, providing real-time data on performance and potential issues.
• Predictive Maintenance: Analytics can predict when equipment is likely to fail, allowing for timely interventions that prevent unplanned downtime and extend the lifespan of assets.

Operational Efficiency

IoT and analytics contribute to operational efficiency by:

• Optimizing Equipment Runtime: By tracking operational routines, these technologies can reduce equipment runtime when it's not needed, saving energy and reducing wear and tear.
• Ensuring Proper Installation and Configuration: IoT devices can detect control point overrides and improper installations, while analytics verify that control algorithms operate correctly, ensuring optimal performance.

Case Study: Enabling Existing BMS system with IoT and Advanced Analytics?

Nebeskie Labs Pvt Ltd, a leader in industrial IoT and factory digitization, offers the Edge IIoT platform Enture, which leverages IoT and analytics to address alarm fatigue. Their approach includes:

Data Abstraction and Analysis: Segregating high-priority and low-priority alerts to avoid data overload.

Actionable Insights: Providing insights based on collected data to prioritize maintenance and operational tasks.

Proactive Monitoring: Enture constantly monitors and analyses the data and enables every team to have specific data visualization, enabling the team to focus on the KPIs that matter and not get lost in the series of alerts?

By integrating these advanced technologies, Nebeskie Labs helps facilities transition from reactive to proactive maintenance strategies, reducing unplanned downtime and operational costs while enhancing overall system reliability and efficiency.

Alarm fatigue in BMS is a significant challenge that can compromise safety, efficiency, and operational effectiveness. However, integrating IoT and advanced analytics offers a robust solution to this problem. By enhancing data collection and analysis, enabling condition-based maintenance, and optimizing operational routines, these technologies can transform how facilities manage alarms and maintain their systems, leading to improved performance and reduced costs.

Adopting IoT and analytics is a critical step for facilities looking to mitigate alarm fatigue and enhance their BMS capabilities.