Technical operation: how to manage it more clearly? The operation of a building constitutes a major cost item from its completion. Expenses are mainly replacement investments, optimizations around comfort, energy efficiency and compliance with environmental requirements, including a gradual transition to CO2 neutrality. Efficient investment and cost management requires all-round data-based technical management of operations.
Especially in the healthcare sector, a decades-long operation of a building is equivalent to a permanent yard. There is the maintenance, there are the adjustments according to the changing purpose of building and departments, and there are the optimizations. "You can express it with a number," says Operations Director at engineering firm Ingenium Geert Verhelst. "100 is the quality level at which a building is delivered. If you do nothing, that figure will quickly drop due to wear and tear, derogations ... Even regular maintenance and optimizations lead to a sawtooth pattern: 100-80-95-75-90 and so on, with the top figure continuing to drop. Every few years, a thorough refresh with energy measures, among others, must be done to restore the quality level."
Monitoring and management, maintenance, modifications, studies, and investment plans are therefore essential for successful operations. Geert Verhelst: “Our offering in this area is based on several key pillars. The first is an operations dashboard.”
We can monitor the building’s maintenance and technical management, comfort, safety, and the efficiency of its systems, and use clear dashboards to provide the client with a tool for taking further action. Data from the BMS will be used for this purpose, such as comfort levels. We can also demonstrate whether everything meets the requirements. The dashboard can display this information by department. The general, overarching dashboard provides insight into the building’s maintenance and comfort. Color codes ranging from green to red indicate the current status via the dashboard.”
Second, framework contracts for operations are a cornerstone of Ingenium’s services. “A framework contract must be legally watertight and precisely worded,” emphasizes Geert Verhelst. “There are various types. On the one hand, there are framework contracts for maintenance, ranging from pure maintenance contracts to maintenance and energy performance contracts. In addition, a hospital is constantly evolving. Two departments are merged, part of a wing is repurposed due to a change in the legally permitted number of inpatient days… For smaller projects, a new contract can be issued each time, but that is time-consuming due to public procurement law. A framework contract with fixed-price agreements is much more efficient in such cases. Framework contracts are primarily determined based on the needs of the coming years, with the necessary margin to avoid surprises.”
Strategic management provides an overview of necessary and available information, such as as-built data, official documents, and more. Efficient management of building operations must therefore be fully digitized. Project manager Niels Vercaemst developed two forms of digital services for building operations for Ingenium. On the one hand, the digital vault; on the other, an augmented reality app that overlays reality, enabling visual building management. “The management of buildings in operation is automated based on a digital vault for information management,” explains Vercaemst. “Many building managers struggle with their document management. Organizing, sharing, and legally required maintenance of technical plans, inspections, contracts… The majority of our clients lack a proper system for this that is accessible to the entire organization. The digital vault makes managing as-built files easier. Plans, BIM models, technical data sheets, contracts, inspections, and other relevant information about the building stock are stored on a cloud-based central web platform. On the other hand, we’ve noticed that in the healthcare sector, many hospitals that are constantly undergoing renovations struggle with BIM software.”
But BIM is actually very useful for parametric info of a building and thus also for operation. "Analyzing BIM models and taking the benefits of the data from the model can also be done with the digital vault, without having to purchase specialized BIM software," Vercaemst continued. "In addition, we developed the BIMvisible app that visualizes BIM models in full size via Augmented Reality, simply through a smartphone. That info is centralized in the app and can be easily consulted. BIMvisible can solve comfort and technical problems in buildings quickly and efficiently. Because current and historical sensor information from the building management system is also displayed in real time in the right location via the app, comfort and other technical problems can be solved immediately. You get a much better understanding of the installation."
Geert Verhelst: "Another part of the strategic management tool is an overview of the necessary investments and resulting to-do's. This is done by performing studies on the building, such as the condition state measurement according to NEN 2767, which is originally a Dutch standard for determining the condition of building and installation parts. On that basis, you determine the necessary investments in terms of structure and techniques. The strategic management tool is linked to other tools that link to an energy audit or safety & security, feasibility study, research into optimization... so that the newest, most sustainable and most profitable solution is always proposed when techniques need to be replaced. Optimization is essential for efficient technical operation."
"The overall picture of the various partial studies is brought together in one clear table. In it, based on the six levels listed in the Dutch standard, the assessment and budget estimate for investments for the coming years is made. Good for an annual budget estimate with which an organization can take into account and plan investments. This enables additional replacement investments without exceeding the budget. We map out the exact investments needed to keep the building up to date, avoiding budget guesswork. The common thread is bringing simplicity to complexity."
Operations are also being outsourced more frequently in the healthcare sector. Geert Verhelst: "We see more and more focus on external outsourcing in a lot of areas, especially for maintenance. You can't be a specialist in the maintenance of a certain type of boiler if you only have to do it once a year. The proportion of in-house departments doing everything is indeed decreasing. The investment of people and resources is far too great. Cooling has become a pillar for healthcare facilities. Energy and climate goals are linked. In hospitals, there is not yet a general trend toward climate neutrality, but that is certainly coming their way."
Niels Vercaemst: "Hospitals, due to their specific characteristics (permanent cold demand, continuous occupancy ...) offer a lot of opportunities to reduce CO2 emissions via heat pumps and cooling. There is much more attention to patient and resident comfort. During covid, ventilation also became a hot topic. At the same time, obsolete cooling machines have to be removed; sustainability is coming to the fore. Via a clear, digitized and tailored strategic management, in accordance with legislation and guidance from experts, Facility or the technical department can keep a much better overview.
(Source: publication in Care&Technology 032)
For more information, please contact Geert Verhelst and Niels Vercaemst at 050/40 45 30 or via geert.verhelst@ingenium.be and niels.vercaemst@ingenium.be.
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