Because it is the next natural step to Monitoring-Based Commissioning (MBCx). While MBCx is a proven process used to maintain and continuously improve building systems’ energy and operational performance, the need to further automate processes including field device verification and sequence of operations validation is necessary in the race towards decarbonization of the built environment.
Kaizen ACx extends the capabilities of Kaizen’s EMIS and FDD features used in MBCx, providing increased automation with proactive testing and reporting, while leveraging its powerful analytics engine to run commissioning-specific algorithms to identify issues otherwise hidden in traditional data analysis.
CopperTree Analytics’ ACx process is built within Kaizen’s software suite. Enabling ACx is essentially a 3-step process:
- Implement Kaizen FDD data collection and analytics.
- Deploy the hardware appliance that enables 2-way communication. The current firmware version supports communication with native BACnet devices only.
- Configure target systems and implement automated ACx rules, analyses and reports.
An important requirement needed before step 3 is a thorough evaluation of the target systems’ components to determine the most appropriate ACx tests.
Test 100% of systems, not a sample
• 20 to 40% reduction in labour
• Automate new building and seasonal commissioning
• Early identification of problems, save on time and repairs
- Bi-directional functionality enabling Kaizen to initiate systematic testing of field devices and validation of sequence of operations, achieved via a separate hardware appliance interfacing with the BAS.
- Built-in safety features include allow-list, priority array, and time expiration command management.
- Action log in Kaizen lists all ACx commands time-stamped with status results.
- Closed-loop and open-loop tests are fully customizable with various configurable parameters including command and setpoint limits, test scheduling, time duration, and logic to analyze results.
- Flexible reporting (including executive reports) that highlights system performance scores and equipment/areas that need attention.