Application of Building Management System towards a Sustainable Built Environment in Sri Lanka Implementation Process

Abstract

Managing a built environment in a sustainable way is the biggest challenge for the built environment professionals. Building Management System (BMS) is one of the solutions that has been identified recently, considering its potential capabilities for managing a sustainable building. BMS is a computer based system that used to monitor, coordinate, organize, and optimize building subsystems such as HVAC, lighting, security, fire/life safety, elevators, and others. The system provides various supports for the operation and maintenance functions of a building. However, the application of BMS towards a sustainable built environment is still challenged in Sri Lankan context and thus there is a need for a suitable implementation process in succeeding BMS outcomes. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the implementation process of BMS towards a sustainable built environment. A comprehensive literature survey was conducted to identify the concept of sustainability and the BMS. An opinion survey was conducted with the six industrial professionals. The study identified five sequence steps of BMS implementation process namely: identifying user requirement, identifying BMS features, designing, installation and commission, and operation and maintenance. The cost, lack of confidence in result, lack of knowledge and skilled person are some prevailing issues among building professionals to implement the system in a sustainable manner.