Optimal Performance-Based Building Facility Management

It is a great challenge to efficiently manage and operate the facilities of a set of buildings, which are of different structural types, ages, and locations and serve for different functions required by different users, over a long-term planning horizon using limited resources to achieve multiple and often conflicting objectives. This article proposes an optimization system for the management of facilities in a set of buildings. First, a systemic approach is taken to standardize the various kinds of facilities in the set of buildings into a hierarchical structure, the condition states of these facilities into a state space, and the alternative management actions on different facilities in different condition states into an action set. Second, infinite- and finite-time linear programming models are formulated to maximize the long-term performance of the set of buildings subject to a number of technical and economic constraints. Third, life-cycle management policies are established for both infinite- and finite-time planning horizons. Finally, an illustrative example is provided to discuss the application and usefulness of the proposed optimization system for facility management in a set of buildings.