DIGITMAN
Occupant-based DIGITal predictive MANagement to improve the built environment
Project code: 2022JMRX2A
Programme: PRIN: PROGETTI DI RICERCA DI RILEVANTE INTERESSE NAZIONALE
Call: Bando 2022
DIGITMAN will develop a predictive approach, based on occupancy data integrated into a common digital framework, to improve building stocks management by supporting the correct allocation of technical and economic resources during the real operation of buildings. A TRL 5 will be reached and a prototype tool will be, also, included and tested in a relevant environment (pilots).
Occupancy impacts every aspect of the life of a building (i.e., energy consumption, maintenance, safety management), but occupancy data collected during the operation of buildings through BAS (building automation systems) and CMMS (computer maintenance management systems) are, rarely, used to improve building management, whose costs can reach up to 75% of the initial construction cost.
A whole life-cycle digital logbook for buildings has been, recently, proposed by the EU as a digital repository supporting building management tasks. However, integrating dynamic occupancy data into this type of digital repositories and using these data to predict the impact of alternative strategies are relatively unexplored fields. Moreover, a common digital framework for building management, based on common languages/interfaces/data matching methods, is still lacking as underlined by the EU.
The proposed predictive approach will be based on a set of analytic methods (e.g., ML, MAS) applied to the main pillars of building management (operation, maintenance, safety) and multicriteria approaches, thanks also to the availability of experimental data from 30 buildings managed by three local public authorities. Chosen pilots are representative of the complexity of building stocks managed by private or public bodies. Pilots will both provide stored (but still unused) historical data and allow the additional collection of new data. Measurements will be, in fact, performed during the project and data collected also from CMMS and BAS, to improve and furtherly validate the proposed approach for data collection, structuring and analysis, aimed at (i) optimizing the economic resource allocation, (ii) increasing the indoor comfort and well-being, and (iii) setting a long-time renovation roadmap."
DIGITMAN, strictly related to a set of EU strategies (e.g., A digital future for Europe, Next-generation EU plan) and the Italian PNNR, will have a particular impact on the digitalization of the Italian public sector, considering that about 10% of the total Italian building stock is managed by public authorities.
Project duration
24 months
Scientific project head for the Department
Prof. Riccardo Gulli
Coordinator
Prof. Marco D'Orazio (Università Politecnica delle Marche)
Partnership
Università Politecnica delle Marche
Politecnico di Milano
Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna
Total Budget: 295,799.58 Euros
DA Budget: 71,326.00 Euro
Lecturers and researchers connected to the project
ERC sector of the project
PE8_3 Civil engineering, architecture, offshore construction, lightweight construction, geotechnic