Customer Background
For over 90 years, this global leader in HVAC&R, fluorochemicals, and filtration has enhanced comfort, refining control, and energy savings worldwide. Operating in 150+ countries, this company pioneers innovative products, elevating global standards in comfort, safety, and sustainability.
Customer Need
The customer sought a solution to connect on-site HVAC equipment to the cloud for secure monitoring, control, error prediction, and real-time automated status reports. The solution would also need to provide comprehensive real-time automated status reports for each HVAC equipment to increase overall operational efficiency, achieve substantial energy savings and minimise the necessity for on-site diagnostics. Softdel, with two decades of experience in platform engineering and cloud applications, emerged as the ideal partner due to a successful track record in pioneering HVAC and smart building solutions.
Softdel’s Solution
- Leveraging cutting-edge technology and domain expertise, Softdel crafted a multi-tenancy real-time platform on AWS. This platform facilitates remote connection and management of the customer’s extensive HVAC equipment across North America.
- Initial development included:
- Seamless aggregation of data from field equipment sensors and actuators for a comprehensive assessment of indoor and outdoor HVAC units.
- Introduction of a user-friendly centralised platform, monitoring over 180 parameters per equipment. This includes site list view and energy/data trend visualisations.
- Empowering precision control with features like load level setting, On/Off functionality, and set points adjustments for Organizational Units (OUs).
- Enabling edge connectivity with Integrated Circuit Card ID (ICCID) integration.
- Implementation of machine learning models for proactive maintenance, historical data integration, remote diagnostics, predictive logic, and error detection.
- Real-time visualisation of HVAC equipment behavior through an intuitive 2D piping diagram with animation
- Integration of Google Maps in the application, with real-time site health information overlayed on the map for visual representation of current status.
- Development of a robust licensing and monetisation module for the application
- Implementation of instant notification for critical faults or parameter changes via a mobile app equipped with robust alarm and push notifications.
- Facilitation of quick login on the mobile app with face recognition and biometric authentication features.
- Enablement of data export in CSV and PDF formats for trending analysis.
- Softdel also undertook platform enhancements beyond HVAC integration, including customised visualisations, by:
- Extending the platform to integrate and control third-party external units, such as lighting devices, extending its reach and functionality beyond HVAC equipment.
- Uploading floor plans, including the addition of floor-wise view of units, allowing for customised building-specific visualization.
- Introducing new features like energy management, equipment control access, service ticketing, edge commissioning and pre-edge commissioning, BACnet device integration, and unsupervised prediction maintenance algorithms, significantly expanding the platform’s capabilities.
Standards and Technology
Cloud: AWS Serverless
Frontend: Angular
Backend: Node.JS
Database: MySQL, DynamoDB
Communication Protocol: MQTT
Project Management Tool/ Tools: JIRA, Confluence, BitBucket
Framework: Flutter
Benefits
- Data-driven insights: Detailed actionable data on energy consumption, equipment health, and performance empowered stakeholders to make informed decisions thereby optimising energy consumption, minimising downtime, and extending equipment lifespan.
- Comprehensive reporting for varied stakeholders: From contractors to building owners to the customer's executives, every stakeholder benefitted from the easily accessible customised and in-depth reports about resource allocation, equipment operations, and maintenance schedules.
- Unified multisite management: The platform centralised the management of all HVAC devices across multiple locations, offering a single point of control and improved operational efficiency.
- Increased customer satisfaction: By minimising downtime and addressing potential problems before they escalate, the remote monitoring solution ensured a positive customer service experience.
