A distributed facilities management system

Energy expenses have recently become one of the highest cost items in the operating budgets of many public and private buildings. High energy costs are often the result of in efficient design and utilization of environ mental equipment. As a result, many managers are for the first time considering using com puters to aid with the design and operation of facilities. This paper describes an automated facilities management system which can help reduce high energy costs. In addition, the system can improve building security and help achieve maximum equipment life expectancy. Distributed processing techniques make the system especially suitable for large multibuilding installations.