Operation Diagnostics taps into new potential for savings in the operation of building services equipment. It was used in the Gebhard Müller School in Biberach, Germany, to support evaluation of the building concept on the basis of measurements.

Office buildings and commercial buildings, particularly those subjected to stringent requirements regarding comfort and usage, are highly complex systems. They are designed using an integrated approach and are marketed as "innovative" or "intelligent". Nevertheless, these buildings must be intensively fine-tuned and optimised after commissioning. Generally, little is learnt regarding the operation of the building. Investigations show that during operation many buildings do not meet the target specifications or planned values – which can also be due to the fact that the time allocated for commissioning is often too short. Ongoing optimisation is rare. Energy-efficiency-based adjustments to accommodate changes in the building systems equipment or building occupancy are usually not made. The interplay of different subsections or systems which operate in parallel to each other is often not taken into account sufficiently. In addition, the behaviour of the occupants is difficult to estimate in the design stage.

Therefore, the right course has to be set already during the design stage. The optimisation of building services equipment cannot be left until after operation has begun. It must be taken into consideration already during planning. The goal is sustainable planning throughout the whole lifecycle of buildings and building services equipment. Energy efficiency requirements and occupant comfort requirements must be implementable in equal measure in planning, system design and energy management. It must be possible to optimise the building during operation.

What methods and tools does this call for? Answers were found in the research project "OASE" (Optimisation of Automation functions with dynamic Simulation as Energy management system) supported by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi). With the methodology of Operation Diagnostics developed in this project, building automation data records, for example, are used in a building's operating phase in order to identify weak points in terms of energy performance, as well as any operational shortcomings, and to derive optimisation potential from them. The OASE methodology has since been put to the test in demonstration buildings used for a variety of purposes. It supplements current research activities with the goal of advancing the introduction of holistic building energy concepts in practice. This includes the development of "cost-effective energy management for residential and office buildings" (KENWO - „Kostengünstiges Energiemanagement für Wohn- und Bürogebäude“) and development of an "Energy Navigator", which enables partially automated enhanced building operations by means of interfaces with the building automation system.