Installing a system to monitor one or more aspects of your building can have many essential uses. Here are four reasons monitoring your building is important.
1. Building Safety
The main use of a structural monitoring system is to ensure the safety and structural integrity of your building. If you’re located in an area with high rates of inclement weather, you’ll want to incorporate a monitoring system to help you keep an eye on your roof, walls and other aspects of the structure to ensure the structure is safe and viable and to keep ahead of any repair or replacement needs.
2. Energy Usage
Some systems can help you monitor the efficiency of your energy usage. A correctly configured monitoring system will help you determine average energy consumption across the building, providing data you can use to ensure energy needs are consistently met and to determine where you can improve energy efficiency and cut back on overuse.
3. Disaster Response
If you live in an area at higher risk of certain types of natural disasters, such as earthquakes or floods, you may want to invest in a monitoring system focused on disaster response. These systems may have components to help protect your building in the event of a natural disaster. All disaster response monitoring systems have mechanisms that collect data on the structural integrity of your building in the aftermath of a disaster. You can collect this data and use it to determine whether your building is salvageable and what must be done to repair it and ensure the restoration of its integrity and safety.
4. Access Control
If you work for an organization that handles sensitive information of any kind, you know the importance of controlling access to your building or tools. Some monitoring systems are designed to assist or manage access control. Physical components, such as turnstiles and fobs, are commonly included in an access control system. These tools keep track of how many people enter and leave or who has the proper credentials to access a building or part of a building. There may also be ID cards employees and visitors are required to carry that are logged in the monitoring system.
There are many types of monitoring systems. Some monitor only one thing while others can provide information on multiple aspects of your building. The systems you choose to utilize depend on the type of building you’re located in and the information you need to work safely and efficiently.