PenBay Integrates Esri and ARCHIBUS Software for 3D Facilities Management at UNCC

/ Matt Artz

The University of North Carolina, Charlotte (UNCC), is implementing an integrated facilities management system based on Esri’s ArcGIS Server and ARCHIBUS Web Central software. The system will store and display data based on the facilities’ geographic location. This will add location-based intelligence to the university’s structural asset database as well as speed work order processing, improve business insight, and extend the life cycle of asset information.

UNCC is working with PenBay Solutions LLC of Brunswick, Maine, an Esri partner, to establish an enterprise geographic information system (GIS). UNCC was initially interested in simply locating all buildings, equipment, and grounds to help with work order execution. The extensive capabilities of ArcGIS Server expanded the scope of the project.

“We are able to include 3D representation of the buildings on campus as well as visually query assets,” says Ray Dinello, director of Facilities Information Systems, UNCC. “Being able to link to the university’s building automation system is providing us with the ability to pull together an integrated perspective of our facilities.”

The university has integrated ArcGIS Server Advanced Enterprise edition and ARCHIBUS Geospatial Module for Esri as well as developed custom tools and libraries with the ArcGIS API for JavaScript. Integration of these GIS tools with existing and newly created ARCHIBUS views will spatially enable several campus workflows including

  • Identifying employee locations at both the building and floor levels
  • Visualizing work requests on a map according to total per building, dollar value, and work order system
  • Accessing information about design services projects including project costs via maps
  • Determining emergency phone locations and status of assets

Currently, UNCC is upgrading to ArcGIS 10, which will allow it to easily perform 3D campus-wide routing, including interiors of buildings.

For more information on Esri’s offerings for facilities managers, visit esri.com/fm.

[Source: Esri press release]