  Over the last three decades comprehensive research has been carried out
trying to improve commissioning processes with powerful modeling tools and
methodologies for data analysis and visualization. Typically addressed
application scenarios are facilities management, contracting, special
consulting services and measurement & verification as part of a certification
process. The results are all but convincing: Monitoring of building operation
has so far not become a regular service for buildings. We have identified a
lack of process integration as a significant barrier for market success. Most
methodologies have so far caused additional initial invest and transaction
cost: they added new services instead of improving existing ones. The Energy
Navigator, developed by synavision GmbH in cooperation with leading research
institutes of the Technical University Braunschweig and the RWTH Aachen
University, presents a new methodology with several new approaches. Its
software platform uses state graphs and a domain specific language to describe
building functions offering an alternative to the software that is so far most
widely used for this task: Microsoft Word. The Energy Navigators so called
Active Functional Specification (AFS) is used for the technical specification
of building services in the design phase. After construction it is completed by
the supplier of the BMS (Building Management System) with the relevant sensors
data as documentation of his service. Operation data can then automatically be
checked for initial and continuous commissioning on whether it meets the
criteria of the specification.
