Definitions and frequently asked questions

Facility performance is how well a building’s equipment does its job over time, judged on three things: systems running as designed, energy managed rather than absorbed, and maintenance and energy costs that stay predictable. Unlike uptime or a single utility figure, it treats a building’s systems as one managed function. With Act Hub, facility performance is measured, so it can be managed strategically. Optimized facility performance is the state where all three hold across every location in a portfolio.

Equipment performance data is the collected, structured, and analyzed high-frequency data from a piece of equipment. Act Hub turns it into three equipment performance scores an operator can act on: an Operations Score, a Comfort/Thermal Score, and an Energy Score. Unlike a periodic reading, it is continuous, so it shows how equipment is actually performing rather than how it looked at a single moment.

High-frequency data is equipment performance data captured at an interval short enough to reveal how a system is actually operating. Most monitoring captures only occasional snapshots, often every 5, 10, or 15 minutes, because cloud-based systems have to stream the data before they can use it, and streaming at high frequency is expensive. Act Hub processes the data at the edge instead, so it can read at high frequency without that cost. That is what reveals the patterns that make prediction and diagnosis possible, such as short cycling, runtime creep, and slow degradation, and it is the difference between seeing a problem develop and finding out after it fails.

Continuous system performance monitoring is the practice of analyzing high-frequency equipment performance data every minute against how a system should be operating, so performance drift is caught as it begins instead of after it causes a failure or a high bill. Building automation contractors and engineers know the practice as monitoring-based commissioning (MBCx), ongoing or continuous commissioning, and fault detection and diagnostics (FDD). Unlike threshold monitoring, which only reacts once a limit is crossed, it watches behavior over time. Paired with automated control (optimization), it keeps systems running as designed without constant human supervision.

ForeSight365 is Actuate’s predictive intelligence engine inside Act Hub. It analyzes high-frequency equipment performance data, looking past the readings to the equipment behavior behind them and comparing how each system is running to its own history and to similar systems that are operating well. When that behavior shifts, ForeSight365 traces it to the underlying problem, whether that is a short-cycling compressor on an HVAC rooftop unit, a defrost cycle running long in a refrigeration walk-in while the temperature still looks normal, or a system using more energy than its digital energy twin says it should, adding to the site’s peak demand. It catches these problems early, before they turn into breakdowns, and explains the correction in plain language before a technician is dispatched. Unlike an alert, which only reports that a limit was crossed, ForeSight365 identifies what changed, the specific issue behind it, and what to do about it.

Predictive diagnostics are diagnostics that happen before a failure, not after, delivered by ForeSight365, Actuate’s predictive intelligence engine. ForeSight365 detects performance drift as it begins, identifies the likely cause, and explains the correction in plain language before anyone is dispatched; after the repair, the equipment performance data confirms the fix held. Unlike an alert, which only says something is wrong, predictive diagnostics say what changed, why, and what to do. Answers, not just alerts.

Repair validation is the use of equipment performance data after a repair to confirm the fix actually held, so a failed repair is caught before it becomes a second call. It raises first-time fix rate, lowers callback rate, and replaces argument with evidence when holding a vendor accountable. Unlike a closed work order, which only records that someone was dispatched, repair validation confirms the problem is genuinely resolved.

Predictive control is operating facilities on what equipment data says will happen next, rather than reacting to what has already failed. It is the opposite of reactive operations: setpoints, run times, and schedules are adjusted ahead of a problem instead of after it. Predictive control is the acting half of Actuate’s approach; predictive operations is the analytics that informs it.

Predictive operations is predictive analytics applied to facility operations: using equipment data to anticipate how systems will behave and what they will need next. It is the intelligence half of the pair; predictive control is the acting half that adjusts the equipment on that prediction. Together they move a facility from reacting to problems to staying ahead of them.

Act Hub pricing is per site and depends on which systems are covered and which package fits the client’s needs. Act Hub is a modular, scalable platform built for the budgets of the small and mid-sized facilities Actuate serves, typically under 100,000 square feet. The Starter package, energy monitoring and intelligence for one facility, starts at $79 per month. The Temp Only package, temperature monitoring with ForeSight365 predictive intelligence for five refrigeration units, for example two walk-ins and three reach-ins, starts at $99 per month. The Essential package, energy and temperature monitoring for a typical restaurant with two HVAC units, two walk-ins and three reach-ins, starts at about $150 per month. The Plus and Pro packages add controls and optimization and are priced per facility and per piece of equipment. Every package includes unlimited users. A one-time setup fee of $99 to $395 applies, depending on facility size and complexity, and that range covers an average cafe, QSR, restaurant, retail store or larger dealership facility. These prices are for the base system with Gear-as-a-Service, so no capital outlay is required beyond the setup fee. Most clients start with a basic package and add equipment and facilities as they use the platform to manage facility performance across their portfolio. Before quoting, Actuate builds an equipment-level Maintenance Cost Baseline and, where utility bills are shared, an Energy Cost Baseline, so the final price is set against modeled spend and savings opportunity at your specific sites rather than a list figure.

About six to eight weeks from signature for a portfolio, and a single visit per site. Sensors are wireless, so there is no conduit, no controller replacement, no IT project and no store downtime. Automated alerting and diagnostics delivered on the work order are live as sites come online; full predictive capability is generally available within about 90 days of install.

Yes, and it is designed to. Actuate does not replace service providers or the CMMS that manages them; it supplies the diagnosis that goes onto the work order before a technician is dispatched, and the equipment performance data that confirms the fix held afterward. Existing vendors keep the work. What changes is that they arrive knowing the problem, and that the outcome is verifiable.