Smart Buildings
Approach
We are reaching a new age when the emerging technologies are adapted in building construction. At this age building construction can no longer limit itself to provide shelter at homes and offices. Today, thanks to the advancements in technology, it is possible to deliver all the services needed by the occupants while making the building as efficient as possible, minimizing costs and reducing the environmental impact of the building over its life.
To accomplish above requirements the age of the smart buildings is here.
What is a “Smart Building”?
A smart building is one that is using technology to share information about what goes on in the building between systems to optimize the building’s performance.
Main Features of Smart Buildings
Systems are connected
The most fundamental feature of a smart building is the entire core systems that are linked together. For an example water meters, pumps, fire alarms, power, lighting and other systems connected together in a proper way by using smart technology. This is what makes a building “smart”: the ability of the systems within to talk to one another.
The use of Sensors
A sensor is a device, module, machine, or subsystem whose purpose is to detect events or changes in its environment and send the information to other electronics, frequently a computer processor.
Some of sensors use in smart buildings;
• Temperature Sensors
• Motion / Occupancy Sensors
• Gas/Air Quality Sensors
• Electrical Current Monitoring Sensors
• Water Quality Sensors
Automation
Building automation is the automatic centralized control of a building's heating, ventilation and air conditioning, lighting and other systems through a building management system or building automation system (BAS). The objectives of building automation are improved occupant comfort, efficient operation of building systems, reduction in energy consumption and operating costs, and improved life cycle of utilities.
Data
Smart buildings generate a large volume of valuable data about their own use, which is something that regular buildings simply do not do. That large volume of valuable data is named as “Big Data”.
Basic Smart Building Trends
Security
01. Indoor Security
Most of automated access control systems are cloud-based. This allows a variety of customizable credential options such as a mobile app, personalized key cards, key fobs, or temporary links sent to a mobile phone. These systems also provide remote management and integration with third-party services, such as scheduling, intrusion alarms and surveillance.
02. Cyber Security
The latest trend in cybersecurity is biometric authentication. Fingerprint and iris scanning, voice and facial recognition are the most effective protection methods for it’s nearly impossible for two biometric pieces of data to be identical.
Eco Friendliness
01. Smart Lighting
There are sensors embedded into the bulbs that can detect occupancy, level of activity, temperature, humidity, and other factors and send this data to the cloud. All these smart functions help to save energy because the lights turn off automatically when nobody is in the room or area.
02. Air Quality Monitoring
Nowadays, buildings are increasingly equipped with wireless sensors, which can monitor CO2, NO2, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) levels and harmful small particles. When the level of pollution has reached a dangerous level, the device sends out warnings and then the user can adjust the ventilation.
03. Energy Efficiency
IoT provides access to real-time monitoring of electric, water and gas meters with the help of Distributed Energy Systems (DES).By integrating DES into its design, a smart building will be able to lower energy costs, increase energy efficiency and secure energy supply while reducing carbon emissions.
Building Management
01. Predictive Maintenance
Sensors placed around radiators, boilers, pumps and other machinery detect critical levels of noise, vibration or heat. When a certain threshold reached, a warning is sent, and the issue can fix before it escalates.
02. Real-time Cloud Visualization
Building engineers and other facility management personnel can have access to real-time alerts and visualizations being away from the premises. This is one of the most widespread smart building trends since most of IoT platforms provide cloud infrastructure.
03. WELL Certification
WELL- an International assessment procedure, measures building attributes that have the biggest impact on occupants’ health based on years of medical, architectural and scientific research. These attributes divided into several categories such as fitness, comfort, air, water, mind, nourishment, light and innovation.
04. Intelligent Parking
Intelligent parking spaces, in and around the building are equipped with cameras and sensors that detect what parking spots are free and send this information to commuters. Visitors and tenants can also reserve parking spaces before they reach the parking area.
05. Bundling
Smart building bundles, allow to link different smart energy-saving technologies together and integrate them into a building at once & enabling cost savings of up to around 15%
The Benefits of Smart Buildings
Make the occupants more productive
Air quality, physical comfort, security, sanitation, lighting and even room and space availability can be delivered at an optimum level to enable occupants to perform well.
Reducing energy consumption
Smart buildings are greener, more energy efficient and more cost effective.
The end of guesswork
The use of sensors and cameras provides precise data on how the building can be used, which can be convert into insightful decision-making. Space utilization can be improved based on actual data, as the building generates actionable, living intelligence automatically.
Significant operational savings
This includes the savings that can be made in terms of everyday expenditure and maintenance on equipment. It also extends to the potential savings that are gained by identifying underutilized resources and the potential for growth into unused spaces.
Data protection
Equipment, such as thermal sensors, measures data without using identifiable images of staff or the public.
Conclusion
There are many benefits to implementing smart systems within a building, from cost efficiency to improving the environment friendly credentials of the construction. Smart buildings are relatively new today but given the wide range of benefits that they can offer, will soon become the norm.
H.G.A.S.Y.WARNASURIYA
BSc. Engineering (U.G)
Faculty of Engineering
University of Jaffna
Sri Lanka
References
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