Modern Building Services

SMART BUILDINGS FEATURE SMART BUILDINGS 34 MODERN BUILDING SERVICES MARCH 2022 T hey may not be able to recite Shakespeare or explain quantum mechanics, but today’s offices, factories, stores, warehouses, entertainment centres and homes know increasingly more. As a result, they make our lives better, safer and help care for our planet more than we may do ourselves. The facility and building management organizations and the technology companies supporting them are pouring a lot of resources into the buildings you occupy to make them smarter. Why? Yesterday’s building management organizations, with their building management systems (BMS), were paid to detect fire, and keep the HVAC, lighting, water and power running. Some went as far as providing some badge-reader access controls, and security monitoring through CCTV. These basic functions are still important. But why are management companies sinking massive amounts of resources (an estimated $265B by 2028) to go beyond providing the basics?Why are they making our buildings so smart? Technology use boils down to a few drivers and they apply in these situations as well: helping save/ make money, keep people safe and happy, and save our environment. Building management organizations are leveraging more cost effective, available and easily deployed technology to do these things. Smarter buildings are the end result of this drive, not the target itself. Smarter buildings save money, make money, help people or help our planet. Saving Money This is typically where building management organizations start in their smart building efforts. I live across from a hotel. Each night, I see almost every room lit. Guests or cleaning staff leave every light on, even when there is no one in the room. Occupancy sensors hooked to building automation can detect when rooms are empty and automatically shut off lights, adjust the temperature and turn off other appliances. More aggressive savings come from collecting more information about people occupancy, movement and environmental conditions to optimize space and support equipment in a building. During off-peak hours, a smart building can shut down some elevator cars in the elevator bank to save energy and reduce maintenance. Smart buildings can turn conference rooms into private offices and vice versa, depending on the needs of today’s WFH workforce. This allows organizations to reduce even their office space needs. Helping People Smart buildings are helping enforce mask mandates and social distancing during the pandemic. A smart assisted-care facility can sense a senior person’s motion and measure vital signs. With proper sensors, it can detect the amount of energy they use to cook, recreate and otherwise live – tipping off caregivers to other potential mental or physical issues. Smart buildings have gone way beyond simple badge-readers. Smart buildings use Bluetooth technology tracking, voice recognition and facial recognition to grant access and prepare spaces (lights, temperature, work aids, etc.) for its occupants, based on their preferences. In emergency situations, smart building sensors detect hazardous materials, gunshots, or human falls and immediately alert the appropriate authorities. They even work lighting and signage to guide people to safety. Smart buildings require fewer people onsite or watching monitor screens to run a facility. Sometimes helping people means more remote and automatic operations that reduce the tedium and human error conditions found in legacy building management systems. Helping the Planet Saving energy or other resources typically saves money and helps the planet. Building management companies may have altruistic motives, but it helps when they are also tied to one of the other drivers. Occupancy sensors allow smart buildings to turn off heating, cooling and lighting that reduce a building’s carbon footprint. That’s straightforward, but many smart buildings are now being outfitted with renewable energy generating and storage equipment (e.g., solar panels and batteries) and even rain-capturing systems. A smart building can now conserve and share precious resources with other buildings. The question in the title is rhetorical, but in reality the buildings in which we work, play and even live are getting smarter says JimWhite , CTO, IOTech. Is my building smarter than me?