Smart and Connected Buildings
These days, everything is almost digital; no more oiled lamps or lanterns, box televisions or ancient stuff. As the years progress, so does technology. Portable devices like phones, laptops, iPads, and so on have been invented to make life a bit easier especially for the upcoming generation, but they are only little parts of these developments of technology. Let us go deeper and even further: Smart Houses. It is a familiar term, but it has attracted so little attention to its use and sustainability. It may owe a lot of it's uniqueness to the cost and maintenance of the building, but it has extraordinary perks that are worth the money. If you have no idea about this type of technology, this is a great place to start.
In every conversation about smart connected buildings, three things are involved which are; automation, communication and energy efficiency. Although these are important concepts and possible benefits of smart buildings, the potential of a smart building goes beyond just these factors. It is a vast, constantly changing and developing field of study that continues to evolve with the times, bringing in new principles and innovations. There is simply no way to talk about design in this day and age, without mentioning the concept of smart and connected buildings.
As more and more daily used equipment and structures are being empowered by advanced technology, demands have been made for modern day buildings to be the same. If powerful artificial intelligence and other modern technologies can be used to design machines that can carry out vast functions and improve their productivity, then it should also be used to positively alter building structures from just being plain and simply, to becoming smart, connected structures that will ensure optimum comfort and workability for its owner. A place where employees spend most of their time everyday or where residents live in for their entire lives should be designed and constructed to make lives more comfortable, and should be able to offer the highest level of ease that is possible. This has led to different innovations about the evolution of buildings designed and constructed in the traditional way. This is where smart buildings come in.
A smart building, whether a home, an industrial or commercial building is a structure that is equipped with computers or internet-connected devices which monitor, maintain and manage the workings of any appliance or system installed, systems like HVAC, lighting, access and security, sensors, alarms etc in the building, and these devices are remotely controlled by the user. It is like a brain that connects to the systems in the body to make it function properly and accurately. It engages technology to increase resource efficiency, while ensuring a comfortable and safe environment for its occupants. Basically, these are pretty cool houses that function following a similar principle to robots, and can do so much more than just regular houses can.
Sometimes, professionally, this concept is called "home automation" or "demotics" because of the innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence and IoT( Internet of Things). Also referred to as Building automation, it uses its intelligence to collect data and convert it to systems that connect to the building to respond to the needs of the occupants or the building manager.
Often times, it is confused with an ‘intelligent building’. These are very different because an "intelligent building system" leverages automated processes and integrates the working technology together, while a ‘smart building system’ is controlled and regulated by administrators manually, that is through the use of remote devices or equipment to access the network of the connection for the building. Smart buildings apply to different types of structures like factories, hotels, museums, office centers, hospitals, banks, shopping malls, etc. These buildings come with different features such as:
Sensors and detectors that transmit a signal to a central management system, which helps tenants view live data from their buildings for improvement on performance, analysis of sensor systems. The sensors monitor aspects like energy consumption, building efficiency, security, temperature, etc.
Materials and systems optimized to achieve maximum efficiency and maintain overall environment impact.
Predictive sense to detect future problems and potential incidents that may affect the building's efficiency.
Comfort and convenience relative to the temperature, ventilation rate and humidity of the buildings for ideal conditions, based on the owners preferences.
These systems are assessed by smart-connected devices that touch nearly every aspect of the building and these include:
Smart TVs to access music or videos, even voice or bodily gestures.
Thermostats to monitor, manage and maintain home temperatures.
Security locks like door locks and garage openers to detect or grant access to people.
Kitchen appliances like smart refrigerators, cookers, toasters, washing machines, to make lighter and easier work.
The application of smart technology to buildings has increased its availability and effectiveness over that of traditional buildings. These include:
Energy saving. Lighting, ventilation etc are tracked to reduce lack of energy or loss of energy in the building.
Adaptability of the building to the surroundings like a mutual interaction between the building and the environment.
Flexible services connected to each other for increased productivity and cost reduction.
Optimized, automated and effective installations and control systems to reduce economic cost.
Technology Used In A Building
Smart technology is simply the technology that is put into a building to make it function in the peculiar way that it does, setting it aside from every other building there is. It is a software or hardware that is installed in a building’s operating system and is used to make the building smarter. The processes include an automated and assistant AI suited to the tenant's needs as well as factors such as weather conditions. Some of these smart technologies include the following:
The application of IoT technologies such as IoT sensors and devices, to enable the mobile and immobile elements inside the building to be connected to each other through a platform to capture data in real-time.
Integration of building automation which is the ability to automate buildings that do not correspond to private dwellings. Smart buildings integrate e-mobility by using grid systems to "talk" and "listen", practically to communicate with the components of the smart buildings. In short, all major services and utilities are digitized and connected together on a grid.
A smart building compiles and compresses huge amounts or combinations of data that take in the data and process the data to make it useful and exploitable.
Artificial intelligence (AI) helps a building and its parts or components to learn, adjust, adapt and evolve by improving its efficiency based on the optimized algorithms and patterns in the data collected.
Benefits Of A Smart Building
To ensure a smart building platform works for your specific structure, it is important to know what it can do, what it cannot and what it will cost. A smart building has its advantages and disadvantages, but it mostly provides a positive impact on the environment and the building itself. These benefits include:
Providing a structure, responsive and adaptive to the environment it is located in. It makes the building perfect for agile and flexible working conditions as it’s design can be altered specifically to suit a need. For example, a particular room in a building can be adjusted to the requirements or conditions of the particular individual that resides in that room.
Managing the building's infrastructure in real-time.
Supporting a "green environment" by identifying air pollutants and contributing to create a safe, secure, clean, and efficient place to sustain the resident and the environment.
Balancing the need to be comfortable, safe, productive, energy efficient and secure while maintaining building resilience.
As these type of buildings keep advancing, they could expand to the growth and development of smart cities through advanced ICT administration and assistance. For example, some companies like Amazon, Apple and Google are releasing their own smart products and domestic platforms to buildings across the country..
Prevention of potential accidents that can occur within the building's life cycle.
It also provides support and flexibility to the less abled or impaired. This can be achieved by connecting to gadgets with other smart appliances and voice commands. Even a slight panic or voice command can help one in need by automation.
LIMITATION OF SMART BUILDING
Also, no one and nothing is in this world is perfect, and the same goes for the production of smart buildings. There are certain limitations that hinder the function or operation of a smart building. They include:
All engineering and security equipment in a building is connected to one extensive network, leading to a high risk of unauthorized access. No matter the nature of the breach, or the perpetrator's intention, it can cause serious damages to the infrastructure and the security system. That's why top-notch data and protection systems are installed to reduce those risks. However, 100% protection from cyber attacks is nearly impossible.
Another potential issue is the consumption and dependence on energy use with the high-tech systems. Without a back-up source, the equipment is rendered useless, during a blackout in the environment or in the city.
Although this technology offers the intelligence to detect movements or video footage of an intruder, it somewhat acts in a like manner. An automated system that follows each and every step inside a building through security cameras, identifying you and your routes, stores that data and even backs it up is not so appealing to those who would prefer to keep their private lives to themselves.
If the automation is not installed correctly, it can be technically challenging for the user in the building. Even putting up complicated logics, multiple control buttons and other unreliable equipment can create dissatisfaction and contrast to what the owner of the building wants, which is to be as simple as possible.
It is very convenient for us that technology helps us when we need it and also saves energy when we do not. With the application of smart technologies, buildings can enhance that idea or even make it better. Its a the dawn of a new age, and now, everything is possible.
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