Smart Buildings: Into the new future

Perhaps you have heard the term smart buildings on the news in the last few years. However, instead of explaining it actually is the reporter simply says that more are coming and that they would bring a new revolution into the mainstream.

Not only that but they are the future of how our cities would be structured and operated in an increasingly urbanized environment.

What exactly is a smart building?

Smart Buildings Explained

The first time the term used was in 1981 and it referred to intelligent buildings. In that era buildings were still run using multiple processes and systems as well as utilizing a lot of manual labor. The idea was that many of the traditional operations in a building would now run via a computer system thereby providing potential cost savings in construction and management. Back then it was estimated that for an office building costing $100 million the costs would be around 1% with a 2 year payback period.

Now jumping into the 21st century people are now talking about smart buildings.

Smart buildings incorporate a wide array of features and technologies. The idea is that smart buildings mean the complete and sometimes automated control of a building’s Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning (HVAC), lighting, water, energy utilization, occupancy levels and shading as well as other systems. It entails linking all of the core functionalities with numerous smart sensors and systems installed throughout the building that would monitor everything from air temperature, moisture, lighting levels, fire alarms in the building in real time.

However, why is this important?

All of these factors are important if one wants to manage their buildings effectively and reduce costs. Some enterprises that have implemented smart building technologies in their workspace have seen a significant reduction in their expenses from lower HVAC maintenance, reduced energy use, increase in productivity and improved forecasting ability to determine peak occupancy.  Just from using a smart HVAC and lighting system the cost savings could range from 24-32%. Also if the need for office space is decreased by 10% in a 10,000 square meter office the potential savings could reach €1 million. A traditional Building Management System (BMS) costs $ 250,000 for 100,000 square feet; however, using the right Internet-of-Things (IOT) controls that can turn a building smart should be around $50,000, a small fraction.

Companies that are embracing this new philosophy and technology are leading the future and also reaping the benefits. Marriott for example was able to save 1 million kWh of electricity and 0.5 million kWh of gas, close to £150,000 per year, in their London flagship thanks to their new HVAC system.

A lot of cities throughout the world aimed to become carbon-neutral giving the ever increasing risks of climate change but not all countries are ready for this change. Nordic countries are leading the change, especially Denmark, where major cities such as Copenhagen and Aarhus, where the investment in greener technologies combined with improvement in commercial buildings can help reduce emissions significantly.

Furthermore, in Norway the most advanced smart building in Europe, opened doors this year- Karvesvingen 5. Thanks to engineering prowess and almost 6,000 sensors, employees can control many aspects of their work environment through their smart phones, whilst the building systems analyze data from HVAC, energy and lighting. This is very impressive for a building that has 11 floors, with a total space of 18,000 square meters.

Companies such as Intel, ABB, Siemens and numerous others have designed and implemented various solutions that aim to help companies tackle the above challenges in a smart and intricate way by designing specific software and hardware solutions that can tackle the challenges that lie ahead.

But what are these challenges for the wide spread?

Challenges Remain

Existing buildings and systems are not constructed with this in mind – so it’s difficult to adapt/ retrofit capabilities
Technology is still evolving and constantly changing, so even with any piece of software and hardware upgrades would be necessary over time to stay ahead
Cyber security would be very important given that so many systems are integrated; Having a robust cyber security policy would be a must
Insufficient government support
Requires a lot of promotion and know-how to implement

Summary

Smart buildings offer a lot of opportunities but also a lot of challenges. Managing the risks and the rewards would be a never ending task; however the 21st century would see the rise of such buildings that would change the way people interact with their office environment. Such changes are inevitable and they will bring a new evolution to the workspace but also as to how humans interact with one another.  In these uncertain times companies need to be more flexible and open-minded to new technologies and embrace them fully, so to tackle the challenges of the future.

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