How do smart buildings work?
Is every smart building the same? Do they all work the same way? Are they all just as energy efficient? Do they all contain the same technology?
We answer all of these questions, plus lots more in our podcast series ‘The Smart Building Podcast’. Check us out here or find us on most audio platforms. We aim to cover various aspects of a smart building, from employee health, smart building lighting, BMS integration and wellbeing to touchless technology, occupancy sensors, sustainability and beyond.
First of all, what is a smart building?
Put simply, it is a building that is connected to the internet, can adapt and be flexible and allows building owners, managers, and facility managers to view data and interact with it. This leads to a more energy-efficient building that is optimised for occupants needs – in turn, improving their experience.
Find out more about our definition of a smart building here.
But how do smart buildings actually work?
The road to creating smart buildings hasn’t been an easy one. The demand has been evident for years, as we transition into a more ‘conscious society’, but it was a dramatic change from the traditional disconnected lumps of concrete we are used to. Initially, building owners began adopting ‘intelligent buildings’, siloed smart solutions. This was a great step forward as it allowed building and facility managers a level of control and insight that wasn’t previously available. However, this became a laborious and costly process having to manage multiple systems, and having vast quantities of data that were hard to interpret by pulling out the key insights, so quick value judgements could be made.
Throughout Western markets, we currently have a mix of old-fashioned disconnected buildings, ‘intelligent buildings’ and a minority of truly smart buildings. This needs to change as emissions from buildings accounted for around 34% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the UK alone. There is a global initiative for Zero-Carbon Buildings for All, and smart buildings are key to achieving this.
Smart buildings aim to converge all data into one user-friendly dashboard, connecting all systems and hardware so that all aspects of a building can ‘talk’ to each other, allowing operations to run smoothly.
Data analytics then depict a story of the building’s health, which managers can act on.
Smart technology, such as SmartCore, uses an open API and is interoperable with all building elements.
Installation process
Traditional buildings can be converted to smart buildings, and new builds can be designed to be ‘smart’ from the beginning so no matter the current state of building, it can be adapted accordingly. We are seeing more retrofit installations as businesses want to improve their current spaces rather than moving elsewhere. Real estate companies are also embracing this, upgrading their sites as demand from end-users for smart, sustainable, healthy spaces increase. A premium will be placed on interoperability and integrated solutions. Having this newfound data at their fingertips, real estate owners and operators will be able to create further value for investors and tenants.
In terms of a new build process, the Architect would specify the smart solution at the design stage; this may have been in the initial core brief from the customer or influenced at this stage. The Consulting Engineer and the Main Contractor would then put the work out to tender. A system partner would project manage the smart software installation, ensuring everything is correctly integrated with the hardware and other systems. The FM company or the end-user would then be shown how to operate the system allowing them to gain real control and insight.
In a retrofit, it is usually the building or business owner who instigates the process. They will likely reach out to a smart system provider direct, who will then be able to install a solution that meets their needs. Existing wires within the building can be utilised, or a wireless solution might be more appropriate – in most cases, a hybrid solution will be best.
Protocols
A protocol is a language that devices and systems speak in. Historically, the most common protocols in an ‘intelligent building’ were BACnet and Lon, which were established for BAS/BMA in the early ’90s. Modbus has been around even longer; it is a less complex protocol and was initially used in the industrial world. Back then, protocols were proprietary, and this caused issues because all of the smart systems spoke in different languages and were therefore siloed. They didn’t want an open, interconnected approach. This obviously led to the issues outlined above and hindered the progress of the smart building revolution.
However, today most technology companies have learned that to be considered, they need to be open; otherwise, they are causing a whole host of issues for the end-user, and they simply won’t be specified into a building.
It took nearly two decades for BACnet to become the accepted main protocol, with the larger companies being last to adopt it as they were still trying to protect their business. Recently, another protocol that has gained popularity in Europe is KNX (ABB, Siemens, etc.) which tends to be used for larger residential and smaller commercial applications.
Today, in the IoT world, protocols are also required to allow access to site data, the cloud, and between different devices. One of the most popular of these is MQTT. Wireless is more of a minefield, with each having its own benefit, e.g., cost, power, distance, networked, etc.; these include Bluetooth, EnOcean, Zigbee, Lora, Sigfox etc. There are then different protocols for different building sectors, e.g., lighting (Dali), CCTV (onvif). It can get very complicated, but the benefit of a solution like SmartCore is that it is protocol agnostic. This means that it can communicate with pretty much any system or hardware, effectively translating the various languages so that everything can be linked together and work smartly together.
Control
Once all of the smart technology is installed within a building and connected together, the end-user needs to be able to control the building.
This can be available as an on or off-premises solution and can even be integrated with the cloud.
Events and triggers can be automated in advance, e.g., a building can be told to go into night-time mode after 6pm if no one is present, or only keep the lighting on in the area where people are still working to save energy. Lighting can sense when someone is approaching an area that has ‘powered down’, turning back on and then off again when it senses the person has gone. This is important for energy efficiency but also occupant comfort and safety.
Data Analytics
An intuitive data analytics dashboard is essential to be able to interact with data insights and focus attention on the key aspects instead of getting overwhelmed by the masses of data available. Managers need to establish what their core business goals are and focus on data that aligns with that. It can be very easy to get distracted with data that is nice to have but does not serve a business-critical need.
This is also essential to establish an ROI. A smart building is an investment, but good data analytics can reveal cost savings in terms of energy efficiency, increased productivity, etc., which can help managers justify the investment.
Data can be available in real-time, allowing managers to act instantly, even if they are not on site.
Adapt to your needs
For the occupants within a smart building, their experience should be enhanced; they shouldn’t have to think about how the building works; it should accommodate their needs, making their lives easier and optimising their environment.
Artificial intelligence (AI) combined with IoT and smart buildings = an even smarter building. Data can be analysed faster, and insights learnt quicker. The behaviour is learnt to further improve operational efficiencies, user comfort, improve reliability and innovation.
Sensors capture data and feed this back to an AI tool that analyses the data, looks for patterns and notifies managers. An example of this in a smart building could be preventative maintenance. Sensors installed within components will constantly feed data to the AI tool which monitors whether devices are running smoothly, it analyses inputs, looks for patterns and reveals hidden insights. It can notify managers if something isn’t quite right, identifying the area that may need attention. This allows a device to be fixed before it breaks down – improving the overall experience for all building occupants but ultimately saving costs and preventing problems from occurring.
To discover more about the power of data in buildings, check out our podcast episode, ‘The Importance of Data Analytics’ with Luke Wilson from Triangle – here.
Older buildings can be made smart too, check out this short video with Jack Martin and Andre Jutel 👉 click here.