Smart Buildings & Smart Sensors
Smart buildings contain lots of technology, devices, and systems to enable the creation of a 'smart' building. Data captured through these various sources is converged. AI and Machine Learning are used to make sense of the masses of data, highlighting anomalies, patterns and important insights, learning how the building operates, user preferences, and how to best save energy. The Facility Manager uses a building management system to view these insights, control and monitor the building.
Smart sensors are one of many IoT devices commonly used in buildings. They can increase quality and reduce costs.
We recently spoke to Erik Fossum, the Founder of Disruptive Technologies, on our smart building podcast. Disruptive Technologies have developed the world's smallest wireless sensor. This innovative technology makes the creation of a smart building easier as they can be simply stuck onto assets, they have a long battery life, and they provide insights that weren't previously possible. The episode will be live soon.
In the podcast episode, Erik explains that "there are a lot of data points in a building, but they are often hidden behind the physical world barrier. It is important that data collected by sensors is accurate and easy to access in a user-friendly format. It's all about understanding how smart buildings are operated".
Make an Older Building Smart
Smart sensors allow older buildings to be upgraded. There are some buildings that need to be preserved; non-intrusiveness is an important aspect. Future-proofing current buildings is a more environmentally friendly option than knocking them down and re-building a smarter building from scratch. 'The building and construction sector accounted for 36% of final energy use and 39% of energy and process-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2018, 11% of which resulted from manufacturing building materials and products such as steel, cement and glass' (IEA 2019). Furthermore, sensors can help reduce energy and water wastage, revealing insights that allow small changes to be applied, which generate huge savings.
Many historical, protected buildings such as theatres, cathedrals, museums etc., cannot be knocked down and re-built. Therefore, innovative solutions need to be employed to improve operational efficiency and also protect and preserve assets. Erik discusses their project with the Royal Opera House in London…
The ceiling is as much of a cultural staple as the building itself. The frieze of the intricate ceiling, covered with gold paint, is one of the oldest in Europe. The building also houses important manuscripts and old documents in its archives. It thus requires careful attention, humidity regulation, and maintenance in order for legacy to be preserved. – Read more here.
Smart sensors help to ensure this building remains in the best possible condition.
Predictive Maintenance
In most buildings, a lot of maintenance is scheduled upfront; this means resources are over-allocated just to do observations and maintain compliance. However, in most instances, these checks are not required as everything is working as it should. Sensors stop checks having to be done 'just in case'; they provide a constant data feed that alerts the Facility Manager when there is an anomaly. The more local and accurate data available, the better decisions the Facility Manager can make. It allows them to predict an incident ahead of time. A work order can be generated, and the component can be on its way to the site before the asset has even broken down.
Improve Efficiency of Processes
The data insights provided by sensors improve efficiencies. A simple application is cleaning. Typically, within a commercial building, a bathroom would be cleaned twice a day. But that bathroom might not be used with the same intensity every day, or other days more cleaning may be required if there is high traffic through that area. A sensor on the door could notify the Facility Manager system each time 50 people have used the bathroom. This could then trigger a work order for the cleaning process. This is a lot more efficient as it's based on data. There may be days when the bathroom is cleaned five times to increase quality, and there may be weeks where it does not need to be cleaned at all. This dramatically saves costs.
It is important that sensor data can integrate with Facility Manager systems and building management systems to create a holistic picture and allow everything to communicate seamlessly.
Remote Monitoring
Data needs to be available to view offsite. Remote monitoring is an important feature that has gained more presence since the COVID-19 pandemic. A Facility Manager may manage various sites; if there is something that can be monitored or resolved remotely, it avoids unnecessary travel and again reduces costs whilst maintaining quality.
Partnership and Collaboration
It's hard for one company to cover all aspects of an application, service, or product that needs to go into a building; by collaborating, we can achieve more. Erik explains that partnership is essential for their business. It is the way we will all succeed by being interoperable and open; it creates more opportunities for innovation and truly smart buildings.
SmartCore is an open, interoperable platform that can integrate with most sensors and devices. The control and monitoring platform can be used by sensor companies to present data in a user-friendly dashboard or to help pass data to a building management or IoT system. SmartCore can publish data via MQTT, BACnet and HTTP interfaces. To find out more, contact us today.
Read about the top 5 smart building technology trends - here
