Smart Buildings and IoT: The Answer to Driving Efficiency While Maximising Occupant Comfort

The opportunity is huge – potentially more than $6 trillion in building-related economic activity by 2025, according to a McKinsey Global Institute analysis. Combining the information generated in a building with outside weather data for instance will help reduce the 30 percent wasted energy common in commercial buildings.

Unlocking real value of a building can be achieved when you maximize operational efficiency. Making your building smarter, connected, and comfortable is key to optimizing efficiency. IoT, which is a fast-expanding digital ecosystem of connected devices, is paving the way for this new world of energy. The internet and significant price reductions on IT components like wireless sensors have made smart building technologies more affordable, creating a strong business case for owners and investors to invest in intelligent technologies to increase building performance.

IoT is a lot like today’s Building Management Systems, made more intelligent and powerful. By communicating with each other, these systems can monitor themselves and act when necessary to provide data and analytics, which are used by facility managers to intelligently optimise performance. With the goal of creating smart buildings that are more efficient and comfortable while being easier to manage, the IoT equates to the networking of systems and devices in buildings. These include:

• Lighting

• Heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC)

• Security and access control

• Control devices—valves, actuators, sensors and meters

When these end points are connected, systems and devices can be adjusted on the fly to respond to varying external conditions for optimal comfort and productivity. Connected systems provide the necessary information to enable preventive and predictive maintenance, which can now be scheduled for minimum disruption. By connecting everything, there is a great potential for remote management of buildings that was impossible before.

 

They use algorithms and predictive analytics to automatically reduce operations in commercial buildings. With connectivity via sensors and smart devices, it can be done remotely or the opposite, making it easier to bring facilities out of a deep setback. You can save as much energy as possible while allowing people to be comfortable and productive.