While the benefits and Return on Investment (ROI) of smart buildings are well documented for tenants, building owners and operators, similar information for cities are limited at best. In addition, cities measure the benefits and ROI of smart buildings differently, and look beyond financial metrics. Part Two provides a framework for identifying areas of value creation and share a sample set of values and benefits for cities.
The electricity that powers appliances and lights homes also generates small magnetic fields that exist everywhere. A research team, headed by Penn State scientists, built a device that delivers as high as 400% higher power output when compared to other advanced technology when working with low-level magnetic fields similar to those seen in buildings and homes. The technology holds major implications for designing smart buildings, which will need self-driven wireless sensor networks to perform things like remote control of systems and tracking energy and operational patterns, the researchers said.
A smart building typically looks like a regular building, with bricks and glass windows, but at the heart of a smart building are sensors that drive building automation. Internet of Things sensors and devices monitor HVAC and lighting, motion, humidity, electrical controls, access control and video security. The data from those sensors then feeds a variety of controllers that can help IT and operations staff automate building management.
Simulating real-world fiber optic links and time delays in the lab environment is both a frequent and necessary task for engineers performing R&D and equipment certification testing processes. With the evolution to more advanced network architecture, increasing speeds of 400G and beyond, and latency always being a key element, replicating the field network as closely as possible in the lab is critical to ensure systems will perform as expected post-deployment.
For the fourth straight year, AT&T ruled the roost for on-net fiber lit buildings in the U.S., according to research by Vertical Systems Group. Rounding out the top five on Vertical System Group’s Leaderboard, were, in order, Verizon, Spectrum Enterprise, CenturyLink and Comcast. In order to qualify for the Leaderboard, service providers needed to have 10,000 or more on-net fiber-lit commercial buildings in the U.S. by the end of last year.
As buildings re-open after the global lockdowns, Occupancy Analytics will provide smart buildings huge advantages over traditional buildings. Occupancy analytics is helps optimize workplace floor space without impacting the health, comfort, or productivity of employees. By gathering data from sensors and other sources, occupancy analytics helps buildings understand the way occupants use different spaces in order to redesign the office for greater space efficiency. This has inevitably led to a growing trend of densification as commercial buildings around the world try to do more with less space.
The urgent mandates issued to cities in areas such as climate change and rapid urbanisation are frequently discussed under the rubric of “smart cities” but just what constitutes a smart city is elusive. A successful smart strategy should take a holistic approach encompassing people, institutions, structures and operations across the connected ecosystem that makes up the city or community.
The explosion in demand for high-resolution video streaming has also impacted the needs of campus networks. Intelligent applications, such as facial recognition systems, are emerging on campuses, adding to the already-high video traffic of video conferencing, media streaming, and VR devices. In addition, the Internet of Things (IoT) is leading to increasing deployments of service robots, intelligent access control, voice devices, and data sensing devices in campuses. While IoT is of significant value to campus networks, it makes the network structure more complex adding even more burden to copper wired networks.
The tools for AI for architecture are just around the corner and will enable us to deliver spaces that perform better and are enjoyable to use. The effects of space on the behavior of occupants is now directly quantifiable, analyzable, and modelable. Crowd simulation software, which has historically been employed to evaluate emergency egress patterns in buildings, can simulate the behavior of crowds of dozens or even thousands of people in a given environment.
Commercial real estate developers and building owners are striving to construct smarter buildings where building systems converge and communicate over a unified IP-based infrastructure, enabling system integration that drives advanced automation for efficiency, optimized operations and enhanced occupant experiences. The implementation of 5G, edge data centers and broadband IoT connectivity, combined with new advancements in sensor technology, data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) now enable buildings to become more intelligent and valuable than ever, creating the critical foundation of larger smart cities and communities. But when it comes to investment strategy, planning, designing and deploying an entire smart building ecosystem, how do key stakeholders know they are making the right decisions for maximum building intelligence and sustainability that the future demands?
