Category: Smart Building

Teaching an Old Building New Tricks: The Challenge of Adding Smart Technology to Existing Structures

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In new construction, creating a smart building can be straightforward if planned correctly and collaboratively. But the path to make an older building smart isn’t always straight. Historic restorations are perhaps the most vivid example of trying to teach an older building new tricks with smart technology. Xicato Inc., a lighting and controls manufacturer based in San Jose, Calif., has taken on several projects where smart technology is applied to older structures. London’s Westminster Abbey has been a showcase project.

Anixter unveils infrastructure assurance program for next-gen buildings

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Anixter has unveiled its new Utility Grade INFRASTRUCTURE platform. The new technology platform, assurance program and design approach redefines the infrastructure layer to support building subsystems, technologies and applications. Developed alongside the leading network infrastructure manufacturers, Belden, CommScope and Fluke Networks, and third-party tested and verified by UL, Anixter’s UTG program will offer UTG-rated cabling solutions and provide the foundation that will unlock the potential of the next generation of buildings to maximize ROI and enhance user experience.

Ruckus Networks eases hotel fiber deployments while enabling IoT

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Ruckus Networks (now part of CommScope)  has expanded its hospitality connectivity portfolio to include the company’s ICX 7150-24F fiber switch, ICX 7150-C08 compact switch and Fiber Backpack, which supports its H510 access point (AP). The new products add fiber support to existing offerings for hospitality and multi-dwelling unit (MDU) customers. Together with CommScope’s structured cabling products, the company offers customers an end-to-end solution. Ruckus is also announcing the addition of new Internet of Things (IoT) partners to its ecosystem to better address hospitality business priorities, including improving operational efficiency, enhancing guest services, and increasing guest and staff safety.

NYC financial markets get low-latency dark fiber upgrade

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Transaction Network Services has significantly upgraded and expanded its network capacity to include dark fiber connectivity in the strategically important “New York Triangle”, giving financial traders ultra-high-speed access to market data and TNS’ financial community of interest. The new TNS dark fiber network can be expanded up to four terabits of capacity, effectively preparing traders’ networks for the future as their data requirements with TNS grow.

Join the IoT Security Foundation

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The Internet of Things Security Foundation (IoTSF) has established to make it safe to connect in the smart and hyper-connected era of IoT.  Our Smart Building Working Group  will establish a comprehensive set of guidelines to help each of the supply chain participants to specify, procure, install, integrate, operate and maintain IoT securely in buildings. This includes intelligent buildings equipment and controls such as audio visual (AV), fire, HVAC, lighting and building security.

Smart buildings can do more than cut your energy bills

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Microsoft adopted a data-driven approach for it’s Amsterdam headquarters redesign. It tracked the use of meeting rooms and communal areas for six months. The data led to a 25 per cent reduction in the amount of space required. Employees now use an app to locate colleagues and book a wide range of workspaces, including and silent zones. Sensors measure occupancy, temperature, humidity, light and noise levels. Mr Williams says: “We’ve completely redesigned the way we work.”

The future of cabling

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Technology trends in our personal life are now driving trends in the business world. If you don’t believe me, pull out your work-issued Blackberry and spend 10 minutes writing me an email about how you disagree. The Netflix Model, otherwise known as Software as a Service (SaaS), has changed the way we operate day-to-day business. What will be the next technology trend that changes the way we do business? It’s easy to look at the next five years and say things like cloud, co-located data centers, and IoT (Internet of Things) will continue to drive changes. But what comes next?

Editorial Guide: Intelligent Buildings

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Intelligent buildings’ promises to make properties more energy-efficient and make occupants more productive will only be kept if the physical-layer infrastructure supporting building systems is rock-solid. There’s no cookie-cutter formula for providing such an infrastructure, meaning each application environment must establish its own requirements, then meet them.The articles in this guide discuss several of the applications and capabilities of intelligent buildings, then focuses on the structured cabling and networking technologies that can enable intelligent buildings to fulfill their promise.