Strategies for smart building realisation

Abstract

Smart buildings, as a concept, is now becoming prominent in the vocabulary of Architects, Engineers, Construction contractors, Technology companies, Property developers and the Estate or facility management function within organizations. Public or private sector, smart building goals are now prevalent in corporate strategies whenever new build or retrofit / refurbishment is planned. But there seems no common consensus on what this really means. The 1990's and 2000's witnessed much hype around intelligent buildings concepts. However, in many instances the hype never produced tangible results. Now the scene has changed. Sustainability and carbon management is increasingly on the agenda of boardroom decision making and smart in smart buildings seems to have a purpose, almost as a mission statement. The lack of clear definitions on what encompasses a smart building and what is to be expected when utilising a smart building whether as a solitary or group experience is causing the supply side industry to throttle back the adoption rate. Value structures justifying adoption are not clear in this early adaptor stage. Thus costs associated with the realisation of a smart building are quite hard to justify. This is compounded by the rapid pace of technology advancement and the continual refresh of new products and solutions that purport to provide an improved functionality or better price to performance advantage. Thus strategies for smart building realisation need to be formalised into industry accepted frameworks which can be applied in many market sectors - or verticals, and which can be applied in the context of small, medium and large buildings or campus premises. This paper presents some thought leadership in this emerging area of expertise and provides concepts that may form the fundamentals for a future framework. The author provides a perspective as a professional in Consulting for the Engineering and Construction industry with regards to integrating ICT systems into the built environment. ICT infrastructure comprises much of the building blocks for smart building enablement alongside automation and controls, electronic security and facility management applications. Converged IP networks, integrated command and control rooms, utility smart metering and integrated BMS (iBMS) enables smart building functionalities to be implemented. This paper presents viewpoints across all of these subject areas in the context of policies, technologies and obstacles.