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Technology Roadmap for Intelligent Buildings
Future Directions of Intelligent Building Technologies
Table of Contents
- Developers/Owners/Operators
- Occupants/Tenants
- Trends
- Societal Impacts
- Future Technology Impacts
- Overall System Reliability
This section addresses the future directions of intelligent building technologies. The most successful introductions of intelligent building technologies indicate that the greatest advantages come from integrating communications and ensuring that the traditional systems have the ability to intercommunicate and interoperate. A single operator interface needs to recognize status and control information from all available systems. The primary benefit comes from the shared space, infrastructure and staffing. The current trend of working from home encourages interaction with building communications and services.
These trends are being influenced by technologies and the current market situation. Construction and technology are breaking down some conventional barriers. Increasing concern with environmental impacts and with security needs further influence intelligent building functionality.
These facilities depend on the increasing reliability of secure and resilient communications infrastructures. Mobile telephones are well established, encouraging mobile communications in many other forms. This technology has value for in-building application. For the Occupants/Tenants and the operators, these technologies yield substantial efficiencies. These concepts will lead to intelligent building technologies that are not yet on the drawing board.
Developers/Owners/Operators
Developers are recognizing that integrated and intelligent buildings provide a greater return on investment. Knowledgeable occupants recognize that such buildings are desirable, and investors are prepared to reward the development of these buildings with increased values, long term occupancy and recognition that those who create these buildings have a vision and a commitment to the "latest and greatest".
Occupants/Tenants
End users want to occupy buildings with excellent communications, personal workspace control and secure environments. The ability to deliver these is attracting end users to those buildings which best satisfy their demands.
Rapidly evolving electronic technologies are encouraging both owners and occupants to reach for the latest technologies, yet the building and construction industry seems strangely reluctant to respond. A very big part of the building and construction activity is retrofit, providing an excellent opportunity to introduce intelligent building technologies into existing "sticks and bricks" fabrics, and upgrading old buildings, in prime locations, into premium office space. Architects, building engineers and contractors are relatively conservative. Those moving to embrace the latest technologies do so only after they are thoroughly convinced of the value of systems and products that have been significantly endorsed.
New technologies provide both opportunities and challenges. Building systems can now be managed using automation, with less dependence on humans. Examples include monitoring doors and windows remotely (surveillance cameras, glass breakage detectors, etc.) and monitoring the building fabric (moisture, temperature, vibration, strain, etc.). Communications infrastructures allow knowledge workers to work where and when it is convenient. The concept of the mobile worker has led to new concepts where acoustics and lighting are automated, and this has also changed the configuration of offices. One must note the significant role played by the construction industry in the national economy. These activities represent a very significant part of the gross national product (GNP) of our economy.
Intelligent building technologies will promote the integration of control systems that enhance building and end-user functionalities. The increasing use of PCs and related technologies in the control of the target applications enables these systems to be interconnected and thus inter-related. The ability for computer networks to share information is the basis of almost every office function today. Use of email has become commonplace and the ability of computer systems to exchange messages is now familiar. Within the building of the future these technologies will enable building functions, building management and end-user applications all to improve as a result of control and messaging techniques.
Trends
This project's literature review indicates that the current trends in intelligent building technologies are:
- to integrate communications, providing an overall or umbrella integration solution;
- to ensure that the existing systems are capable of operating independently, i.e., standalone;
- to move toward a single software front end which communicates with a single console;
- to gradually phase out separate control rooms for different functions;
- to change from project development based on lowest initial cost to development based on highest value, correctly reflecting higher revenues and operational cost savings; and
- to encourage suppliers to develop intelligent, self-diagnosing, fault tolerant controllers.
Market Drivers
Market drivers of intelligent building technologies include the owner/operator's desire to achieve a competitive advantage through more cost-effective and featured locations and the occupant/tenant's need for space that is comfortable, secure, versatile and productive. When office hours vary, the control of lighting and HVAC for individual offices becomes attractive for cost control. Security and reduced operational staffing are key elements in controlling rising costs while enhancing enduser services. Intelligent building technologies can provide better bandwidth and easier relocation for staff through the enhanced communications infrastructure. These functions are generally possible, individually, with traditional systems, but intelligent building technologies can provide them through full integration more effectively and at substantially lower cost. The dominant market drivers therefore are reduced cost, greater ease of operation and greater reliability.
Societal Impacts
Society continues to change dramatically, partly as a result of, and partly through the continuing evolution of technologies. These changes will continue. Trends to longer working hours, fewer support staff and portable wireless email are examples of the intersection of technology and society. Intelligent building technologies are well positioned to more economically permit workers to control access to their own offices and related facilities, and to control the office environment. It has become possible for staff and firms to become tolerant of convenient working patterns, and to take whatever action is needed to complete job requirements with very challenging deadlines. The expectation that staff respond to their office email whether they are in their office or elsewhere is now commonplace.
Future Technology Impacts
As technologies evolve, there are temptations to use technology because it is there, not because it solves an existing problem. Conversely, the introduction of new technology often leads to its use for valuable applications that had not previously been thought of. It is common for technology to be introduced to reduce cost, while its greatest value turns out to be the added value capabilities that it brings.
The introduction of smart cards, magnetic encoded stripe cards with read/write memory, has enabled many applications, for example, medical records, passports, transportation fares, telephone cards, etc. As the following examples indicate, some technologies are also able to move the bounds of "intelligence" forward in their application to buildings:
- fibre optic communications can be used to recognize vibration, intrusion, etc. as well as to provide broadband, secure communications;
- security requirements are now, more than ever, constrained by the imagination of the user (or intruder), not by technological limitations. Use of biometric technologies ensures that recognition is unassailable, for example, retinal scans, voice patterns, fingerprints etc. Such patterns may be stored on smart cards and used for many purposes;
- technologies are being sought which, in the view of responsible individuals, will reduce the risk of terrorism following the major tragedy of September 11, 2001;
- sensors are becoming available which perform multiple functions through a single transducer, including temperature, air quality, light and occupancy;
- software and interface devices are available to permit individual end-users to control their personal environment to achieve a comfortable and effective work space;
- improved communications and tools, for example, email and voice mail, have made the concept of working hours dynamic, allowing convenience for staff and avoidance of rush hours;
- improved security has ensured the safety of staff and equipment and dramatically reduced theft;
- high-rise apartments can now use technologies allowing dramatic improvements in convenience;
- because technological solutions are available, residents and workers demand access to them. End-user environments are attracting occupants to any type of building, i.e., the technology drivers are leading to technology implementation; and
- the concept of a home office has become widespread. Many companies accept the benefits of allowing staff to work at home. The necessary communications infrastructure for such home offices is a low investment for a significant productivity benefit. This approach is also contributing significantly to reduced environmental pollution and lowered staff stress.
Overall System Reliability
As intelligent building technologies become more pervasive, the need for them to become extremely reliable will increase.
Central Control
To maximize the benefits of intelligent building technologies requires systems integration and central control rooms. Staffing and training for the control room personnel will require very broad skills. An intelligent building system provides operation of all aspects of the integrated environment from a single control centre, which should have an alternative location, a backup facility, for use in the event of failure. The central control ensures the observance and interaction of all aspects of system operation. A central control facility has reduced total staffing needs and provides the resources to log, control and manage a large number of individual components. Staffing can be better managed and trained in such an environment than in many smaller, distributed facilities.
Wireless Dispatch
Wireless systems are options to consider in designing a building. The transition from wired to wireless systems is recommended to promote mobility and ease of access. Staff using notebook computers and personal organizers expect to be able to move about with these devices. Wireless communication also addresses the issues of dynamic offices and the travelling worker. Numerous competing technologies are being promoted.
The needs of end users who move between offices and sit with colleagues exchanging data and working on projects have stimulated wireless technology. Issues of confidentiality, bandwidth and incompatible operating systems are rapidly being addressed. In intelligent buildings, there is an obvious requirement for security and maintenance staff and others to move within the building. Available technologies enable pagers, cellular telephones and personal organizers to communicate with this mobile staff.
Communications systems use various technologies, protocols and infrastructures. Wired communications systems make use of a variety of twisted pair technologies. Communications systems comparable to these wired systems have now become available through various wireless technologies, usually utilizing packet data. Wireless technology uses a variety of mechanisms to comply with the requirements for security, reliability and power requirements. These evolving technologies are working together to provide a portable communications environment for many building applications.
The new digital wireless technologies can coexist with the older analogue technologies and provide mobile services to both end users and building operations staff. Typically, wireless coverage is a major concern. For reliable coverage within buildings, technologies have developed to provide "repeater" or "internal antenna" functions. The latest trend is to mount antennae on the back side of ceiling tiles in suspended ceilings so the antennae are invisible and users do not perceive that they are using an antenna-based distribution system. Environments, such as hospitals, large buildings and sports arenas, can provide their occupants with continuous service for pagers, wireless local area networks and cell phones.
99.999 Percent (Five "Nines") Reliability
Electrical and telephone systems strive to achieve "five nines" reliability, i.e., operating without problem 99.999 percent of the time. Note that this does not imply complete reliability as even at this level of reliability there are 5.25 minutes of downtime per year.
For a building to operate with this overall level of reliability is a very demanding challenge. The PC does not normally attain this level of reliability, and dramatic steps are required to ensure that all systems included within intelligent building technologies can work together to achieve these levels of service. Initial steps to improve reliability are likely to focus on individual components capable of operating autonomously in the event of any central failure, and also of ensuring "fall back" or "diverse" functionalities. Common carriers, for example, normally provide secondary channels within communications systems that take the load if the primary channel fails. Reliability design requires detailed historical experience information about the intended components, i.e., mean time between failures (MTBF) and mean time to restore (MTTR).
Design principles to ensure system reliability will require the following:
- intelligence is distributed;
- standby power is continuously available to these distributed units;
- these distributed units are capable of operating without normal power or communications;
- the status of all control units and communication links is continuously monitored;
- the distributed controllers have local intelligence to report their status; and
- for critical applications, controllers have diverse communication paths.
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