A smart building is any structure that uses
We don’t even need to move offices or create
automated processes to automatically control the
building’s operations including heating, ventilation,
air conditioning, lighting, security and other
systems. A smart building uses sensors, actuators
and microchips, in order to collect data and manage
it according to a business’ functions and services.
This infrastructure helps owners, operators and
facility managers improve asset reliability and
performance, which reduces energy use, optimizes
how space is used and minimizes the
environmental impact of buildings. Buildings that
aren’t “connected” are the same buildings they
were decades ago. They have provided the
essentials: shelter, temperature control and safety at
the same efficiency level for years. But newer
buildings, or older structures that have been
converted to smart buildings, are constantly
changing. They are living organisms connected to a
network with intelligent and adaptable software.
At the most fundamental level, smart buildings
make occupants more productive with lighting,
thermal comfort, air quality, physical security,
sanitation and more at lower costs and
environmental impact than buildings that are not
connected. Smart office buildings, health care
facilities, hospitals, educational facilities, stadiums
and many other types of smart buildings exist
around the world.
Making a smart building, or making a building
smart, begins by linking core systems such as
lighting, power meters, water meters, pumps,
heating, fire alarms and chiller plants with sensors
and control systems. At a more advanced stage,
even elevators, access systems and shading can
become part of the system. There is no single set of
standards that makes up what a smart building is,
but what they all have in common is integration.
Many new building have “smart” technology, and
are connected and responsive to a smart power
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2. R. Drath, A. Horch, Industrie 4.0: Hit or hype? [Industry Forum], IEEE. Ind. Electron. Mag. 8
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3. D. Evans, The Internet of Things: How the Next Evolution of the Internet is Changing
Everything, Tech. Rep., 2011, CISCO white paper.
grid.
a new building to work in a smart building.
Building automation systems like those from
Honeywell or Johnson Controls exist so property
owners can take advantage of the power available
in older structures.
Creating or transforming a building into a smart
building is beneficial for both the owner and the
organizations working within. These benefits range
from energy savings to productivity gains to
sustainability. Smart building strategies can reduce
energy costs, increase the productivity of the
facility staff, improve building operations, support
sustainability efforts and enhance decision-making
across the organization. One example of energy
efficiency is the use of optimal start/stop, which
allows the building automation system to learn
when it should bring the air conditioning system
online for a particular zone in the building. Another
feature is electrical loads that are grouped into
categories from critical to high priority to non-
essential.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is advancing a new
breed of smart buildings that are better aligned with
the priorities of property owners and managers. IoT
enables operational systems that deliver more
accurate and useful information for improving
operations and providing the best experiences for
tenants. Accelerating this transformation, Intel
offers IoT building blocks that simplify how
building systems talk to the cloud and exhaustively
analyze building data to uncover new business
insights capable of driving real value and greater
performance.