Signal2: It’s time for buildings to be smart
Even though everything around us seems getting smarter (cell phones, TVs, cars, you name it), the places we spend most of our time in, the buildings, besides architectural updates, remain mostly unchanged as they were before the age of internet. In fact, 40% of our total energy consumption take place inside buildings and about 20% of these energies are wasted due to operational inefficiencies of buildings. It is thus crucial for buildings to become smart, as it implicates the possibility to reduce the overall consumption of mankind by 5%, which can translate into saving innumerable amount of coal, oil and forests.
Internet of Things (IoT) is a promising technology that can “en-smart“ the buildings. The challenge of building operation is that the occupancy and usage conditions continuously changing, so we need a self-adjustable automation system that can respond to these changes. With IoT, buildings would be able to collect and analyze various high-resolution real-time building data, such as occupancy, motions, temperature, energy usage, etc., and then let the central automation system continuously optimize its operation. More importantly, smart buildings promote not only sustainability but also occupant comfort. For instance, with decentralized climate control, smart buildings are able to reduce natural hot and cold spots, often found near windows.
Finally, with breakthroughs in 5G and connected devices, the hardware foundation for smart buildings become mature. I believe smart buildings will soon become a new buzz word in the tech and property world.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-09-23/see-the-world-s-greenest-office-building-the-edge
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