Smart building technology is not only saving building owners and their tenants cold hard cash, it is also offering significant assistance in saving this little planet of ours. Thanks in part to internet protocol-based networks, these new digital technologies are ready to make dramatic contributions in how buildings function, particularly by helping to significantly reduce their energy consumption. At Ivory Egg, we like to think of ourselves at the forefront of this revolution, so we’ve rounded up a few of our favorite technological advancements that we know will have a big impact on smart  building technology in the future:
- Facilities Management Tools will start to use Augmented Reality & 3D
Operating a high performance building will require high performance tools. Think 3D, augmented reality and BIM. Building Information Modeling is primarily used for design, construction and pre-fabrication of assemblies. Its benefits during this stage of building are improved design, design coordination and collusion detection. Its benefit for building operation has primarily been the extraction of data from the design and construction phases into a facility management system. In 2010 expect facility management systems to incorporate 3D BIM-like aspects to allow facility managers to visualize and understand the complex interactions within their buildings. In addition, we’ll start to see the use of augmented reality. If you watched a Premiership game with Andy Gray where the run of a player is highlighted on the pitch, or where the direction of the ball is outlined from a free kick, then you’ve seen the reality (the football pitch) augmented with the virtual, done in real-time and 3D. Imagine 3D models of mechanical and electrical systems augmented with real time data and you start to have tools to really manage high performance buildings. - Micro Energy Management Systems
We tend to think of energy management systems as large enterprise-wide systems. We can expect energy management systems to evolve for individuals or specific spaces or functions. Individuals will have an energy management system on their laptops and calculate their carbon footprint at their desk. By 2011 we can expect PC software manufacturers to start offering middleware applications to allow users to monitor and manage their localized energy systems, such as plugloads, lighting and thermal comfort. - The Smart Grid will redefine Home Automation & Media Centers
It is one thing to have a home automation system turn your lights off and on or a home media system which allows access to 200 high definition channels but the smart grid changes all that. The home automation system now has to communicate with the utility grid. The telecom service provider to the home is no longer the only utility supplying content and communication to the home. In fact, the media center is one of the larger energy users in the home and could possibly be managed by the smart grid. The smart grid forces the home automation market to re-think and re-invent residential systems, adding layers of new intelligence, communications and protocols not previously seen. - Facial Recognition will replace Swipe Cards & Credit Cards
Video surveillance cameras have advanced the use of facial recognition. Admittedly, it’s difficult to pick out one face in a large crowd, such as people walking into a stadium (although it has been used to tackle hooliganism in Europe). However, on an individual basis, facial recognition is pretty good. With your face as your ID, gone will be the need for credit cards and access control cards/keys. The upside is better security. Credit cards can be stolen and access control cards can be passed from person to person, not so with your boat race. - Energy conservation measures will be given a value
In order to retrofit and upgrade existing buildings to high performance buildings, owners will need to borrow money to fund the upfront capital costs. For banks and financial institutions to provide such credit they need to clearly identify their risks. Specifically, they need to know with some certainty the energy savings and payback period for each energy conservation step that the building owner undertakes; such as lighting control retrofits, mechanical systems replacements, control system upgrades etc. - Developers need to generate new revenue streams specifically related to energy
Developers are always looking for ways to increase their net income and energy will become the newest opportunity. Expect developers to buy energy at wholesale rates and retail the energy to their tenants and building owners, embrace alternative energy sources and sell energy back to the grid, offer services to tenants such as energy information and management reports, generate revenues from recharging electric vehicles and provide similar services for the monitoring and management of gas and water. - The rise of the Green Eco Lawyer
There was a period when around 20% of new buildings that received certification did not meet their energy performance targets. In the future I think we can expect to find that when someone buys or leases a building or building space with an energy certification based on energy performance and the building or space does not perform, tenants and owners will then sue. Damages may be the projected increases in energy costs over the life of the building, lack of thermal comfort, inadequate lighting staining the eyes etc. Architects, MEP firms, developers, facility managers, facility technicians, building owners, contractors and property managers may all be potential targets. I give you the rise of the ‘Green Eco Lawyer”.
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