From the concept of the smart city, it is not difficult to find that intelligent electrical facilities and smart buildings play an important role in human life. With the continuous development of big data, cloud computing, and Internet of Things technologies, the development of “smart buildings” has ushered in an excellent opportunity. Today, intelligent buildings are realizing intelligence and digitization. Its relationship with smart cities has become more and more inseparable.
1. What is a smart building?
Modern architectural design solutions must not only aim to protect the environment. In addition to providing shelter and warmth, the new building design includes digital technology that provides a wide range of functions that can help occupants to improve the quality of the indoor living environment. This smart building technology benefits overall costs and boosts energy use.
With a projected growth rate of 23% by 2024, the rise of smart building technology is clear. Remote control and low-power capabilities through IoT devices are crucial to its development. In addition, IoT sensors should be installed on existing new buildings.
Smart building technologies can provide relevant data to analysts who can use this data to optimize building performance. This data can also be passed on to machines, triggering automatic responses from security systems and HVAC systems. In addition, the installation of IoT sensors can automatically monitor the building, so that human labor can be used, and the sensor will send an alarm in time when the building is invaded by unknown objects or people.
Smart buildings not only facilitate human life but also greatly reduce labor costs and waste of resources, which is conducive to creating more sustainable living conditions. IoT devices can monitor the occupancy of rooms in a building and adjust HVAC systems and power output in the presence of people, achieving the rational use of resources and promoting the sustainable development of smart cities.
2. What is the smart building system?
The smart building management system optimizes the combination of building structures, systems, services, and management according to the actual situation and user needs. Focusing on the concept of intelligent buildings, it provides users with an efficient customized, comfortable building environment. It implements the concept of green high-tech life and smart medical care and makes smart buildings the key to improving the city’s carrying capacity and opening the door to the future.
Based on BIM technology, it has integrated cloud computing, big data, mobile Internet, IoT Internet of Things, AI, FM, and other technical applications, and developed a smart building operation and maintenance management platform based on BIM and IoT for intelligent building applications.
3. What is IoT Smart Building Technology?
The advances behind the development of smart buildings include:
01. Interconnected system
IoT sensors in smart buildings can communicate with each other. The data detected by the sensors can be passed through the interconnected system, and then be sent to a central location for analysis.
02. The sensors
In the IoT scenario, sensors are ubiquitous and are important parts of the IoT. Sensors are technological products that are used to detect and respond the environmental changes. When the internet connects to a traditional sensor, the data detected by the sensor can be shared with the internet and management systems. IoT sensors such as pressure sensors, humidity sensors, temperature Sensors, and so on. The sensor can also detect various dangerous environmental factors in the building, such as carbon dioxide, etc.
03. Automation Solutions
Automation software can transmit the operational data from sensors, and then transfer the data into automatic decisions, for example, it can justify the unreasonable waste in production processes. Automation is widely used in enterprises and factories to simplify processes, such as reducing power consumption by transferring conventional sources to renewable energy sources.
04. Big data
The real-time big data detected by different kinds of sensors can be translated into in-time decisions by analysts, thereby reducing waste and cost. Machine learning software can further leverage this data for predictive maintenance.
4. What are examples of Smart Building Applications?
01. Application in smart home
Based on security systems and smartphones, the smart home is a home application system to improve the comfort of life, which realizes the automation and intelligence of home life.
Smartphones, as media terminals that are almost inseparable from people, play an important role in people’s lives. Through mobile phones, household appliances can be regulated to reduce energy consumption and unnecessary troubles. At the same time, it can directly receive information about changes in the home living environment to improve prevention and control.
02. Application in energy conservation
The development of modern buildings naturally cannot lack the awareness of green, ecological and environmental protection, and at the same time, it is necessary to promote the development of energy-saving forms. In smart buildings, wireless sensors can be installed to detect the usage of various indoor energy in real-time. Adjusting the energy use according to the change of the value can ensure the reduction of energy consumption and improve the efficiency of resource use.
For example, light-controlled lighting can be installed in rooms and stairwells. This is also the application of sensors. It can turn on and off the lights according to the morning and evening changes of the weather, which can facilitate people’s lives and reduce power consumption.
03. Application in public safety systems
The public safety system includes three important parts: fire alarm, safety technology prevention, and emergency linkage system. Through the application of IoT technology, the system application level has been raised to a new level.
In terms of monitoring and management, the two technologies of fiber grating sensor network and wireless sensor network are mainly used. First of all, the former sensor can be applied to the materials of engineering construction. It has a strong sensing ability and can detect subtle parameters and properties.
In smart buildings, the power system is in a relatively strong working state, and fiber grating sensors can be installed in key positions of the power system. Real-time monitoring of the power system through sensors is to avoid burning out the line and affecting the normal power supply. The sensor can also be used to detect engineering structures, analyze the internal quality problems of the power system, and improve the safety precautions of buildings.
5. Smart Building Solutions
01. Construct the BIM model of the whole building parcel
The essence of establishing and maintaining a BIM model is to summarize all the construction engineering information of each project team through the BIM platform, eliminate the information island in the project, and allow managers to grasp the basic situation of the entire project in real-time.
The application of BIM can optimize the engineering entity. In the construction stage, the construction personnel can use the BIM model to roam and improve the omissions in the model. The built-in collision check and error correction functions of the BIM system are used to find out design errors and avoid engineering accidents to the maximum extent.
The BIM system establishes an information platform based on the BIM information model and all parties involved in the construction phase work through the information platform. The data format of the information platform is unified and it has a high compatibility for all parties to obtain the same information, thus reducing information asymmetry.
BIM technology can use its construction simulation technology to simulate each project in the construction stage and use the simulation results to optimize the construction process. The construction process is simulated by changing the external environmental factors, and the influence of the external environment on the construction is predicted, so as to prevent these possible situations in advance
When there are faults that occur, the BIM model can generate linkage and respond to the alarm in time.
Also, a comprehensive description of resources in the area can be realized, such as the current number of vehicles, the number of personnel, etc.
02. Air conditioning system of intelligent building
● Roaming inspection inside the air conditioner room enables you to know the internal space layout of the room and the real-time running status of corresponding devices;
● Real-time view of the camera in the computer room; increase and arrange all kinds of sensors; real-time alarm of abnormal situations;
●The inspection record form is automatically generated, and the inspection information is sent by email automatically;
● Real-time running status and historical running status are presented;
●Comprehensive comparative analysis of energy consumption statistics and air conditioning operation.
03. Water supply and drainage system of smart building
● Check the spatial distribution of equipment and pipeline routing based on the BIM model;
● Realize the automatic energy-saving operation of the electromechanical system;
● Centralized monitoring of all water pump failure and abnormal water pool alarm information;
●Display important equipment running status, running schedule, and automatic running conditions;
● All kinds of operation monitoring data statistics will be summarized.
04. Cooling machine group control system of intelligent building
● Check the spatial distribution of refrigeration teamwork control equipment and the routing of pipelines based on the BIM model,
● Centralized monitoring of abnormal alarm information of all coolers group control equipment;
●Display important equipment running status, running schedule, and automatic running conditions;
● Real scene roaming, a comprehensive understanding of the cooling machine group control room space layout;
● All kinds of operation monitoring data statistics are summarized and combined with energy consumption and relevant data to analyze refrigeration teamwork control energy saving.
6. Advantages of smart building
01. Increase productivity
Smart systems provide cleaner and safer indoor air quality, enabling workers to have a more comfortable environment, and helping to increase worker productivity and creativity.
02. Energy saving
Smart sensors can monitor and regulate energy in buildings based on occupant usage and can detect energy-intensive electronic products, helping to conserve energy usage
More accurate data analysis
The smart sensors can accurately analyze the energy consumption data and can transmit the data to the analysts in time to plan the use of resources. This data is very useful for the production plan.
03. Cost-effective
Smart building equipment is characterized by intelligence and automation, which can continuously monitor energy usage and help businesses avoid high operating costs. Sensors can also monitor equipment condition and performance, and use detection of equipment can also infer which equipment needs maintenance. This monitoring can extend the life of the equipment and reduce maintenance costs.
04. Increased security
Smart cameras have replaced traditional cameras in recent years. In terms of public security, cameras are integrated with various smart elements according to needs. The smart camera in the building can monitor the entrance and leave of each person, which can prevent people from illegally intruding into the building. At the same time, sensors can also detect unsafe levels of chemicals.
7. Smart Buildings Security
The public safety system includes three important parts: fire alarm, safety technology prevention, and emergency linkage system. Through the application of Internet of Things technology, the level of system application has been upgraded to a new level.
In smart buildings, the power system is in a relatively strong working state, and fiber grating sensors can be installed in key positions of the power system. Real-time monitoring of the power system through sensors is to avoid burning out the line and affecting the normal power supply. The sensor can also be used to detect engineering structures, analyze the internal quality problems of the power system, and improve the safety precautions of buildings.
8. Future Trends of Smart Building Architecture
Smart buildings have a wide range of application prospects. Combined with the concept of intelligent building design and development in my country and abroad, the future development trend of smart buildings is researched and prospected. The specific development trends are as follows:
First, intelligent buildings will gradually penetrate the Internet IT industry in the future development direction. In the process of building design, electronics, information technology, intelligence, and new industrial materials should be continuously applied to the design of smart buildings.
Secondly, There are various management objects such as equipment, systems, and personnel in smart buildings, and the technology of the Internet of Things is needed to realize the interconnection and remote sharing of equipment and system information.
Third, intelligent control technology should be widely used in intelligent buildings to solve the control problems of complex systems; through artificial intelligence and expert systems, people’s behavior, thinking and behavior strategies are perceived and simulated to obtain precise control of building objects.
Fourth, smart buildings must have the ability to share the city’s public information resources, minimize the system construction inside the building, and achieve the goal of sustainable development.
