How the Internet of Things will enable ‘smart buildings’
Self aware smart buildings will arise from IoT technology, according to Roberto de Bonis, a senior researcher at Telecom Italia, enabling buildings with more efficient energy consumption, and keep their inhabitants happy with lighting that mimics the ambient light outside, windows that react to pollution level and weather, and feed in to a smart city infrastructure that will enable efficient mass transportation.&nbsp;
Should a building be self-aware? Roberto de Bonis, a senior researcher at Telecom Italia that presented at the 4th International SMART Conference in Belgium, discussed smart technology and its application in so-called ‘smart buildings.’ De Bonis believes that, since more than 50% of the world’s population are city dwellers, projected to reach 70% by 2050, demand for smart city services will be increased by the Internet of Things (IoT).

De Bonis and Enrico Vinciarelli, in their study ‘From Smart Metering to Smart City Infrastructure,’ presented a scenario where an IoT communication platform could be based on clusters of technologies that exploit different bandwidths. By linking devices so that they can talk to each other, a huge amount of data could be handled and analyzed in real time. In order to do this, cities will need both efficient infrastructure and storage for the information generated.

How will cities benefit from IoT?

Chris Bilton, Director of Research and Technology at BT, one of the world’s leading communications services companies, agreed about the huge potential for innovation in this area. “IoT technologies offer potential solutions to pressing problems faced by many organizations today that are seeking to improve quality of life and personal well-being, whilst at the same time enhancing efficiency, productivity and driving economic growth,” he said.

One area that has the potential to be positively impacted by IoT technology is transport. “Future cities are likely to include smart transport services for journey planning and shared transport assets,” said Bilton. However, IoT technology is potentially even more sophisticated that this. “The smart building,” Bilton said, where photovoltaic generation takes place, “may adapt to known journey patterns, and divert locally generated power to be available in advance of likely usage. This will reduce expenditure, make transport more affordable, and drive down the carbon footprint of the community.”

Bilton also explained other ways in which urban areas will benefit from smart technology. “Smart buildings will be able to react to information derived from sensor networks across the city to adjust ventilation and window settings based on the cross-referencing of pollution levels and prevailing weather conditions in the locale,” he said. The potential to change lives is tremendous and, according to Bilton, “IoT technology, embedded within the building, will support the needs of older and vulnerable people enabling them to live within their own communities for longer, therefore supporting social cohesion."

Inside a smart building

Smart lighting solutions will mimic the spectral characteristics of natural daylight in the home, office, or ward, helping to maintain the natural circadian rhythm and general well-being of those who are required to remain indoors. “As IoT functionality becomes embedded in everyday items such as light bulbs, switches, utility meters, and other appliances, digital health systems to support vulnerable people will be a simple software configuration of that pre-existing hardware,” Bilton said.

Some of the most important benefits from smart buildings have been in terms of energy conservation, Bilton said. “The use of smart systems that recognize the changing occupancy profile of a building over the day and through the seasons have enabled huge savings. In the past, buildings were typically heated and cooled throughout, independent of occupancy levels. Smart systems that manage lighting, temperature, and air quality levels and which can enable or disable controlled zones have revolutionized building management systems.”

In fact, Italy was one of the first countries to introduce smart electrical metering, where consumers can monitor appliance usage to reduce costs by via a dedicated in-home energy display, using real-time feedback.

The benefits of smart technology are not restricted to energy conservation, either. Once you enter a smart building, there wouldn't be any surprises like a burst water pipe to encounter; intelligent sensors would have already detected pressure variation along pipes and communicated this information to avert a leak in the building. Structural health monitoring of the building can even be undertaken, by analysis of vibrations and material conditions within the structure. In order for this type of monitoring to occur, unique IP addresses will have to be created for each device that is connected.

IoT will not only take care of your indoor environment; external aspects of life will also be enhanced. Improvements might involve being alerted to an open parking space that will fit your car size as you cruise up to a building. Once you have parked, you will be able to enter your home or workplace safely, as sensor networks, using a combination of audio, video, and vibration detection devices, will have detected unauthorized individuals entering restricted areas. IoT systems can also track the whereabouts of various items in a building through geo-location.

Although some of these ideas are already used in security systems, future sensors will be more powerful and smaller. And you can bet software will become quicker to analyze a situation and send an alert.