As the world gradually emerges from COVID-19 restrictions, questions about how buildings will be used in the future are gaining traction. When and how will people work in offices? What are their expectations for apartments, leisure facilities, and workplaces? One thing seems certain—efficient, intelligent, and adaptable building management will be crucial—and that's where the Internet of Things (IoT) comes in.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is transforming smart building automation in many different fields.
Energy efficiency
This is probably the first thing that comes to mind for most people when they think of smart building automation. Connected sensors are scattered throughout the building and connected to various systems—lighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, among others. They can be combined with other tracking systems, such as motion detection, to determine when a particular area is being used.
Since then, the possibilities for automation have become diverse. Systems can be programmed to automatically turn on or off based on environmental conditions such as light levels or temperature. On-demand micro-zoning system control has become possible, enabling highly granular approaches to energy use in different parts of a building.
Facilities management visibility
Facilities managers can also benefit from the centralized visibility provided by the Internet of Things (IoT) in other ways. Wireless sensors can be used to track a range of critical facilities management functions, including security, waste management, critical equipment status, and fire safety. In turn, they can transmit this information to a centralized platform that provides a single view of the building's status and condition.
Once again, the opportunities for proactive management are enormous. For example, facilities managers can spot minor issues before they escalate, such as leaks or bottlenecks in the waste management process.
Improve resident relations
During the COVID-19 lockdowns, residents' health and well-being received special attention. As more and more people work from home for at least part of the week, providing genuine comfort, safety, and even productivity will become increasingly important for residential building managers.
Here, connected IoT sensors can once again play a crucial role. The various environmental management processes outlined above can be applied to residential buildings to ensure that public areas remain clean for everyone. IoT sensors can also contribute to value-added services such as smart security systems and parking systems.
Revenue generation
IoT-based building automation is often seen as a money-saving tool rather than a direct money-making tool, but the intelligent insights generated by building automation systems can actually be sold to certain tenants.
For example, raw or analytical data from IoT sensors can be provided to enterprise tenants who want to better understand energy consumption or usage patterns around their space, enabling them to make more informed decisions regarding human and machine resources.
These are just some of the ways in which the Internet of Things (IoT) is changing smart building automation across multiple different fields.
