The world is changing drastically. Everything nowadays is smart. The term ‘smart’ is now used to define anything innovative and productive, from mobile phones and tablets to self-driving cars.
But,
What if your buildings become smart enough to provide all of this, including enhanced safety and security, automatic climate control, and smart lighting control? Does it appear to be a dream? It’s no longer a dream; smart building technology is helping to make it a reality.
Smart buildings are quickly becoming the standard all over the world. The smart building technology market is predicted to increase at a compound annual growth rate of over 23 % between 2019 and 2024, according to the reports by Mordor Intelligence.
According to a Fortune Business Insights analysis, the worldwide smart building technology market is expected to increase at a CAGR of 21.6%, from $67.60 billion in 2021 to $265.37 billion in 2028.
Furthermore, the increase in demand for smart building technologies isn’t just related to operational efficiency. The outbreak is expediting the need for property managers and corporate clients to provide safe work conditions for employees as they return to work, and smart technologies will aid in this effort.
Businesses can expect a more productive workforce and, as a result, a more successful business by employing a simplified solution like smart building technology. But, what is smart building technology, and how could it make your building efficient?
Let’s check,
Today, in this blog, we will discuss smart building technology and its benefits, use cases, and more.
Firstly, let’s start with,
Table of Contents
What is Smart Building Technology?
Buildings that use new technologies to manage, simplify, and enhance internal building processes are known as smart buildings. To put it another way, smart buildings are buildings that have been transformed to interact with technology. To improve the structure’s durability, sensors, cameras, and actuators are used. Smart building technology will analyze and respond appropriately in the event of an emergency.
Smart buildings rely heavily on the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT technologies provide you with a better understanding of your workplace’s common objects, such as pipes, furniture, water heaters, and shutters. With IoT sensors, smart building technology transforms these formerly inactive objects into connected devices.
The building can give real-time updates on building utilization, energy consumption, upkeep, cleanliness, air quality, infection risk, and more if connected with these sensors.
Moving ahead, let’s talk about,
How Does Smart Building Technology Work?
Sensors, memory chips, and controllers gather information in a smart building ecosystem and use it to activate specified actions.
Systems can detect changes in the environment and alter lighting and temperature accordingly, saving energy and money and maximizing the time and attention spent on such activities.
You can also create smart shortcuts that are activated whenever an action is completed. Consequently, it has the potential to improve the building’s efficiency while also lowering maintenance expenses.
A smart building, for example, can change the air cooling or heating systems based on the number of people inside. When it detects a drop in temperature, it can immediately turn on the heating. As a result, the building will be more energy efficient.
How can Buildings be Made Smarter?
Simply by using various technologies.
The following are some of the technologies used in smart buildings and some use cases: –
1. BMS
A building management system, often known as a building automation system, is a computer-based solution that incorporates and regulates the various systems in a structure. It is the center or central hub of a smart building that directs the actions of the equipment. It guarantees that operations function smoothly and securely. Additionally, building automation ensures that your buildings meet all industry standards. With smart sensors, you’ll always know what’s going on around your premises. You’ll be able to make timely upgrades and fixes to guarantee that your buildings remain compliant at all times.
2. Augmented Reality
AR allows you to observe your real-world surroundings with a digital overlay. AR technology can help smart buildings in a variety of ways, including during emergencies and outages. A maintenance expert, for example, could use AR-enabled glasses to read equipment manuals, warnings, installation dates, and troubleshooting recommendations.
3. Virtual Reality
The design and construction sectors have already adopted virtual reality as a beneficial tool during the mockup phase. Virtual reality-enabled mockups allow a client to see a proposed building as if they were truly there: Before any work begins, the client can walk around, inspect windows and staircases, and get a sense of the experience and flow of the finished structure. Virtual reality technology allows for dynamic quality checks, 3D internal design evaluation, and even virtual site visits, among other things. VR data can also be loaded and used for maintenance and upkeep in building management software. Several startups have already begun to experiment with virtual reality. If you wish to benefit, contact a leading smart building technology company.
4. Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence has a range of uses in smart buildings because of its easy integration with IoT sensors and devices. Such gadgets utilize deep learning to interpret objects and situations hierarchically, making adjustments based on learned user preferences or patterns.
An AI and IoT-enabled asset management system, for example, will detect irregularities in asset performance. With minimum human participation, AI-enabled Service Automation software predicts forthcoming maintenance and even analyses and approves work orders.
Also Read- Top Custom AI Real Estate Solutions that Every Business Must Have in 2023 and Beyond
5. Sensors
Electronic, infrared, thermal, and proximity sensors collect data subsequently evaluated by humans or artificial intelligence. Sensors may indeed be installed in a smart building to monitor electricity use, lighting, occupancy, temperature, etc.
6. Smart Analytics Software
The software that analyzes the data gathered by the sensors is an important smart building component. The software continuously analyses the extensive data provided by sensors and assists in the determination of corrective actions for issues including equipment degradation, inefficient schedules, and inadequate maintenance procedures.
7. Facial Recognition
Access control systems are rapidly adopting facial recognition as a functionality. Facial recognition is currently being used in most major airports as the core of their automatic immigration clearance systems, and business establishments are beginning to use it as a replacement for PINs and RFID cards.
8. Mobile Apps
Users can engage directly with their building via apps for mobile smartphones and tablets. Users may customize local space, lighting, and temperatures, reserve carparks or conference rooms, report damages, and more using the apps, which communicate with servers attached to the Building Management System, Parking Management System, and other subsystems.
Read More: IoT-Based Smart Parking System: A Complete Development Guide
9. Self-Registration Kiosks
Visitors to a building can use self-registration kiosks to record their arrival. For security checkpoint approval and lift access to their target floor, the visitor’s identity or identification is used. The method minimizes personnel at enrolling desks, saving the landlord money on operations and reducing visitor dissatisfaction.
As you’ve seen top technologies enabling smart building technology trends; now, let’s move forward and discuss,
Top Benefits of Smart Building Technology
In the market, there’re a number of smart building technology trends. Below are some of the benefits of smart building technology, as well as why they’re so important:
1. Improves Energy Consumption
Smart Buildings gather data from devices that continually regulate a building’s heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and lighting systems, offering advice and remedies to any potential operational concerns. Light switches that switch on and off at ideal times, or smart windows that lighten or darken based on sunshine intensity, are two examples of possible solutions.
2. Ensures Efficient Resource Management
Sensors and concealed cameras can share information about how efficiently a facility would be used in a safe manner. Smart devices can monitor and manage any issue, from vacant desk spaces and underutilized conference rooms to the temperature in the building, and make any necessary modifications.
Smart building data also gives crucial insights that may be used to improve resource planning and utilization, allowing you to gain a competitive edge. The utilization of location-based services can be quite advantageous to building personnel. Resource tracking, for example, will enable employees to follow the whereabouts of items such as waste paper bins and cleaning trolleys as they travel across a building. This technology can also assist with resource location, notifying tenants or visitors of nearby resources such as open workplaces, developments, or dining facilities.
3. Predictive Maintenance
Building maintenance consumes a large portion of the budget during the life cycle of any building. However, the addition of IoT sensors will assist building operators in collecting granular data that will provide correct insights into any technical issues that may arise. The insights derived from the collected data can assist structure inspectors in analyzing problems in real-time, providing prompt building maintenance services, and drastically lowering maintenance costs.
Apart, Buildings and workplaces have become managed properties thanks to digital twins and other technology. To get the most out of these investments, you can do proactive maintenance and asset care. With the help of custom IoT solutions, preventive maintenance becomes a key component of building management.
4. Offers Real-Time Insights
Among the most significant benefits of adopting a smart building solution is the ability to visualize improvements around the structure and make decisive decisions based on real-time data. Consider the following sort of situation:
- Smart sensors in buildings keep everyone safe by measuring and analyzing various issues such as fire alarms, office air quality, hazardous chemical detection in industrial buildings, and structural rigidity.
- Real-time occupancy, geolocation, and foot traffic data can be utilized to determine spatial utilization patterns, enabling space efficiency optimization and real-time layout reconfiguration of offices and retail locations.
5. Leads to Enhanced Productivity
Smart buildings are intended to provide a more pleasant environment for their occupants. Smart buildings have automated lighting, temperature, and air quality control that adjust to outside weather and staff needs. This automation has the potential to boost workplace happiness and, as a result, staff productivity. Furthermore, smart technology in the building can ensure that health and safety criteria are met cost-effectively.
6. Improves Security Standards
The security system can benefit from smart building technologies. You can even control, monitor, and secure your building using various devices and smart security technologies.
To secure your building, for example, you can consider installing door locks, cameras, and alarms. You can indeed integrate them with your other security systems once installed. In the event of an emergency, you can even streamline the processes. Your security system can provide information about the building. You can make smarter decisions by utilizing the building insights.
Moving ahead, let’s talk about,
Where can Smart Building Technology be Used?
Smart building platforms can be used for a range of reasons, from smart offices to building automation, control systems, and many more places like:-
1. Schools
Making classes more comfortable would undoubtedly improve student and instructor satisfaction, productivity, and performance. Schools can create an “intelligent” building by adding IoT sensors, intelligent gateways, people counters, actuators, cameras, utility meters, and solar panels, which improve visibility, security, and management while also introducing new financial savings potential.
The benefits of smart building technology for schools are:-
- Keep an eye on the temperature fluctuations
- Improve the safety of students
- Decreased usage of energy
- Keep an eye on the water management
2. Offices
Meeting rooms in many offices are already equipped with smart office technologies. Staff may book meeting spaces when they need them via a centralized booking system, which is then shown on smart screens outside each space.
With smart technology in buildings, companies can monitor how frequently their meeting rooms are used, filtered by meeting room or even time of day, which can have an impact on their overall office management tactics.
3. Retail Industry
Retail businesses require innovative approaches to stocking shelves, managing the store, and dealing with consumers. It’s simple to track the new product with the correct sensors, which, when combined with sales figures, can indicate when stock is running short and alert the nearest staff member to refill that area or request new deliveries.
Furthermore, smart technology in buildings can vary based on which objects receive the most attention and should be presented prominently, while an extremely advanced system can eliminate the need for human intervention.
Read More: Real Estate Software Development – Why do you need it?
4. Manufacturing Industry
The architecture and functionality of smart buildings can be used for a wide range of structures, including industries. As these technologies grow more digital and data is collected at a higher level, it’s natural that various ‘smart’ characteristics will emerge.
5. Healthcare Industry
Custom IoT solutions, smart technology in buildings, and automation, on the other hand, have given hospitals new chances to meet patient expectations while also increasing building connectivity. Schedule to turn off lights when not in use, adjust heating and cooling according to the needs of the patient, send cleaning messages, inform the specialist team about a medical device malfunction, and monitor every internal space. Hospitals will become smarter, more sustainable, and more active due to these benefits, energy savings, reliable building connectivity, and infrastructure optimization. Most significantly, smart hospitals will create an ideal environment where patients will feel more at ease, similar to how they do at home.
Conclusion
Smart buildings, without question, provide endless promise and opportunities in terms of offering both of these, as well as increased safety, security, and efficiency. More significantly, smart buildings will increase the flow of revenue for both building constructors and end-users. Businesses may experience significant ROI benefits and personalize services according to their wishes and budget by extracting value from smart building technology.
To achieve successful use of smart building technologies, experts and careful planning are required.
It would be best to collaborate with the right smart building technology companies, such as Matellio.
Matellio is a leading smart building technology solution that collects data and provides insights that building owners can use to enhance energy efficiency, cut expenses, and create healthier and better environments.
