Over decades, smart building technologies have reformed the technique in which several areas of facilities management have occurred. From the foundation and development of Building Information Modelling (BIM) to advancements in AI, facilities managers have more handy tips than ever before.
This article will guide you through several smart building technologies that have shared the facility management sector. Before that, let’s understand more about smart buildings.
Smart Building Definition
A smart building is a facility that uses advanced technology, automation, and data analysis to optimize its operations, enhance its occupants’ comfort and productivity, and reduce its environmental impact.
Smart buildings leverage the Internet of Things (IoT), sensors, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and other technologies to enable real-time monitoring and control of various building systems, such as lighting, HVAC, security, and energy management.
They also use data analytics to optimize energy consumption, occupancy patterns, and space utilization, resulting in improved operational efficiency, cost savings, and sustainability. The goal of a smart building is to create a safe, healthy, and comfortable environment for its occupants while minimizing its environmental footprint.
Types of Smart Building Technologies
- Virtual reality (VR): It enables walkthroughs within a space, allows facility managers to identify potential issues more easily, and helps better visualize space assets and layouts. They are useful in both pre and post-construction.
It helps facility managers identify potential problematic sectors from an operational perspective. Allowing facility managers to effectively associate the data they are being fed with the asset in question.
- Internet of Things (IoT): The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to a network of physical devices, vehicles, home appliances, and other items that are embedded with sensors, software, and connectivity, allowing them to connect and exchange data over the internet. These devices can range from simple sensors to complex machines and systems, and they are designed to communicate with each other and with other internet-enabled devices to perform various tasks.
The IoT allows for the automation and monitoring of various processes, making them more efficient and cost-effective. For example, a smart thermostat in a home can adjust the temperature based on the homeowner’s schedule and preferences, while a smart factory can optimize production processes to reduce waste and increase productivity.
- Artificial intelligence and machine learning: Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think and learn like humans. Machine learning (ML) is a subset of AI that involves the use of algorithms and statistical models to enable machines to learn from data and improve their performance on a specific task over time.
They are being used in various industries, such as healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and transportation, to improve operations and provide better products and services.
- Building information modeling (BIM): It encompasses a 3D environment that helps professionals (across all levels of the construction lifestyle, from design through to operation) work more effectively and decrease costs. BIM uses a centralized data structure using which everything can be carried out. This helps in operations and decreases the risk of duplicate work, mistakes, and unsolicited discrepancies.
For facility management, BIM is being used to enhance safety modeling, expedite general maintenance and fault repairs, increase cost savings, and provide greater overall visibility over a facility with all the pertinent data housed in one easy-to-access location.
- Augmented reality (AR): It generally comes under the category of “virtual reality”. But overall, they are distinct technologies. Virtual reality is defined as the creation of an entirely, simulated unit, AR includes the existing space and overlays it with simulated assets.
In context to facility management, AR is currently the more useful, practical software application, It has various applications within this sector such as:
- Tours to assist the marketing team
- Provides facility managers a quicker, clearer overview of repairs and faults
- Internal wayfinding and navigation
- Cloud computing: It refers to data being stored in “the cloud” as opposed to on a facility’s premises. The advantage of Software as a Service (SaaS) to facility managers is that they can access building data remotely instead of having to be on-site. Cloud-based software offers cost savings against outdated facility management software for facility managers.
- Biometric security systems: Biometric security systems are authentication technologies that use unique physical or behavioral characteristics to verify a person’s identity. These characteristics may include fingerprints, facial features, iris or retina patterns, voiceprints, and even the way a person walks or types on a keyboard.
Biometric security systems offer a higher level of security than traditional authentication methods such as passwords, which can be easily compromised. Since biometric characteristics are unique to each individual, it is extremely difficult for someone to impersonate or hack into a system that uses biometric authentication.
Conclusion
Smart building technologies help facility managers to run their buildings with a greater level of control, ease, and predictability than ever.
