To fulfil our vision of a greener tomorrow, it is important that people and businesses fully embrace sustainable ways of living. Smart Green Building solutions are a vital part of this and are well-placed to take advantage of increasingly capable sensing, control and connectivity technology to meet current and future needs. However, as technology advances, it is important that the user experience remains at the forefront of system design. Indeed, many other areas of technology that have succeeded in combining advanced functionality with inherent ease of use (for example USB connectivity, Wi-Fi and smartphone apps) have had a profound impact.
This is one of the areas where designers and suppliers can really influence adoption of Smart Green Building solutions, helping to effect a cultural change where businesses and users consider it a part of everyday life.
Some of the factors which can help encourage adoption of smart green building systems include:
- Tangible Value – Supporting a diverse range of sensors and control devices for functions that provide true benefits to businesses, people and the environment
- Easy installation – Offering connectivity options which make the system easy to install, expandable and scalable
- Integration – Adopting a holistic approach where all devices share a common service/platform
- Ease of configuration – Creating user-friendly interfaces for set-up and maintenance
One example of evolving sensor technology is real-time occupancy detection, which is no longer the preserve of large complex installations. This has opened the door to a whole range of benefits for optimising the use of space and improving overall efficiency, as well as the potential for incorporating the data into smartphone apps to enhance occupant/visitor experience. Features such as energy and utility consumption monitoring also form key parts of the solution and can make a big impact to the building’s efficiency via control of devices to save power, as well as supporting the export of data for detailed analysis for ongoing improvement projects and for environmental compliance reporting.
With many existing buildings looking to retrofit and extend their systems, ease of installation is an important consideration. This can be influenced by factors such as the type of cabling used in wired protocols (for example the popular Modbus protocol) as well as ease of adding and relocating devices. Alongside the communication itself, one significant factor affecting the complexity of installation is the way in which the sensors are powered.
Designing the system around a common platform for connecting devices and storing/processing all sensing and control data brings enormous benefits for users compared to multiple independent systems. Users can monitor, configure and control all devices within the system from a single interface which reduces learning/training requirements and increases user appeal significantly. It also enables a much greater level of interaction and automation, with configurable reactions to sensed conditions via output controller devices. For example, whilst stand-alone air quality monitoring systems may sense air quality and react via control of ventilation systems, a fully integrated system can also incorporate hydroponic living wall systems with monitoring of the fluid and control of pumps to create even healthier, greener environments. A common platform also positions the system well for remote monitoring/control capabilities where all processing and data storage can be centralised in cloud-based services and accessed through one app or interface.
Much thought is often given to the monitoring and control aspects of the user interface, but configuration of the system is also an increasingly important factor in its useability. As systems cater more for expandability and interaction between devices, users need to be able to configure and re-configure the system more regularly as part of normal operation, as opposed to a one-off configuration during installation. By designing the system from the ground up to use intuitive graphical menus in place of code-based solutions, systems can then be configured by users (subject to user permissions) with minimal training and without relying on external contractors. The use of cloud-based processing also allows systems located in different sites to be administered and monitored as one complete system.
As one of the cornerstones of our move to greener living, it is an exciting and promising time for Smart Green Building technology. By succeeding in our quest to design systems for easy installation, configuration and use, we can help ensure widespread adoption and acceptance of this technology for a more sustainable future.
Industry Insights by: BRT Systems Pte Ltd
