A Smart Building is only as Smart as its Converged Network
By Chris Dyke, Sales Director UK & Ireland, Allied Telesis
Along with changes in how we use real estate, our buildings are being called on to do more for us. Flexibility for tenants, comfort for employees, protection of assets, and safety for everyone are front and centre. The fact that they can provide all those things, and more, whilst saving 30% on operating costs makes investing in smart buildings an attractive option. The benefits to landlords are tenant satisfaction, employee retention, increased building lifespan, and maximizing use and occupancy. Add in the fact that smart buildings are necessary for reducing or eliminating greenhouse emissions, and the case for smart buildings is solid.
According to Gartner, $53 Billion was spent on IoT expenditures in smart buildings in 2020 and is expected to reach $108 Billion by 2030. So, it’s worth examining the drivers behind the development of smart buildings and recognising that there is a common denominator that underpins them all, which is that to make a building really smart it needs to have a smart network.
RIO for landlords
According to research, renters are willing to pay 20% more on average to occupy a smart building. Energy efficient buildings also sell for 17% more than standard building stock, generate 35% more rental income, and have 18% higher occupancy rates.
Flexibility to allow changes, the ability to accommodate personal preferences and to monitor for individual health and workplace security are all reasons why tenants remain for longer.
A smart building should be able to control and optimise many systems, such as: Air quality & temperature, lighting and space management (to a local level), fire and security, energy and waste management, communications and IT as well as a raft of other technologies. All of these systems are now becoming “IP enabled” so this can be achieved over a network.
It’s important to note that these benefits can be achieved in both a new building but also embedded into an existing one. Retrofitting existing buildings increases return on investment with payback taking less than two years and delivering 25% energy savings annually.
Converged networks
If IT and OT had a child, it would be called IoT. The Internet of Things brings unprecedented abilities to both Information Technology and Operational Technology, and the line between them is blurring. The convergence of IT and OT onto a single IP network is driving a further convergence of Facilities Management and Property Management.
To make a building really smart it should have a centralised Building Management System (BMS) made up of IT and OT over a single converged IP network. Running a BMS turns ceiling light fixtures into IoT products, which means that a failed light panel doesn’t have to be reported to OT or a Facilities Manager. Instead, if the panel experiences a problem, it is reported directly to the BMS. If the panel fails altogether, SNMP monitoring by the IT department will flag the loss of communication and notify the appropriate personnel to investigate. Such reporting can extend right back to a vendor for products under onsite repair/replace warranties. These instant notifications reduce downtime and the financial impact that usually follows.
John Dente, founder of OnnecIQ, a pioneer in smart building integration, comments that: “The benefits of data flowing across a converged network are that it can easily be presented to a single pane of glass dashboard, allowing intelligent rule-based changes to a building’s settings as well as allowing predictive maintenance decisions to be made from real-world live data. This has a major benefit in smart enabled buildings as integrations between systems are predominately made at the network level.”
Security first
Placing hundreds (if not thousands) of devices in a smart building on a network exposes them to attack. However, IT is experienced in keeping its network safe, so a converged IP network is well protected even though it is accessible to all building and business systems. Look for a specialist converged IP network for smart buildings with a network security system that watches for unusual activity such as repeated failed user logins, user logins at unusual terminals or devices, unusual user movements, data leaks, and unusual network activity. The best security controllers can isolate the resources in real-time, giving IT or management time to investigate and remediate.
The intelligent services that make a building smart, such as flexibility for heating and lighting, access control, security, and more, require 24/7 connectivity to the BMS to ensure operational efficiency and provide the best possible user experience. A converged data network that delivers a wealth of information reliably from the many end devices and systems to the BMS is essential for optimal building performance. Look for a network partner experienced in providing secure resilient, always-on networks that underpin smart building operations.