Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1081695
10 I ICT TODAY FIGURE 4: An IP networked control system, a foundational element of an advanced intelligent building. Customized apps can enable occupants to participate in the sustainability of their building through their smartphones or via public information displays. There are additional, powerful benefits to consider since the technology in an IB enables the building systems to respond to the occupants. Where a business's labor cost outweighs operational costs, reduced turnover as a result of improved employee comfort can occur. For real estate owners/ developers, when tenants are more comfortable and systems are more flexible, churn and building vacancies can be reduced. Therefore, it is important to look beyond solutions that simply enhance energy savings or provide operational efficiencies. DEFINING SYSTEMS AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE INTELLIGENT BUILDING DESIGN Though an ICT professional may not be responsible for all the integrated systems in an IB, they often have insight to advanced features other design team members may not have considered. With traditional ICT deployment, the network already integrates with many of the building systems, although to a lesser degree than in an IB. This positions ICT professionals well to encourage discussion beyond the limited realm of operational efficiencies. Even if little integration is desired in the building day one, infrastructure, with its long lifespan, should be positioned to enable future connections between the building systems. It is desirable to accommodate growth of building intelligence with supplementation of, rather than major modifications to, the infrastructure. In the early stages of building planning, specific systems selections are not necessarily critical decisions. However, it is very important to consider the multitude of user groups along with their perspectives and expectations of relevant systems. The value of intelligently connected systems is the ability to gain insights not only to immediate building problems, but also to workflows, system patterns, overall space utilization and much more. Of course, unused data intelligence has little worth, so the software and systems that aggregate and report on various data points become critical elements of the system design process. Start thinking and asking questions about how different types of building systems might be capable of serving different user needs and whether that information or data was represented alongside of other system information. To this point, ICT designers must carefully evaluate how data is captured, stored and moved around a building's networks. Closed systems that hold data "hostage" in proprietary formats should be avoided, if possible. Consider audiovisual (AV) control systems that provided some of the earliest elements of multiple building systems integration. Initially providing control of lighting shades and thermostats, today's IP networked AV systems are a tremendous leap forward and must be considered by ICT designers as a foundational element of an advanced IB (Figure 4). These systems are not only deployed in a manner that encourage interaction with the users through rich sensory experiences, but they also capture valuable data elements, such as device and space utilization. They also