Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1472963
38 I ICT TODAY Smart buildings and the Internet of Things (IoT) are two of the hottest topics in business today. The possibilities they offer in terms of productivity, efficiency, comfort, savings, health, and employee attraction and retention should not be overlooked. Many times, however, these smart building discussions have not expanded beyond simple marketing messages that tout the benefits of smart buildings without explaining what it takes to bring them to life. At minimum, a smart building integrates systems that can gather and evaluate environmental and systems data to assess condition and performance. A simple internet connection is not what makes a building or system "smart." Instead, it is about data collection, analysis and, ultimately, action. For example, a smart heating system collects information about indoor and outdoor temperatures and communicates this data to smart thermostats that can adjust automatically based on what this data indicates. These actions must be value-based decisions to optimize performance, however performance is defined in a specific project. For example, in some cases, it may not be all about resource efficiency. In the case of a hospital, prioritizing lighting and heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) costs over patient outcomes would not make sense. The analysis will need to be driven by artificial intelligence (AI), and AI models will need to evolve to include the context, experience, and wisdom required to make qualitative and quantitative value-based judgements. To create a true smart building, issues of practicality must be considered. Every building is at a different stage in its life cycle. Constructing a new smart building with emerging technology involves a completely different set of considerations than a decades-old building that requires extensive renovation and involves existing technologies in various life cycle stages. 7 Considerations for Practical Greenfield and Brownfield Smart Building Design By Henry Franc, RCDD, OSP, CDCDP