We determine how smart a building will become in the future

Over the years, buildings have become increasingly smarter. More than 10 years ago, sensors in office buildings ensured that the lights were turned on, for example. But developments continue and the smart building of the future integrates data to become an autonomous building that can adapt itself to the needs of the user.  

“Consider, for example, regulating the energy needs of person A who likes to work in a room at twenty degrees,” says Paul de Backker, chairman of the Building Automation trade association, part of the FHI, Federation for Technology Industries. “An autonomous building learns to think along with its users and develops its own behavior. And by drawing up rules based on the large amount of data collected by sensors, that “virtual empathy” ability can continue to develop. While a few years ago we were surprised that the lights turned on automatically, we now expect that the room we have reserved will adjust the ventilation to the number of participants in that room. ”

“The sensors and other equipment in the building communicate with a Cloud, which collects this data and makes it suitable for sharing,” says Martin Hof, Sr. project manager at FHI. “By using this data, people can work optimally and safely in the building. The smart building offers a number of practical advantages, such as booking a workspace and saving energy by, for example, switching off the cooling and heating as soon as no one is left in a room. In addition to these practical benefits, it also contributes to the well-being of the user of the building. This way you can link the office to your smartphone so that when you arrive at the office it recognizes your preferences such as temperature and light strength and color. In addition, the building can be used much more efficiently. By using data, it can also be determined that a building part is no longer used, for example, and it can then be decided to disconnect the electricity/network/heating and thus reduce operational costs.”

“The Netherlands is at the forefront in Europe with regard to the acceptance and developments of smart buildings,” says De Backker. “Even before COVID-19, it was already clear that the way of working in the office and at home was changing. COVID-19 does accelerate the changes and required function of the building. The expectation is that the office will increasingly become a meeting place with more meters for meeting rooms at the expense of rooms with desks. A smart building can make this possible by providing insight into where there is sufficient capacity in the building to meet each other safely.”

Technologically speaking, everything is possible. The sky's the limit. “It depends on what is desired. How far do we allow something? For example, do we give the building access to our agenda so that it can see when a meeting room is required and whether there are too many people present at that time? It can also tell building users that it is not convenient to come to the building at a certain time, which in turn can reduce traffic jams and public transport visits and contribute to higher efficiency. A step further is purchasing less energy because a certain part of the building is used less. Or making excess energy available to nearby buildings, creating a stable micro grid. A step towards creating a smart city.”

“The smart building of the future has a “virtual empathy” capacity and, through data, ensures optimal, safe and sustainable building use,” Hof concludes. De Backker adds: “Where in the past the building had a number of rentable square meters, the building now becomes part of the team and ensures that building users can work as productively as possible in a sustainable and safe manner. To what extent we decide for ourselves.”

Also published in the financial newspaper on January 25, 2021