BBB Review: Building-related technology in other times

Bits, Bricks & Behaviour, like many other FHI events, got an online edition this (corona) year. With sessions spread over five days, current themes within the Building Automation sector were discussed. The week full of interactive seminars, with a large part of the sessions streamed from our own studio, attracted more than 450 visitors.

By: Dimitri Reijerman

The week started with the theme of healthcare buildings. The topic of COVID-19 was immediately discussed, because good ventilation plays an important role in preventing corona infections. Other topics that were discussed on Monday were assisted living and the role that automation can play in this, open systems in healthcare and a number of innovative projects.

During the theme 'universities and institutes' on Tuesday, ventilation was again discussed with a presentation on the ventilation master plan and the contribution that building management systems can make. The optimal use of school buildings in 2021 was also discussed as a corona-related topic. Other developments, such as BIM (building information model) received attention in a case at Windesheim.

On the third day, government buildings were the focus. An online panel discussed the 'hip' topic of blockchain. The possibilities that self powered IoT devices proved to be interesting for the visitors. As a conclusion to Wednesday, the lecture by Jeroen Kasbergen, who works for the Digital Trust Center and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate, attracted a lot of attention. In his presentation, Kasbergen highlighted the difference between cyber security in IT and OT environments.

'Office and Business Buildings', the overarching theme of Thursday, also contained a lot of current information for the target group. The case of the field lab at the Johan Cruijff ArenA dealt with the use and necessity of good wireless facilities. The topic of sustainability came up during the presentation of how the combination of algorithms and thermal buffering can help with the energy transition.

On Friday, the themes of artificial intelligence and cyber security were also discussed. For example, Mark Booster of Xomia provided insight into how AI can play a role in the market for building automation. Booster focused in particular on the building blocks, such as collecting sufficient big data to enable data science. The 'cyber security battle' between Daan Keuper of Computest and Tim de Grouw of Kuijpers also attracted the attention of BBB visitors, partly because attention to security was not always self-evident within the field.