Integrated building control and the question for the intelligent building

Citation

(1998), "Integrated building control and the question for the intelligent building", Facilities, Vol. 16 No. 7/8. https://doi.org/10.1108/f.1998.06916gab.006

Integrated building control and the question for the intelligent building

Integrated building control and the question for the intelligent building

Keywords Integrated building control, Intelligent buildings

Providing owners, occupiers and facilities managers with better control over the environmental spaces in buildings is a major quest for the building services industry. The difficulty is that the "intelligent building", like any holy grail, represents different things for different people. Whether the end-user is a commercial organisation, a major retailer or a local housing authority, they do not want someone else's idea of building services bliss. They want the means to satisfy their own specific requirements and to be able to implement changes as and when they wish.

The Integrated Building Controls (IBC) project, led by Taywood Engineering, intends to provide that means. "Traditional building services management systems are not designed to provide the solutions to end-user problems", explains project manager Ken Perry. "Building owners and operators want to be able to manage their resources efficiently, but their needs are very different. Office buildings, shopping centres and leisure complexes need to reconfigure services easily to accommodate changes in area layouts and usage, whereas a local authority's priority may be the provision of individual environmental controls and alarm monitoring systems in satellite premises or sheltered accommodation."

However, the development of technologies to provide products and systems in the past has been sector-led, with individual manufacturers marketing "vendor specific" solutions. Although sophisticated in nature, these systems do not in themselves address the wider client issues. According to IBC project findings, the main limitation of "vendor specific" stand-alone building management systems is the lack of compatibility between different manufacturers' products which places restrictions on customer choice and system flexibility.

As Ken Perry points out: "End-user clients are increasingly demanding greater standardisation, lower installation costs and shorter installation times, greater flexibility in the use of available space and simplified maintenance in their buildings. The benefits of integration between the various building services installations in meeting these demands are clear."

IBC: Phase I

With Government funding, Phase I of the IBC project successfully established a live installation as far back as 1995 to demonstrate how integration could work. The controls associated with a number of lighting, heating, security access, CCTV and fire alarm systems were shown working together around the concept of a common communication language, even though they were developed independently by different manufacturers. This ability to communicate and share data between different products and systems is termed "interoperability".

IBC: Phase II

Having proved that the technology worked, the project moved on to its present phase, where it is examining current product developments, studying market requirements and identifying the barriers preventing exploitation of a truly open systems technology.

Whereas interoperability allows products using different protocols to share information, all equipment and devices in an open system network use the same protocol, or language, to transmit messages and data. This protocol is known and available to all, from product manufacturers to systems installers. Once the open system concept is adopted, the ability lot devices to communicate on a "peer to peer" basis becomes a reality.

For example, an occupation/presence detector within a location picks up a movement and sends the appropriate message onto the network. This message will be seen and understood by all the devices on the network. Depending on the user's requirements, the message could cause the lighting and the HVAC systems in the area to react to a preset plan. If outside normal opening hours, the same message could cause the a security monitoring panel to register the movement as an alarm.

All this is achievable using a single sensor and without the need for routeing via system-specific controllers or gateway devices. Consequently this technology provides the end-user with the opportunity to reduce the number of monitoring devices and associated wiring that he/she has to purchase, allows him/her to decide what devices are logically linked together to meet a particular operating strategy, and allows changes to that strategy without having to resort to physical changes to device wiring arrangements.

As part of IBC Phase II Taywood Engineering and research partners EA Technology and Echelon (Europe) Limited, with the support of 13 manufacturers, have brought together over 30 different interoperable products which communicate over a single, open system using a combination of hard wiring and radio waves. Links to Ethernet systems and other external communication systems such as the World Wide Web are currently being engineered.

IBC in the future

The evidence to date is that, while the technological solutions to integration of the full range of building services is proceeding and many new products are available, it is the marketplace that will drive the concept forward. This will only be achieved through greater understanding of the relevant technologies, adequate choice and availability of integratable products and an adequate skill base within the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance sectors of the supply chain.

The IBC project aims to address some of these issues through its encouragement of product designers and manufacturers to develop products and through the demonstration of the technology to public and private sector clients, manufacturers, regulators, specifiers, specialist contractors and other influential groups. Anyone wishing to arrange a demonstration of the technology should contact IBC manager Ken Perry by fax: 0181 575 4547; or e-mail: ken.perry@taywood.co.uk

Dissemination of information through seminars and the publication of a guide on the practical and potential benefits of system integration, along with a set of practical guidelines on integrated system architecture and working standards, is also planned during 1998.

For further information, please contact Alison Jones. Tel: 01494 775213.