Buildings and facilities have utilized various technologies to promote visitor comfort, security, and safety. The challenge is that these technologies are often siloed systems and need to provide a single view of the functioning building. New technologies can help overcome these challenges by consolidating everything from single devices and sensors to networks, protocols, and even storage and analytics systems into a single manageable view. Additionally, these technologies require protection and integration to provide the most value to building operators. Devising a smart building strategy can initially seem overwhelming when considering all these aspects, but it doesn’t have to be. Taking a step-by-step approach, engaging the right collaborators with adequate technical expertise and understanding of smart buildings enables all the moving parts to come together into a cohesive strategy.
Start with articulating your goals. Is the goal energy efficiency-related, or is the focus on creating a unique customer experience? What are the drivers for using each piece of new technology and having the facility maintain performance? Once you’ve defined your list of goals and KPIs, the easiest way forward is to plan the strategy in layers. Just as a building can have many levels and elevators to connect and communicate between floors, so should your approach.
So, where to begin?
- Device Level Think of the ground floor of your building strategy as the device level. Understand and take inventory of devices and identify any gaps. As you strategize, remember that your installation should link to your goals. A good place to start is with the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system. HVAC systems contribute to a large portion of the building’s energy consumption, so it pays to focus here. Security and surveillance, energy and utility metering, fire detection systems, elevators, lighting, access and control, and environmental monitoring are other vital systems for your strategy. A system integrator (SI) can help take stock of your existing devices and systems and assist with recommending communication with the next level – networking and integration.
- Networking and Integration Level Here the operational technology (OT) and IT worlds converge; hence your IT partner and SI must work together on a plan. They can best determine how to aggregate systems locally and install a gateway for communication with the data level.
- The Independent Data Level (IDL) Your data lake occurs here, storing the data from the building’s devices and systems long-term. The infrastructure at this level is generally cloud or control server orientated. Here, data models can be applied to help normalize your data across systems and devices, streamlining aggregation, access, and analysis. At this point, data becomes decipherable and actionable, contributing to increased uptime and the overall optimized running of the building.
- Application Level Now that you are data-rich, it is time to plan how to use your new-found wealth. Remember the goals you set earlier? They will now come into play. Here, you can track and measure those goals by deciding what data you want to use. Do you want better remote visibility or control of your systems? Do you want data pushed into an analytics platform, or do you prefer to run fault detection and diagnostics (FDD)? The list of options depends on what you want insight into now that you have the data to do it.
- The Right Partner Network Earlier, we mentioned the importance of a competent system integrator to help evaluate and deploy edge devices and IT experts to meet networking needs, consulting with them at each level of your smart building strategy. The right IDL providers will prioritize data standardization and interoperability, just like the appropriate application providers can leverage data to ensure they offer the right solution for your facility. They must collaborate and work to deliver the best solution in line with your strategy and goals.
Arrow works closely with system integrators (SIs), hardware, software, and service providers, including KMC, to deliver your smart building strategy on all levels. Our solutions include an advanced portfolio of edge devices and technologies and a trusted technology network to draw on. Find out more here.
