Smart buildings

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SMARTER

SMART BUILDINGS DON’T JUST CREATE MORE COMFORTABLE, SAFE AND PRODUCTIVE ENVIRONMENTS, THEY ALSO SAVE MONEY. INNOVATION IRELAND REVIEW TALKS TO JOE WALSH AT SIEMENS TO FIND OUT WHY INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS ARE A SMART IDEA.

It seems that everything is ‘smart’ these days. We wear smartwatches to monitor our exercise levels, we watch our favourite shows on a smart TV and we do almost everything on our smartphone. But what do we mean when we talk about smart buildings? It’s a question without a simple answer, says Joe Walsh, General Manager at Siemens Limited. Technology in buildings is continuously evolving and innovating and the pace of that innovation has ramped up in recent years. Advancements like IoT, digital twins, smart centres and energy efficient products are all terms associated with smart buildings, but they can have different meanings for different building types. “It’s difficult to define what a smart building is, as they differ quite dramatically depending on the application. In a general sense, a smart building uses the most recent technology to ensure a building is fit for purpose throughout its lifecycle. That technology will depend on the type of building it is and what it’s being used for.”

Building owners in Ireland are spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing products and systems that help make a building truly smart. The Smart Buildings team at EY provide solutions that allow owners and operators better understand occupant needs and behaviours, with the goal of enhancing wellbeing and productivity while saving operational costs and increasing building efficiency. EU initiatives to smarten up our buildings are also transforming our built environment; Cork’s participation in GrowSmarter, an EU initiative to transform cities across Europe, is making the city smarter and more sustainable.

Siemens is at the forefront of this kind of technology across the globe, providing systems that create safe, secure and efficient buildings. Whether it’s fire safety, digital services, security, building or energy automation, Siemens has the capability to create bespoke systems that address the customer’s every requirement. Those requirements are diverse and so the solutions that Siemens provides are similarly broad-ranging. “We encourage our customers to view our portfolio like an à la carte menu and to pick and choose the solutions that best suit them. To give an example, we provide a range of extensive smart lighting systems, including our Enlighted IoT solution which adds to our core portfolio with intelligent lighting sensors. These systems save energy, but also collect data to give the user lots of information about the building – the number of people within it and where

Joe Walsh, General Manager, Siemens Limited.

exactly those people are in the building at any given time. So, a customer can opt for some features while discarding others.”

The recent acquisition of EcoDomus’ digital twin software will, says Joe, advance the company’s smart building offering. Ecodomus software creates, maintains and visualises Building Information Modelling (BIM)-based digital building twins, making design and construction data available for building operations and maintenance. Cloud services from Siemens allows an owner or operator to interact with the building systems remotely. “Ten years ago, I would send somebody to a building to fix a fault. Maybe he’d arrive without the right spare part. Today, he can investigate the fault within that building from his house or from his office and if the issue can’t be resolved remotely, then at least he can arrive at the building with the spare part he needs. With cloud services from Siemens, we’re moving away from reactive maintenance to predictive maintenance.”

Cybersecurity is something businesses can’t afford to neglect, particularly in a post-Covid environment where remote working and digital technology play such a major role. It’s a service that Siemens also provides. “To limit the threat to security, smart building technologies have “To limit the threat to security, smart building technologies have to address both physical and cybersecurity risks. It’s essential that digital networks are safeguarded with firewalls and data encryption.”

the smartest buildings in the world

The Edge in Amsterdam

Hailed as one of the smartest buildings by Bloomberg and RCR Wireless News, the building is equipped with some 28,000 sensors. Its main tenant, Deloitte, uses the data to adapt how the building functions based on how the employees within it work, shutting down sections of the building that are not in use to conserve energy. The building also keeps a schedule for employees, giving them instructions of where to go to ensure they are at the right place at the right time. Workers can use smartphones to interact with the building, using an app to locate colleagues, adjust the temperature or schedule when they can work out in the building’s gym. Also worth noting is the fact that the structure produces more energy than it uses. The Building Research Establishment determined the structure to be the world’s most sustainable.

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Tottenham partnered with LG to equip the stadium with advanced TVs and signs and HPE to outfit the building with networking. The stadium boasts more than 1,600 WiFi access points to support free wireless access to the 62,062 fans who can fit in the stadium when it is full. 700 Bluetooth beacons work with a smartphone app to help fans navigate their way to restaurants, stores, bars and other locations in the stadium. The same beacon technology measures fan occupancy data to help redirect fans waiting in a long line for a restroom to a shorter one. The stadium’s core wired network infrastructure supports services such as building management systems, audio-visual data and closedcircuit TV feeds. The stadium also features a retractable pitch developed by the Sheffield-based engineering firm SCX, making it possible to switch in roughly 25 minutes from a grass-based field for Tottenham Spurs games to artificial turf for NFL American football matches and other types of events.

Allianz Arena

Nicknamed Schlauchboot (inflatable boat in German), the arena’s exterior can change colour like a chameleon, turning green for St Patrick’s Day, for instance. A digital control system can modify more than 300,000 lights. But the most impressive technology lives within. The facility uses an array of sensors and cloud-based analytics on Siemens’ MindSphere platform to keep track of the health of the grass on the field and to make recommendations. For instance, if the temperature is too cold, the system kicks on a heater. If the turf is too dry, it will irrigate at the most optimal moment. Also related to the stadium, Siemens hooked up with the Economist Group to use acoustic cameras with sound mapping software to study how fans respond to key moments of games. The software can create 3-D models to help quantify fans’ reactions to the game.

to address both physical and cybersecurity risks. It’s essential that digital networks are safeguarded with firewalls and data encryption. We offer cybersecurity systems through our consultancy service, along with an energy consulting service, primarily for commercial businesses.” Energy consulting involves carrying out an energy audit of a building and specifying products that will, for example, turn on and off by themselves depending on occupancy. “We also supply products that can break down the energy of a building per floor, allowing for collection of data. That information can then be used to take the energy efficiency of that building to the next level. Quite often, it’s marginal changes that really make a difference to the long-term sustainability of a building. As I mentioned, we really do offer an à la carte menu to customers; our job is to figure out what best suits their application.”

Buildings aren’t smart if they’re not sustainable, but sustainability must be factored in from the planning stage, says Joe. “We provide transparency and control over energy and sustainability, with improved performance predictability and demonstrable results, so it’s easy to attain the necessary improvement to meet sustainability targets.”

Siemens’ ability to innovate is, says Joe, in the company’s DNA. Developing innovative products that make a building ‘smart’ for customers, who are becoming increasingly savvy when it comes to sustainability, is where the company excels. “Smart buildings provide customers with a fantastic opportunity, but I think it’s important to remember that they’re complicated. If you really want to be smart about it, you’ve got to ask yourself some key questions. What am I trying to achieve? Who’s going to help me on that journey? Once you start asking yourself those questions, you’re a step closer to realising your ambition of running a building that’s truly smart.”

Sheraton Los Angeles San Gabriel

From the outside, this brand-new 288-room hotel may look conventional, but it is home to a number of robots that are part of a package of innovative amenities. There are even robots to guide you around the lobby. If you want to go, for instance, to the hotel’s steakhouse, the robot can not only show you the way but also trigger the steakhouse doors to open. There are robots to carry your luggage to your room as well as robots for room service. The robots are equipped with sensors to prevent them from crashing into unsuspecting guests. The hotel is the first in the United States to host such robots.

The Salesforce Tower

The Salesforce Tower isn’t just the tallest building in the San Francisco skyline. It also uses a variety of smart building technologies including digital twins that help understand the use of space, modelling, for instance, how conference rooms are used. Targeting LEED Platinum status, the building also makes use of a smart HVAC system and water recycling. The building makes leverages sunshades and a glazed façade to cut heat from the sun. The building has a converged network with VOIP, WAN, LAN and high-density WiFi.

Apple Park

Apple Park’s circular $5 billion building may not have received universal acclaim from architects, but the building is one of the most energy-efficient structures internationally. Powered entirely by renewable energy, the solar panels on the roof of the structure produce 17 megawatts of energy — one of the biggest totals of any solar roof. The natural ventilation uses flaps and sensors to circulate air and measure where from and how much the wind is blowing. Furthermore, tubes of water have been placed within the concrete floors and ceilings to help keep the temperature in a comfortable middle ground. All of this is done to prevent the central heating and cooling system from kicking in, which are only reserved for the most extreme temperatures.