SMART TECHNOLOGY
Smart campus Better outcomes for students from smart buildings by Jonathan Pokorny, Business Development Manager, Siemens
S
tudents work and live in an eclectic mix of buildings; from the venerable, centuries old to the ultramodern and everything in between, often on the same campus. The question must be asked whether the buildings have an impact on the student experience, enjoyment and academic achievement? The answer is an emphatic yes! Old or new, campuses need to get smart to serve their student population effectively and economically. Buildings old or new can become ‘Smart’ Buildings that interact with people, systems and external
22 | CAMPUS | Winter 2020
elements around them. Learning from real-time inputs, they can adapt to the needs of the people within them to improve the safety, learning environment and comfort of students and staff. At the same time, they can increase efficiency and resilience. Toxic air At a practical level, for example, air quality in old draughty buildings may be better than that in modern “hermetically sealed” ones. As we breathe in, we inhale about 400 parts per million (ppm) of CO2, when we breathe out we exhale 40,000 CO2 ppm; it’s not surprising
that CO2 concentrations in seminar rooms or lecture theatres, where population density is higher, often rise far beyond the acceptable level of 1,000ppm. If the CO2 in the room increases to 2,500 ppm and beyond, which is not uncommon, our ability to use information drops by 60% and our initiative crashes by 95%. Opening the window, particularly if near a main road or city centre, may just exacerbate the problem by introducing polluted outdoor air. As if this were not enough, when the room is heated in winter (increased by body heat output at around 90 watts per person) the
