How Smart is Your Building?

A "smart building" has become a common term in the energy efficiency and conservation industry. But, what exactly makes one building smarter than another? Is a new building smarter than an old building? Can an average building become smarter?

The Smart Buildings Institute, a non-profit organization in Austin that has developed a smart building certification process, provides a four-part definition of a smart building:

1. Provides actionable information regarding the performance of building systems and facilities.
2. Proactively monitors and detects errors or deficiencies in building systems.
3. Integrates systems to an enterprise business level for real-time reporting and management utilization of operations, energy and occupant comfort.
4. Incorporates the tools, technologies, resources and practices to contribute to energy conservation and environmental sustainability.

It seems that it takes a lot for a building to have smarts, the most important being automation  ̶  meaning a system(s) in place that makes things run smoothly. However, there is not one characteristic or component that makes a building smart, but rather it is a combination of technologies and skilled human management. While there are many measurements, we believe the best indicators of a building's performance are tenant comfort and the bottom line.

Give Your Building an I.Q. Test

To determine your building's intelligence, evaluate its performance in the following categories:

• Physical infrastructure
• Communication/data infrastructure
• Network and security
• System integration
• Energy management system
• HVAC
• Electrical
• Lighting controls
• Access control
• Audio and visual system
• Video surveillance
• Water usage monitoring
• Fire alarm
• Metering
• Wireless systems

Common myths about smart buildings are that they are more expensive, too complicated to operate, and can only be new buildings  ̶  all of which are false. Like smart people, smart buildings are innovative, productive, efficient and adept at avoiding failure. This translates into reduced costs, improved operations and greater tenant productivity. What grade does your building deserve?