The potential for using AI in building management is immense: from achieving net-zero emission buildings and creating holistic views of estate performance, to optimizing assets and occupancy, predictive maintenance, and scheduling – AI promises to make the sector more performant.
Indeed, a plethora of smart products already exist for building management, with improvements waiting to happen in energy efficiency, environmental control, and asset management. However, as with any AI implementation, the underlying data layer is often lacking.
Without reliable sources of monitoring and control, building management systems don’t get access to the information they need. Missing data points can skew the virtual picture of facilities an AI might build. The data layer in connected, intelligent buildings is the bedrock on which innovation is built; getting the telemetry right is critically important.
The data layer as the utility layer
The availability and reliability of the ‘utility layer’ (where connected data flows) depends on the quality and longevity of a building’s connected assets, yet maintaining those assets can be costly and time-consuming. LoRaWAN technologies offer solutions that are cheap, long-lived, reliable, and highly connected.
LoRaWAN’s advantages include long-range data transmission and reception distances, immunity from RF interference, minimal power needs, and often no mandatory wiring. Built on open standards, hardware and software from UK vendors like Synetica and Concept13 provide building managers with the control and information flows needed for AI-powered data processing.
A solid and reliable utility layer, in concert with AI platforms, will be a required part of the next generation of smart facility management. The use of open standards extends the viability of IoT networks, avoiding vendor lock-in and preventing rising costs and disappearing options.
The UK advantage
LoRa equipment is known to be low-cost, but quality counts. Many facilities managers opt for the lowest-cost, grey imports of sensors and network hardware to keep costs down.
Concept13 establishes itself as a vendor that sources only the best components and equipment from reputable manufacturers in the US, UK, and EU. A prime example is the range of LoRaWAN environmental sensors from Synetica, which range from air quality sensors to asset and energy monitoring, and are fully standards-compliant (including WELL/RESET, MCERTS, IAQ-PLUS, etc.).
The AI-powered buildings of the future
The quality and reliability of devices from these companies provide managed buildings with the perfect foundation for smart, AI-enabled facility management systems. Reliability and data veracity provide long-distance data movements for control and monitoring stacks.
Equipped with a dependable utility layer, integrated software management systems (like Synetica’s enVision IoT Platform [PDF]) can create dashboards according to different stakeholders’ requirements, and the information drawn from multiple buildings forms the ‘business layer’ – faster decision-making, lower costs, better tenant experiences, and reduced waste. Information can be drawn from sensors and controllers on or around HVAC, security systems, lighting, heating, and environmental monitors.
The two companies help building managers collect and collate data from a broad range of LoRaWAN devices, and letting users analyse resource use and allocate their attention more effectively. Open standards mean options are open – LoRaWAN equipment and software is available from thousands of companies, and Concept13 helps provide guidance and knowledge all over the world.
With smart technologies such as digital twins and predictive maintenance, LoRaWAN networks from Concept13 that use open protocols feed the current and future AI-driven facility management systems.
You can see the equipment and software in person at the TechEx Global event, held at Olympia, London, February 4-5. The companies’ joint stand will be the place to plan and discuss how tomorrow’s built environment will be built and managed. If you’re not able to attend, you can contact Concept13 and Synetica to learn more.
(Image source: “Skyscraper” by yuukin is licensed under CC BY 2.0.)
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