Intelligent Buildings and Building Automation

Shengwei Wang

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2009
• eBook ISBN: 9781134025091
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Construction & Architectural Engineering
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Giving you a combination of general principles, applied practice and information on the state-of-the-art, this book will give you the information you need to incorporate the latest systems and technologies into your building projects. It focuses on a number of important issues, such as:

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• Network communication protocols and standards, including the application of the internet.

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• The integration and interfacing of building automation subsystems and multiple building systems.

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• Local and supervisory control strategies for typical building services systems.

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• The automation system configuration and technologies for air-conditioning control, lighting system control, security and access control, and fire safety control.

Whether you're a project manager or engineer planning the systems set-up for a high value building, or a building engineering or management student looking for a practical guide to automation and intelligent systems, this book provides a valuable introduction and overview.

1 Introduction to intelligent buildings

1.1 Definitions of intelligent building

The concept of intelligent building (IB) has received increasing attention over the last two decades, as various intelligent buildings and IB technologies have been developed and people have come to understand IBs. Many definitions have been suggested during this period, but as the building industry and information technology develop, what an IB contains is changing too.

It is difficult to formulate a unique conception of IBs and no single definition is accepted worldwide. However, it is not necessarily important to have a standard definition of IB, although it is vital to have a clear understanding of what different people are talking about when this terminology is used. Different countries and regions and different disciplines may have diverse preferences and different IB concepts may predominate. However, the approaches to defining an IB can be grouped into three categories as listed below:

1. performance-based definitions;
2. services-based definitions;
3. system-based definitions.

Some definitions representative of these categories are discussed in the following sections, which will help readers gain a general understanding of Ibs.

1.1.1 Performance-based definitions

Performance-based definitions define IBs by stating what performances a building should have. A typical performance-based IB definition may be that of the European Intelligent Building Group (EIBG). EIBG (located in the United Kingdom) defines an IB as a building created to give its users the most efficient environment; at the same time, the building utilizes and manages resources efficiently and minimizes the life costs of hardware and facilities.

Another example of a performance-based definition is that given by the Intelligent Building Institute (IBI) in the United States, which states that an IB provides a highly efficient, comfortable and convenient environment by satisfying four fundamental demands: structure, system, service and management, and optimizing their interrelationship.

Performance- based IB definitions emphasize building performance and the demands of users rather than the technologies or systems provided. According to this category of definition, owners and developers of buildings need to understand correctly what kind of buildings they want and also how to satisfy continuously the increasing demands of users. Energy and environmental performances of buildings are certainly among the important issues of an IB. An intelligent building should also adapt itself quickly in response to internal and external conditions, and to meet the changing demands of users.

1.1.2 Services-based definitions

Services-based definitions describe IBs from the viewpoint of services and/or quality of services provided by buildings. The Japanese Intelligent Building Institute (JIBI) provides an example of a services-based definition: an IB is a building with the service functions of communication, office automation and building automation, and is convenient for intelligent activities. Services to users are emphasized. The key issues of IBs in Japan focus on the following four services aspects:

1. serving as a locus for receiving and transmitting information and supporting efficient management;
2. ensuring satisfaction and convenience of persons working inside;
3. rationalization of building management to provide more attractive administrative services at lower cost;
4. fast, flexible and economical responses to the changing sociological environment, diverse and complex working demands and active business strategies.

1.1.3 System-based definitions

System-based IB definitions describe IBs by directly addressing the technologies and technology systems that IBs should include. A typical system-based IB definition is the one suggested in the Chinese IB Design Standard (GB/ T50314–2000), which states that IBs provide building automation, office automation and communication network systems, and an optimal composition integrates the structure, system, service and management, providing the building with high efficiency, comfort, convenience and safety to users.

A more straightforward system- based IB definition has been used by some professionals and developers in practice. It labels the IBs as ‘3A’, which represents building automation (BA), communication automation (CA) and office automation (OA).

1.1.4 How to make a building intelligent in reality

With so many different definitions of, and views on, intelligent buildings, it is difficult to suggest a unique and definitive description of IBs. It is also not particularly necessary. Readers do not need to worry about what IB definition we should have; rather, there is one important question we should ask ourselves: how do we make a building intelligent in reality? This is a definite goal of IBs, and trying to answer the question will help us to have a better understanding of the contents of Ibs.

Readers may appreciate that buildings which can be considered as intelligent or smart might not necessarily have technology systems, as there have been buildings constructed even long ago that provided rather smart functions. Readers may also agree that a building fully equipped with technology systems might not be intelligent in reality if the systems cannot be coordinated or they do not function properly.

However, in the context of the modern building environment, it is obvious that intelligent buildings cannot exist without involving technology systems, especially information technology (IT) systems. But having those technology systems is not enough to make a building an intelligent one. Furthermore, the technology systems should be correctly configured and properly integrated with each other and with the building facilities. The system functions should be appropriately customized to meet user requirements and to provide the expected performance of intelligent buildings.

Finally, the technology systems, including their integration and interoperation, should be properly commissioned and maintained to ensure they function as expected. Besides the system hardware and software, the application software, including that for facility automation and control, optimization and management, should be customized and commissioned appropriately. A building may have technology systems, but if they are not working correctly it will not make the building intelligent in reality. Instead, the technology systems may create headaches for operators and users.

IBs are interdisciplinary and involve multi-industrial system engineering. They require the right combination of architecture, structure, environment, building services, information technology, automation and facility management. In addition, IBs are also strongly related to economic and cultural aspects.

The definitions and concepts discussed in this section are mainly from the viewpoint of building facility systems. In fact, professionals from different building sectors also have different views on the concept and contents of intelligent buildings. In the following section, some views of architects and structural engineers are discussed.

1.2 Intelligent architecture and structure

Although the successful use of advanced technologies, including IT, is the main feature of intelligent buildings, the implementation of technologies should not be the sole objective of IBs. Performance is definitely a key objective of intelligent buildings, although performance can be interpreted very differently as discussed above. As regards the hardware facilities, intelligent buildings cannot be separated from the architecture design, building façades and materials, which are among the essential elements of intelligent buildings.

1.2.1 Intelligent architecture

Intelligent architecture refers to built forms whose integrated systems are capable of anticipating and responding to phenomena, whether internal or external, that affect the performance of the building and its occupants. Intelligent architecture relates to three distinct areas of concern:

1. intelligent design;
2. appropriate use of intelligent technology;
3. intelligent use and maintenance of buildings.

Intelligent design requires that the building design responds to humanistic, cultural and contextual issues; that it exhibits simultaneous concern for economic, political and global issues; and that it produces an artificial enclosure which exists in harmony with nature. Existing in harmony with nature includes responding to the physical laws of nature and the proper use of natural resources.

Appropriate use of intelligent technology. The mere availability of a large variety of smart materials and intelligent technologies often results in their use in inappropriate situations. Integrating intelligent technologies with an intelligent built form that responds to the inherent cultural preferences of the occupants is a central theme in intelligent architecture. As an example, in areas where people place a high premium on operable windows for conservation of electricity, the most appropriate and efficient air-conditioning strategy for a building may be the use of thermal mass and night-time free cooling instead of a high-tech air-conditioning system. In other cases, the use of carefully selected electric lighting and environmental control strategies may be more appropriate.

Intelligent use and maintenance of buildings. Truly intelligent architecture incorporates intelligent facility management (FM) processes. For a design to be intelligent it must take into consideration the life cycle of a building and its various systems and components. Although an intelligent building may be complex, it should be fundamentally simple to operate, be energy and resource efficient, and easy to maintain, upgrade, modify and recycle. Materials and equipment that require complex maintenance and unhealthy cleaning agents, and building components that must be treated as hazardous waste in the recycling process (e.g. mercury in light- bulbs) would not be used in a fully developed intelligent architecture.

1.2.2 Intelligent and responsive building façades

The character of the building envelope will be affected dramatically by the development of intelligent buildings. Façades designed to integrate a host of emerging technologies will have an inherent ‘intelligence’ and be able to respond automatically, or through human intervention, to contextual conditions and individual needs. Intelligent façades currently can:

• be centrally controlled while still providing the occupant with the ability to manually override the system;
• change their thermophysical properties such as thermal resistance, transmittance, absorptance, permeability, etc;
• modify their interior and exterior colour and/or texture;
• function as communicating media façades with video and voice capabilities;
• change optical properties and allow the creation of patterned glazing, providing the opportunity for dynamic shading and remote light control.

The development of the intelligent and responsive façade necessitates the redefinition of the terms ‘window’ and ‘wall’. With the introduction of new glazing and wall assemblies, what is ‘transparent’ may become ‘opaque’ with the flick of a switch. Central controls for intelligent façades will respond to climatic conditions by transforming the building envelope to optimize heating and cooling loads, daylight utilization, natural ventilation, and so on. Intelligent façades will transport daylight deep into a building’s interior and allow the occupants to determine the degree of luminous, acoustical and thermal comfort required along with the degree of visual and acoustical privacy provided by the enclosure. Additionally, we can now imagine interior partitions that will allow the occupants to transform the aesthetic quality of their working environment whenever and however they choose.

The idea of the intelligent or smart system, originally applied to electrical, mechanical and aerospace systems, recently has been extended to include civil structures as advances in sensing, networking and new materials have made continuous monitoring and control of structural functions a realizable goal. By definition, the intelligent structure has the capability to identify its status and optimally adapt its function in response to stimuli. The major focus of the intelligent civil structure has been on two areas:

1. identification of structural behaviour or properties (e.g. deformation, energy usage or damage evaluation);
2. control of structural response to stimuli, whether external (e.g. wind or earthquake) or internal (e.g. acoustics or temperature variation).

1.3 Facilities management vs. intelligent buildings

The usual definition of facility management, commonly abbreviated as FM, is the practice of coordinating the physical workplace with the people and work of the organization; it integrates the principles of business administration, architecture and the behavioural and engineering sciences. The definition is often simplified to mean that facility managers integrate the people of an organization with its purpose (work) and place (facilities).

The International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB) Working Commission on Facilities Management and Maintenance summarized the scope of facilities management in the following categories:

• Financial management. This refers to the investment issues including: sale and purchase, rental return, rebuild or renovation, etc.
• Space management. This includes space utilization, interior design, fit-out and relocation, etc.
• Operational management. This refers to the maintenance management and refurbishment and lease and property management including building enclosure, building services, building environment and building grounds.
• Behavioural management. This refers to the users of the building, including users’ perceptions, the satisfaction of the occupants and participation of users, etc.

Facility management is also often referred to as a profession or professional discipline, which has received more and more recognition over the last two or three decades. It is, in fact, a fairly new business and management discipline.

Intelligent building and facilities management are closely linked. The scope of facilities management defined by FM professionals often includes significant parts of IB hardware facilities and functions. On the other hand, the contents of intelligent buildings defined by IB professionals often include significant FM elements. This situation reflects the fact that definitions of both terminologies cover a very wide scope and different points of view. In fact, modern IB systems are complex and powerful systems offering various functions for building control and management. The IB system is a preferred platform for supporting various tasks of building facilities management. At the same time, the success of implementing FM functions in IB systems makes intelligent building more attractive. IB systems as complex facilities to be managed actually create business opportunities for FM.

1.4 Technology systems and evolution of intelligent buildings

The evolution of intelligent building systems is illustrated in Figure 1.1, which is modified and updated from the ‘Intelligent Building Pyramids’ developed by the European Intelligent Building Group. The pyramid illustrates the contents and evolution of IB technology over the last few decades. The pyramid is open at the top, emphasizing that the intelligent building systems are not enclosed within buildings any more but instead are merged with IB systems in other buildings as well as other information systems via the global Internet infrastructure.

Intelligent buildings began from the automatic intelligent control of typical building services processes and communication devices. Along with the rapid evolution of electronic technology, computer technology and information technology, intelligent building systems are becoming more and more advanced, and the level of integration is being developed progressively from the subsystem level to total building integration and convergence of information systems.

Before 1980, the automation of building systems was achieved at the level of the individual apparatus or device. After 1980, intelligent building systems entered the integrated stages. There has been great progress on IB system integration in terms of both technology and scale. IB systems after 1980 can be divided into five stages as follows:

Figure 1.1 Intelligent building pyramid.

1. integrated single function/dedicated systems (1980–5);
2. integrated multifunction systems (1985–90);
3. building level integrated systems (1990–5);
4. computer integrated building (1995–2002);
5. enterprise network integrated systems (2002–).

At the stage of integrated single function/dedicated systems (1980–5), all the BA subsystems (including security control; access control; heating, ventilation and air-conditioning [HVAC] control; lighting control; lift control; other electrical ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Figures and Tables
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Introduction to Intelligent Buildings
• 2 Digital Controllers
• 3 Building Automation Systems
• 4 Principles and Technologies of Local Area Networks
• 5 BAS Communication Standards
• 6 Internet Technologies and Their Applications in BASs
• 7 Process Control, PID and Adaptive Control
• 8 Control and Optimization of Air-Conditioning Systems
• 9 Control and Optimization of Central Chilling Systems
• 10 Lighting-Control Systems
• 11 Security and Safety Control Systems