In the previous four articles, we’ve learned that the Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming an empowering force in the day-to-day operations for a large variety of companies around the world. Whether it be for commercial refrigeration, first responders, control houses and equipment shelters, or facility management, IoT is transforming the way organizations and businesses manage their equipment and facilities. In this fifth, we’ll take a look at the way IoT can enable smart building solutions for property owners.
What Is a Smart Building?
Odds are, you don’t live or work in a smart building. In a traditional building, all rooms are often at the same temperature and stay at that temperature whether someone is present in the room or not. People have to turn on the lights when they enter, and remember to turn them off when they leave. On a personal level, these things might seem small, but, at scale, they can be a waste of valuable energy and resources.
A smart building, on the other hand, is one that uses technology to generate and share information about what’s taking place throughout it. This goes beyond turning lights on and off when people enter and leave—simple motion detectors can do that. These are systems that can actually learn people’s movements and determine patterns, anticipating when someone will be using a particular room. With these capabilities, rooms can adjust the temperature and turn on the lights right before someone enters, ensuring a well-lit and comfortable working area rather than a dark, cold room.
Smart Building Facilitators
Sensors are essential to creating smart buildings. Connected to a set of systems that communicate with each other, sensors collect and continuously analyze data in real time—creating the optimal environment at the optimal times. However, this data is not only limited to lighting, heat, and AC. Power, security cameras, fire alarms, water meters, pumps, and more can also be monitored and controlled—reducing energy and water consumption during times of vacancy while increasing savings overall.
A central dashboard can display activity in buildings for on-site employees, while remote employees can receive alerts to their mobile devices to keep the team up-to-date in real time.
Keeping track of both movements and occupancy, IoT enables valuable insights into a building’s “inner workings,” creating a smart building solution that’s greener and more energy-efficient, capturing energy strains so efficiencies can be found and implemented. This IoT-driven data also boosts tenant productivity as well by improving air quality and physical comfort, enhancing lighting, and allowing for better security and sanitation—translating to more peace of mind and less anxiety for occupants and property owners.
The Smart Building Market
A robust technological solution for many of the problems facing property owners today, it’s not surprising that the global IoT smart building market is predicted to top $51 billion annually by 2023, with North America leading the market with a 36% share. Tessco is proud to be at the leading edge of this technological revolution. Given its many benefits—more comfortable occupants, overall increase in efficiency, reduction in energy usage, and security enhancements—there is little doubt the demand for new smart buildings, as well as the smart retrofitting of old buildings, will continue to rise to a point where smart buildings will become the norm. Thus, property owners who implement smart building controls will now have a competitive edge at attracting tenants in the years to come.
The Tessco IoT Solution
Tessco’s IoT solutions help simplify building management and increase efficiencies. Our solutions are used in monitoring and control for building:
Lighting
HVAC
Thermostat Management
Refrigeration
Water Heaters
Sanitation
Security
Tessco’s monitoring services allow you to be proactive rather than reactive, and our wireless connectivity solutions enable reliable, rapid data transfer from every device to the cloud, resulting in peak IoT performance.