There are several issues with the standard buildings. They are inefficient and they are expensive to maintain. They can, therefore, cause internal inefficiencies and affect the production of the organizations and businesses in these buildings.
Smart buildings can solve most of these issues. How? They combine and integrate the Internet of Things (IoT) that includes HomeKit enabled devices and technology into the key internal systems of the building. Therefore, the access control system, the security system, lighting, and the central heating are inter-connected to communicate and work together.
How Do Smart Buildings Work?
A smart building collects data from the internal systems of the building and the building itself. So, a smart building uses this data and sensors to make important decisions based on the situation to improve the efficiency and performance of the building. You can even set up clever shortcuts that are triggered after an action has taken place.
It can, therefore, make the building more efficient and reduce maintenance costs.
For instance, a smart building can adjust the air conditioning or central heating based on the number of people in the building. It can turn on heating automatically once it measure the temperature dropping. By doing so it can make the building more energy efficient.
Here are the top benefits of smart buildings:
1. Reduce Your Energy Usage
One of the main benefits of a smart building is it reduces energy consumption. It can, therefore, reduce your business costs and the carbon footprint of your business. It is good for the environment.
It is easy to control the energy usage of a smart building. A smart building does not heat, cool, or lit the areas, which are not in use.
It can, therefore, tackle the issues of unsustainable practices and inefficient energy usage of the standard buildings.
2. Predictive Maintenance
It is essential to maintain any system or equipment to maintain their efficiency. Proper maintenance can help you avoid costly replacements.
A smart building collects data from the connected systems. Then, it uses sensors and this data to predict when the equipment and system need maintenance checks.
You will always know when to do a maintenance check.
It can even detect internal faults in the building and fix them immediately. It can save you money since you do not have to call an engineer to fix these faults.
3. Automation
One of the benefits of smart buildings is custom automation. All equipment and systems are interconnected, so they can communicate with each other. This gives you an opportunity for automation.
Custom automation can improve the efficiency of the building. It can also improve the safety of the occupants, especially during an emergency.
For instance, if the security system detects a break-in, lights turn on automatically in that area, the access control blocks the escape root of the intruder, and the system calls emergency services immediately.
You can completely automate all these things to improve the security of your building.
4. Get Valuable Building Insights
A smart building constantly collects data from the building’s internal systems. It collects the energy usage, the number of residents in the building, and many more.
You can, therefore, use the data to know the trends and patterns in your workplace behavior. You can even use the data to make better decisions for your business.
Use the data to improve the efficiency of your building, your employee productivity, and your business.
5. Real-Time Data
A smart building can get real-time data. The smart building, then, uses real-time data to take immediate and effective actions. That is why a smart building is flexible and reactive.
It can even experience peak efficiency.
6. Reduce Costs
A smart building is more efficient, so it can reduce costs. The data from the building and the sensors can allow the building owner to make better choices.
It can only heat or cool the required areas in the building. If there are no occupants in certain areas, the building does not heat or cool these areas.
A smart building can, therefore, reduce the overall costs.
7. Improve the Comfort and Wellbeing of the Occupants
Do not overlook the comfort and wellbeing of the occupants of your building. According to the University of Oxford research, happy and satisfied employees can lead to 13% more productive employees.
Improving your employee productivity can benefit your business.
A smart building can manage environmental factors, like lighting and room temperature, to improve the lighting levels and indoor air quality for the occupants of the building.
It can even measure factors, like ventilation flow and carbon dioxide detection, to allow you to make better decisions.
Additionally, you can use occupancy sensors for social distancing and control the number of occupants in one specific place.
8. Improve Employee Productivity
If your building is more efficient, your employees can become more efficient, too.
The design of a smart building is to improve the comfort of the people inside the building. It can, therefore, make the life of your employees easier.
If your employees are comfortable, they can become more productive.
9. Improve Security
A smart building can improve your security system. You can even use different equipment and smart security features to manage, monitor, and secure your building.
For instance, you can install smart door locks, cameras, alarms, etc. to secure your building. Once you install them, you can integrate them with your other security systems. You can even automate the processes in case of an incident.
You can get building insights from your security system. You can use the building insights to make better choices.
10. Increase the Value of Your Building
You can convert your standard building to a smart building to increase the value of the building. It is beneficial to install smart technology and applications.
It is cheap to maintain a smart building.
In fact, both businesses and tenants are always looking for smart buildings. Why? A smart building can reduce energy usage and improve energy efficiency.
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