Preface
Technology has always influenced the buildings we build, and always will.
Twenty-five to 30 years ago, however, the amount of technology in a building
was minimal. It consisted of the public telecommunications utility installing its
services in a building; a mechanical contractor installing a pneumatic control
system for the heating, cooling, and ventilation system; and maybe a word-
processing system. Although we have come a long way since those days, we
are still in a very early stage of fully deploying and integrating technology
systems into buildings.
In due course buildings will become full of technology. Walls and ceilings
will be embedded with sensors, and every aspect of a building’s performance
and use will be metered and measured. Software tools will be used to automat-
ically optimize building systems without human intervention; real-time infor-
mation about the building that is relevant to their particular needs will be
provided to occupants and building management. Buildings will be fully inter-
active with the power grid, and geospatial location systems will be deployed
for every building asset.
I wrote this book as a step toward eventually fulfilling that vision. It is
meant as a guide to understanding the many aspects needed to deploy
integrated technology systems into buildings and to provide straightforward
information on smart buildings for architects, engineers, facility managers,
developers, contractors, and design consultants. What’s here reflects my per-
sonal experience and research, and information gained from listening to and
learning from many colleagues.
Smart buildings can be many things, but simply defined: smart buildings use
building technology systems to enable services and the operation of a building
for the betterment of its occupants and management. The drivers for smart
buildings are the positive financial effects of integrated systems, energy con-
servation, greater systems functionality, and the continuing evolution of tech-
nology. The headwind to smart buildings is the inertia of people to move
beyond the legacies of building design, construction, and operation. Such pro-
cesses as Building Information Modeling as well as the movement to energy-
efficient and sustainable buildings are beginning to change that, however.