In the early 1980s, several major technology trends were under way. One
was that the U.S. telecommunications industry was undergoing deregulation
and new companies, products, services and innovations entered the telecom
marketplace. The second major trend, which at the time seemed somewhat sep-
arate and unrelated, was the creation and emergence of the personal computer
industry. This era also spawned the first real connection between real estate
developers and technology. The newly unregulated telecommunications indus-
try presented an opportunity for building owners to resell services within their
facilities and add value to their business. This new business model was known
as “shared tenant services.”
Under shared tenant services, the building owner procured a large telecom-
munications system for the entire building and leased telecommunication ser-
vices to individual tenants. Major real estate developers offered such shared
services but eventually abandoned such arrangements due to inadequate prof-
itability and lack of knowledge and skills in telecommunications. It was, how-
ever, one of the first times that building owners thought about and acted on
the idea of major technology systems in buildings.
In the next decade or so, there were some modest technological advance-
ments in buildings, including structured cabling systems, audio visual systems,
building automation controllers with direct digital control (DDC), conditioned
space for network equipment, access control systems, and video surveillance,
among others. Yet guidelines for building construction documents released
in 1994, the Construction Specifications Institute’sMasterFormat, had 16 divi-
sions, barely mentioning technology. Many times engineers and designers used
a “Division 17” for the specification of technology-related systems.
Division 17 was not a formal specification division but was used for materi-
als and equipment not included in the other 16 divisions. During that time
period a traditional mind-set prevailed among most building designers in
which technology was an afterthought rather than integral to the building
design. The latest revision of theMasterFormatin 2004 was an improvement,
but still lags in terms of technological advances in buildings. It is evident that
technology is advancing more rapidly and probably progressing through sev-
eral life cycles during the time it takes to revise the construction specification
format guidelines.
Smart buildings are not just about installing and operating technology or
technology advancements. Technology and the systems in buildings are simply
enablers, a means to an end. The technology allows us to operate the building
more efficiently; to construct the buildings in a more efficient way, to provide
productive and healthy spaces for the occupants and visitors, to provide a safe
environment, to provide an energy-efficient and sustainable environment, and
to differentiate and improve the marketability of the building.
2 Smart Building Systems for Architects, Owners, and Builders