INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Green Technology
Next generation building
management systems
Building owners, facility
managers and system
integrators face increasing
pressure to save more energy,
reduce costs and maintain
availability all while enhancing
occupant experience and wellbeing.
Achieving these varying
goals is best solved by a new
type of building management
systems available today.
The building management system
(BMS) or building automation
system (BAS), is a critical tool for
operating a building safely, efficiently and
reliably. However, a hyper focus on energy
efficiency and sustainability combined with
fundamental changes in tenant needs and
expectations are straining traditional BMS
implementations pushing them to grow
and evolve.
At the same time, advancements in cloud
computing, IoT, analytics and Artificial
Intelligence (AI) are leading to new and
broader capabilities.
A typical traditional building has a BAS or
BMS that is limited to heating, ventilation
and air conditioning (HVAC) and perhaps
lighting, access control and power
monitoring. The facility manager and their
operations team use it simply to monitor for
problems and do basic controls.
This traditional model is going away. Change
is being driven by three fundamental factors:
• Increasing demand for efficiency
and sustainability
• Changing tenant/occupant requirements
and expectations
• Emergence of newer IT, IoT and smart
building technologies
Efficiency and sustainability
Without question, buildings have
a significant impact on the global
environment. According to APC by Sneider
Electric, when indirect emissions from
upstream power generation are considered,
buildings were responsible for 28% of
global energy-related carbon dioxide
emissions in 2019.
Environmental impact aside, building energy
use has a significant impact on operations’
budgets. In fact, it is estimated that roughly
one third of total non-fixed operating
expenses go towards energy consumption.
Traditional BMS systems are not well
positioned to do this.
Changing tenant/occupant needs
Tenant expectations are changing and
this is driving the BMS to do more. People
that rent and work in buildings have a
growing awareness of climate change and
sustainability issues, and a desire to be
energy efficient both for the good of the
environment and for economic reasons.
Efficient, reliable buildings that focus
on tenant health, safety, well-being and
productivity have a distinct competitive
advantage for owners. At the same time, a
new generation of workers, residents and
hotel guests expect to be hyper-connected
to the people and systems around them and
influence their surroundings via digital tools.
Meeting these needs requires smart
building technology that can be managed
and controlled by BMS. Traditional BMS
systems are not well architected for this.
Newer IoT and smart
building technologies
Building management systems have
been evolving, in part, as its underlying
technologies have improved over time.
For example, older traditional systems
provided very simple controls of HVAC
equipment using pneumatic (compressed
air), analogue and electro-mechanical
type controls.
Today, the growing use of standardised
IP protocols between systems and
devices simplify and enable BMSs to
be more than just simple mechanical
automation systems.
The explosion in the IoT phenomena has
meant that it is easier and less expensive
for manufacturers and system integrators
of buildings tech to add microprocessorbased
controls, sensors and IP network
connectivity to more of their devices
and systems.
These IT and IoT related technology
evolutions have enabled the development
of so-called smart building technology.
An effective, next generation building
management system is a platform for
integrating building, business, device
IoT data and segment-specific specialty
systems such as air quality monitoring
for hospitals or room booking systems
for hotels. •
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