Blog Post 4- How Intelligent Building Technologies Can Be Used to Make A Building More Green

Our project is based on a variation of the “Intelligent vs Green” topic. We aim to explore how these intelligent building technologies are being implemented in the design and operation of buildings to create an overall green building. As intelligent building technologies are developed they primarily focus on making new buildings more efficient to lower operating cost while increasing comfort. Green technologies meet similar goals with a focus on things like utilizing sustainable materials and energy efficient processes. This has led to the two fields coevolving to change the way new buildings are designed and operated.

We plan to start by researching the definitions for what defines an “intelligent” and “green” building. From there we will be finding the technologies that are currently being used or developed to create/operate these building. I suspect that many of these technologies will aim to solve the same problems that designers and operator face which is why they are commonly integrated together in buildings. Both intelligent and green buildings are becoming increasingly popular and regulatory agencies are implementing more strict design requirements that reflect this. Incentive systems are already in place to help push developers to create more efficient buildings, so it makes sense that this will also drive any companies in the technology sector to continue to create products that can be implemented in new and retrofitted buildings.

While doing some preliminary research for this paper I stopped to look at a website that I am currently using. I have an account with Swellinvesting.com, an investing website with a focus on socially responsible companies. The website has 6 portfolios that it manages in various categories like green technologies, renewable energy, zero waste, and disease eradication.  Under the green technologies portfolio, you have companies like Park Electrochemical Corp. who are a materials manufacturer for telecommunications infrastructure, but you also have companies like AutoDesk who create design technologies to help create green and intelligent structures. Swell tracks how these portfolios do against the Russell 3000 and over the last two years the portfolio had performed around 16% better than the market. This reinforces the idea that there is a growing market for these types of technologies and that there will continue to be growth in this area.

   

 Responses:

Chris,

Sounds like a real fun brainstorming session! It will be interesting to see how these “smart” technologies become common place in our homes. I feel like now more than ever the public is more open to new technologies that have the ability to make our lives easier. Things like Amazon’s Alexa are already being implemented into people’s homes and exposing entire families to new technologies. However, I don’t know if homeowners will be interested in having all that data available to them but they would be interested on a system that could update and maintain itself without user input.

The idea of retrofitting old buildings with intelligent devises sounds like a great way to increase the efficiently of outdated structures without a large capital investment.

Isaac,

 I think it is great that you will be applying the engineering skills that you have learned here to teaching others. I think as engineers one of the things you learn how to do is learn new skills quickly and be able to apply them to various projects. This is a skill that can be applied to all fields and can be very valuable. I think in the future their will be more classes focused on technology and how it is implemented in various fields, so being up to date on new programs could be very valuable as an instructor.

Amisial,

We are doing a similar topic and have found that there is a strong connection between intelligent and green technologies. Thankfully there is a lot of research and data available on these types of technologies so researching them should be easy. If companies are able to continue to develop these technologies further the high cost of installation may become less of a factor.

Building Type & Intelligence (Deutsch & Tufano)

I am working with Sarina Tufano on this term project and our topic is Building Type and Intelligence. We have opted for the research paper version of this assignment and since we are both structural concentration we have taken "type" to mean materials and structural aspects. To do this we are picking to work with a single family home and design it with the newest smart and green techniques available and adequately researched thus far. The house will not only have smart qualities but will incorporate these starting at the structures very core. It is known that scientists keep developing better and more effective versions of the common materials used in construction. These will be used within the small family home to help keep the structure more self sustaining, extend its life cycle estimate and decrease its impact on the environment while also making it more user friendly.

When it comes to smart and green methods, the terms are sometimes used interchangeably even though they are somewhat different. While discussing the smart materials to be used in the structural design of this home, there will be tables/graphs/figures demonstrating which are just to be considered "smart" which are to be considered "green" and which properties might overlap within those two categories. The structure will take advantage of smart/green facade designs, smart steel/concrete, smart sealant techniques and produce much if not all of its own energy so that it may become LEED, Green Globe, or Live Building Challenge certified as well. It will source other materials needed locally, make an effort to reuse materials that were unused at its previous locations, and attempt maintain little to no waste outputs.

While the International Building Code clarifies different categories of building per "type", we are aiming to take the family home to the next level of what is mandatory in its structural design components. To do this much research will be conducted and definitions of what green and smart mean within a building and how it relates to the overall intelligence will be discussed as well. To demonstrate the materials used, models will be created if time allows. Costs will not be assessed since the main objective of this report is the creation of an optimized intelligent and green structure. However, this does not mean that the efforts to use the best and most "intelligent" materials will not pay out over the first few years of the building's existence. In order to make the building type as smart as possible the structure will maintain manageability so that as technologies improve, the building can also improve.

Jianfeng Xiao:
I notice that our topics are very similar. I like how you have emphasized that you are going to use newer buildings in your assessment since we know how fast technologies have been evolving recently. I am curious to see how you distinguish properties as either "smart" or "green" and which properties you might consider to fall under both classifications.

Sarah Hollis:
I find the history of BIM to be a really interesting topic. I think that reading about how its history has made it become what it is now will definitely lend you a hand in predicting what might be to come in the future. I see that you say BIM allows for fluidity but are you worried that if it becomes too renound and user friendly that people in some fields may lose jobs due to being replaced by any of the programs included in a "BIM Environment"? If you do, which do you think they might be?

Chris Thatch:
Intelligent appliances are such an integral part of what can help make a building more user adaptive and intelligent. I really like how you are going to research and see how many smart versions of appliances are available on the market today because I feel as though much of society is not adequately taught when it comes to better environmental practices. Even with the addition of so many improved products on the market now, many people assume that making a more intelligent or green building will cost so much more and isn't worth it. Little do they know that the returns can start in as little as one year! Your topic is such a good representation of this.

Term Project Idea:

Building Type and Intelligence

Alyssia Deutsch