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BUILDING INTELLIGENCE PLANNING PROGRAM SURVEY

May 16, 2020by derek.lackey0

The Intelligent Building is really all about the:

1. Ability to control functions such as heating, cooling, water ,sewage, life safety, communications, and other related activities from a central point

2. A means of getting real-time information about what is happening within the structure – especially as it applies to energy consumption and the overall health and location of the assets

3. Ability to provide tenants with the current and future technology platforms for their operations.

Historically functions and services within a building have been isolated silos with the normal connection being electrical power, a water or gas pipe or a communication copper wire. Electricity has, in most cases been the linkage. For the Intelligent Building we are talking about a new skeletal dimension – added will be a communication highway (wired and wireless) fibre based along with electricity and the prerequisite conduits for gas/water/sewage to the body of the building. Wireless deployment (Cellular, WiFi, WiLan) will allow for control and activities to take place within the ‘air’ of the building. There will be the ability to communicate and have physical control of the actions between devices. In many instances this will allow us to renovate existing facilities without the arduous task of ripping out ceilings, drilling holes in walls and dragging cables up elevator shafts.

One might ask why we have not done this before now. The Intelligent Building is technically feasible. The barriers have been and in many cases are a lack of understanding and a solid plan and route to undertake such activities. However, change is underway. Many commercial facility owners and developers see the needs and benefits for such solutions, not only as it relates to cost control and operational issues but ensuring their tenants are satisfied with their surrounding and will see no reason to relocate if they take action to meet their needs. Can the deployment of the features of an Intelligent Building give me a commercial edge and a greater return for my investment? Perhaps I can have improved sustainability – improved use of my assets all at the same time.

Achieving what is needed for both the prospective tenants, owners, managers will require the creation of an Intelligent Building Plan for any existing or newly planned facility. The goal of the work is to understand organizational needs, evaluate intelligent attributes, and create business cases that can be used to prioritize and justify any and all aspects of a project. The end result will be a lust of recommended features, suppliers and consultants to be used as the project moves into implementation.

The following details a Proposed Scope of Work and Steps required:

Stage 1: Needs Analysis

Organize and facilitate a workshop with key project stake holders including:

Facilities Information Technology Building services and managers Owners /developers Rental agencies Finance Human resources

Key decision maker for tenants A group of tenant users Suppliers / consultants would be attendance at any one time. The purpose of the sessions and workshops is to

Not all get impute. What are people really looking for? What do they see the key elements of technology are all about? Here is an opportunity to outline what you may be thinking about and how this might be provided. For a successful project you need to have both operational as well as aspirational needs. The needs assessment and analysis covers both the present as well as a forecast of future needs. You will be surprised what you will find. Undertake this process whether you are in a renovation or thinking about an new structure.

Stage 2: Intelligent Attribute Evaluation:

Based on the results of the information from stage 1, the information gathered from industry sources as well from other Intelligent Building projects will be used to compile a listing of potential intelligent attributes. These will include a focus on all aspects of energy conservation, best practices for utility usage as well as a focus upon future sustainability and asset management. Areas to be evaluated include:

1.1 Building Systems: HVAC, lighting, electrical distribution, security, fire alarm, emergency power, distributed generation, video monitoring, water distribution,vertical transport and other relevant systems.

1.2 IP Network: Voice, data, shared infrastructure, structured cabling, tenant applications, digital signage and other network connected systems

1.3 In Building Wireless: Recommended plan for supporting wireless network, cell coverage, emergency radio, and other wireless devices within the structure

1.4 Energy, Comfort and Productivity: Recommendations for utilization of Intelligent attributes to achieve the desired LEED rating and operational efficiencies for the project. (‘Green’, electricity conservation, sustainability)

The results from stage 2 will be documented and a step by step review undertaken with the key participants. The results and discussions will be a source to proceed to stage 3. Stage 3: Business case Analysis and setting Priorities: Each of the desired intelligent attributes will be evaluated for this project by a series of criteria.

These include:

a. Technical feasibility

b. Estimated implementation expense

c. Estimated business benefits

d. Synergy with other systems and attributes

e. Project phase impact (when to decide and implement)

The information in this stage of the project will be used to create a matrix of potential features. The work here will include action with the project team to compare the features and functions proposed for the base building/planned renovations and compare them against the most desirable intelligent attributes. An economic analysis will be used to evaluate the synergies of solutions. Estimates will be provided for adding the desired features for both the normal construction routines as well as for any special tenant requests uncovered during the analysis. The final result of this stage is a prioritized list of intelligent attributes with supporting financial and technical metrics.

Stage 4: Recommended Solutions, Suppliers and Consultants: Based on the results of the first three phases, a complete report describing the structure of the Intelligent Building systems to be provided on the project. This will include some recommendations for systems, suppliers, and consultants to be considered and utilized during the system design and construction. In all cases the final decision is always with the client. Our role is always to be your ‘trusted advisor’

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