The term “intelligent building” has been in use since the early 1980s and you would think that a globally accepted definition of the attributes of an intelligent building would have been established by now. Well, think again. Although several organisations have attempted to establish a universal definition, there are a multitude of definitions with different levels of detail and varying degrees of emphasis on various aspects of building intelligence.
Although there are multiple and evolving perspectives on the subject, it is becoming increasingly clear that an intelligent building is a connected and efficient building.
A connected building boasts an integrated communications infrastructure that supports wired and wireless networks and applications. It also facilitates person-to-person, person-to-machine and machine-to-machine communications within the building and with the outside world using a state of the art intelligent, flexible, wired and wireless platform. The platform supports wired LAN, Wi-Fi, in-building wireless, audio/visual, sensors, lighting and building management applications. Buildings are also becoming cloud connected as an essential part of smart grids and smart cities.
An efficient building leverages a state-of-the-art connectivity platform to address key corporate real estate, facilities and IT challenges to improve energy efficiency, space utilisation and occupant satisfaction. In an efficient building, the intelligent connectivity platform is easily adaptable to changes in space design or communications technologies.