We hope you enjoyed our post on Smart Homes: Home Automation. At the same time as technology is improving the interior of our homes, it is also changing the way entire buildings operate. The advent of Smart Buildings is improving the way buildings function and providing increased convenience to their owners and residents.
Security
New technologies are helping to improve residential building security through increased monitoring of the common areas and better visitor logging. Keycard or pincode entry (or biometric scanners), for example, can be used to track the coming and going of residents, but also relevant non-residents like babysitters and dog walkers. For building owners, these new systems have the benefit of increased monitoring capabilities, such as 24 hour camera feeds that can be accessed through any Internet-capable device.
Efficiency
Just as a thermostat can improve home energy efficiency, new building-wide IT systems can track use and increase the efficiency the central HVAC unit (where to rout air, what time of day to work hardest, etc.) leading to energy savings that have a really effect on the building’s bottom line. Combined with new, greener building materials, this technology will improve the overall sustainability of residential housing sectors.
The costs of these technologies are still somewhat prohibitive, but if history has show us anything, it’s that old technology decreases in cost rapidly. What seemed like sci-fi before (see above link) will be the reality of tomorrow.
