Intelligent Building
Introduction
The advent of information technology and information system, has paved the way to various works and even designs to be aligned with state of the art facilities. One of the concept that evolve as part of the emergence of technology is the concept of intelligence building. Accordingly, the practice of enhancing the efficiency of the buildings and their use of water, materials and energy as well as reduction of building impact on the health of the people and the environment is known as sustainable building. In doing so, the authorities responsible for this kind of building adhere to this needs by conducting an effective and efficient complete building life cycle which include better siting, designing, constructing, operation, maintenance and removal (Hopkins, 2002). Along with the concept of sustainable building is the aspect of intelligent building. Primarily, the goal of this paper is to provide analysis about intelligent building, analyze the concept of integration and determine buildings in Hong Kong that utilizations special lift system.
Intelligent Building Definition
Intelligent building is an approach that considers technologies to enhance the environment of the building and the functionality for occupants/tenants while being able to control costs. Enhancing end utilization security, accessibility and comfort all help utilization to be more productive and also permits them to reach comfort levels. On one hand, the owner wants to give this functionality while decreasing individual costs. These goals are being made possible by technologies.
Accordingly, scholars started to talk about intelligent buildings in the early 1980s. This is because of the growing needs for competent and proficient and integrated control of the systems within specific building which has been felt because of the computerization of most workplace. it is said that the electronic system operations of an intelligent building can be divided into four aspects: life-safety systems, energy efficiency, workplace automation and telecommunications systems.
Figure 1
Source: DATS India
The computerized systems within an Intelligent Building go by different names including Energy Management System (EMS), Energy Management and Control System (EMCS), Building Automation System (BAS) Facilities Management System (FMS) and Central Control and Monitoring System (CCMS).
In 1985, at International Symposium which was held in Toronto, Canada, Intelligent Building was defined as one which integrates innovations, may it be technological or not, with skilful management approach in order to maximize the return on investment However, such definition has not been utilization in today’s generation. Nowadays, the definition of Intelligent Buildings has moved far ahead, integrating the technological advancements of the last few years in technology building.
In a definition provided or established by European Intelligent Building Group (EIBG), this is a context which maximizes the efficiency of the tenants or occupants and permits effective and competent and proficient management of resource with minimum costs for living.
DEGW, which is an international design consultancy which has been giving emphasis on intelligent spaces, defines an Intelligent Building as a process or context which is more responsive to the needs of the utilization and has the capability to adjust or cope with new technology or changes in accordance with organizational structures. On the other hand, IBDN Intelligent Building Solution defined intelligent building as one which is equipped with the telecommunications infrastructure that makes it constantly respond and cope to changing situations, and permits a more competent and proficient utilization of resources and increasing the security as well as the comfort of tenants/occupants. An Intelligent Building presents or imparts these benefits through automated control systems which include air-conditioning; heating, ventilation, and fire-safety, security, as well as energy/lighting management.
The context of Intelligent building considers the aspect that the true cost of a building does not only lies on the cost of construction, but also the operating costs, maintenance and most importantly periodic repairs that come later. An Intelligent Building can help in reducing the operating and also maintenance costs to a great extent by regulating and controlling the systems within the specific building.
In addition, it is also plausible for converting the existing building into an Intelligent Building by simply installing integrated systems. In addition, there are also considered intelligent cities too around the globe. One of these is the, the island city-State of Singapore which has about 4 million people. Herein, an intelligent city is place in which all the infrastructure is managed more competently and proficiently and by the application of suitable technologies.
Integration System
Accordingly, the full benefits of intelligent building technologies can be evaluated and realized through integration which includes the following:
building condition monitoring which depends on various parameters;
occupancy monitoring can give input for lighting, elevators and HVAC; and
voice and data can be integrated for those who use computers and telephones.
The communications infrastructure must be developed and designed to support all plausible applications in the building. Such include the data and voice systems, security systems, data processing needs, lighting systems, building automation systems and other systems which integrate to establish an intelligent building. Under the current operations, various subsystems in a construction project, e.g., elevator monitoring and control systems, voice systems, and security systems, are covered by separate construction agreements and contracts. The competent and proficient utilization of remote, automated diagnostics helps operators and managers decrease the costs of operations and resources, while also enhancing the comfort as well as safety of the building occupants. the probable cause
Integration of Systems
The most critical and crucial part of the designing, building and operating intelligent building technologies is the competent and proficient integration and interoperation of the several various building extensive. As with different other new technologies it is a feature of these building technologies to result in different valuable utilizations which may not have been anticipated when the technologies were launched.
To be able to maximize the benefits of intelligent building technologies there is a need for integration and central control rooms. In this regard, staffing and training for the control room personnel also needs very broad skills to handle this/. An intelligent building system presents or imparts operation of all aspects of the integrated environment from a single control system, which should have an alternative position, a backup facility, for utilization in the event of failure. The central control make sure the observance and interaction of the entire aspects of system operation. A central control facility has decreased the total staffing needs and presents or imparts the resources to log, control and manage various numbers of individual components. The personnel can be better trained and managed and trained in such an environment than in different smaller, distributed facilities.
Intelligent Building Sample in Hong Kong
Figure 2
Owner
Ben Kamps
Architect
Adam Wiederhoeft
Structural Engineer
Jered Hansen
Construction Manager
Joseph Monahan
Mechanical
Kevin Bell
The sample intelligent building that will be given focus in this is the Two International Finance Center which is located in Hong Kong. This building was established in 2003. In addition, this building becomes the second high rise building in the region, which accompanies One International Finance Center, established in 1999. Two International Finance Centre is a 415-meter (1,362 feet), with 88-story obelisk-like tower which was developed and designed by Cesar Pelli & Associates making the building sixth-highest building in the world.
Like any other building in Hong Kong such as IFC1, Four Seasons place and Hotel, IFC2 was established on reclaimed land within the development area. The total area of the site for IFC containing all four buildings is 14.11 acres. On the other hand, the gross floor area of IFC2 alone is 2,000,000 square feet. With development cost of US.8 billion and was completed in year 2005 during the time when Four Seasons Place and Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong were also established (IFC2, 2004). This building was established to handle financial firms and is equipped with wireless, high-frequency fiber-optic, and satellite networks for accommodating all the occupants. This intelligent building is expected to allow 15,000 people to have business transactions in a daily basis. During night time, , IFC2 is a light beacon over Victoria Harbor, since it is made to be part of the Hong Kong Tourism Commission’s Victoria Harbor Lighting Plan (Hong Kong’s New Tallest, 2004). IFC2 was generated to provide some of the finest accommodations of high end office buildings all over the globe. The building’s air conditioning occurs from 8 am to 7 pm, weekdays and 8 am to 1 pm on weekends. The purpose of this is to reduce operating costs of the facility as well as to lower energy consumption. Cleanliness of the building, particularly windows, is maintained on its strictest to permit unmatched views of Victoria Harbor from any floor level (IFC, 2004). To be able to maintain its being a premier office space, building operations consists of highly trained staff who are accountable for keeping all business operations and transactions running smoothly and competent and proficiently. IFC2 has one of the only double-decker elevators all over the world to move all tenants/occupants in a resourceful manner.
IFC2 is considered to be a postmodern styled skyscraper which is dominant obelisk even in the high-rise filled Victoria Harbor of Hong Kong (MIDAS, 2004). The firm held to request prominent occupants to be able to optimize the views of the Victoria Harbor by permitting virtually column free floor plans with 50 feet from the core to the window wall having an average floor plate over 23,000 square feet and a building total of nearly 2,000,000 square feet (Towering Tribute to Financial Capitol, 2004). IFC2 building ‘s view at night showcases it’s impressive height as well as its elegance (MIDAS, 2004).
Figure 3
The building’s architectural materials were developed to follow the practices of green building practices. The 11,000 curtain wall glass panels have been designed to have double glazed low E-coating. Such high performance glass coating permits the architects to design and develop building for a higher degree of transparency and with the consideration of natural light, without compromising the efficiency of the energy in terms of heat and glare. IFC2 also uses s sea water-cooled air conditioners which cost 30% less to run compared to the traditional systems. IFC2 façade contains steel and glass. (Kong, 2005).
At 415 meters, IFC2 is the tallest as well as the latest additionto the Hong Kong skyline. The building structure is established from the ground with a width of 56.96 meters. The top one fourth of IFC2 slopes inward has width of 39.18 meters (IFC2, 2005). Accordingly, this building is the focal point of the multi-phase US bn IFC Development which is generated on reclaimed land along the coast of ferry-crowded Victoria Harbor. The structural materials of the IFC2 include 28,000 tons of structural steel for columns and beams to go well with its 112,000 cubic meters of concrete which is then supported with 18,000 tons of reinforcement which is utilised in the mega-columns and building core (IFC2, 2003).
The firm that build IFC2 is a company which specializes in HVAC, electrical, plumping, fire services as well drainage systems, and is accountable for the design of the sea water cooled air conditioning system, and also the system of 62 elevators, that integrates the utilization of double deck elevators, which satisfies users with its 30 seconds wait time, which is impressive considering the size and capacity of 15,000 people (Hong Kong’s New Tallest, 2004). This system is functioning well with IFC2 because t uses two elevator cars stacked on top of each other within a single shaft. Such design permits the passengers on two consecutive floors to use the elevator simultaneously more proficiency in high traffic areas where a traditional elevator would have to stop at each floor. Another benefit of having this kind of double-desk lift elevator is that it enables the elevator to increase its capacity, and occupies less core space, permitting more square feet of usable floor space in the building (Double-Deck elevator, 2005).
To be able to provide power to the elevators and also the rest of the facilities in the building, the IFC2 makes use of two permanent independent dual power supplies with dual risers to every floor in the building (Hong Kong’s New Tallest, 2004). These two are independent which enables them to maintain power in the event of failure in one of them, or the requirement for the maintenance on one. in spite of such redundancy, IFC2 is also equipped with back up generators for the event that both supplies goes to failure. The IFC2 utilizes both 190 and 340 millimeter raised floors for easy installation of its wiring, a necessity in today’s information technology region era. Presently, IFC2 is wired for wireless, satellite, as well as high bandwidth fiber optic networks as mentioned above.
On the global aspect, building practices and procedures are said to be affecting the environment while the technology is said to be affecting the way buildings are buil. Furthermore, intelligent building can also include a broad range of methods and systems. These could be conventional and low-tech equipments or modern or high-tech. But as Bobenhausen (1998) mentioned, it is note the gadgets or equipments used by it is the process on how the building is done. On one hand, St. John (1998) noted that intelligent building is not only about he materials or technology but it is about the approaches and attitudes. Some scholars believed that even if technology can enable people to gain sustainability, it also have the capacity to harm the environment if it will not be used cautiously.
The decision of not using certain high-tech equipments can be as essentials as the decision to use others. In this regard, sustainable building has both active and passive elements. It includes maximising the effectiveness, health and comfort of the internal environments, while continuously minimising or controlling the adverse effect for the environment and public health and the effect of the resources used in the building. The decision for intelligent building usually fall under three classifications: Materials and equipments (which include the application and specification procedures), active/systems designs (like electrical, mechanical and plumbing schemes) and the passive/general design (placement/orientation of construction and building). The last classification relates to how the designers spatially fit the construction and its design procedures into the natural environment in order to take advantage of existing free benefits like heat and light from the sun, the shading from the trees as well as the insulation from hillside topography in order to decrease the land impact and the need for non-renewable resources or wasteful use of resources.
Effective building practices are essential elements for having a sustainable building that would protect both the environment and the health and well-being of the people or occupants. Through these, many companies are able to utilise the concepts and methods of intelligent building in all their projects.
In this research paper, it becomes apparent that the technological advancement and facilities have been the key factors for the concept of intelligent building. From this discussion, several important points had been suggested. For instance, this research has implied the value of choosing the most applicable and effective intelligent building approach which will enable them to meet and the needs of the tenants and to protect the environment. Sufficient time should be allotted by the company in order to develop effective design and building plans. In addition, time is also necessary during the implementation process.
Skills or expertise is also an important element in implementing intelligent building practices, specifically leadership and communication skills and to reduce barriers. Accordingly strategies tend to evolve constantly. As intelligent building practices encounter different pressures and environmental factor over time, their respective project team members must create practices that are appropriate to their current situation. Some of the factors that encourage constant efficient changes include the identification of new environmental threats or opportunities for intelligent building, technological advancements, and emergence of Intelligent building trends and requirements, competitive conditions and initiatives to increase environmental protection initiatives.
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