Security Talk Blog

If your business owns or operates a building for either development, service, or retail purposes then at some point you need to evaluate a “Building Automation” plan. At first the task may seem daunting, but the technology is so sophisticated and well-developed that it is very simple to understand.

At the most fundamental level an automated building simply connects all of the building systems into one integrated control environment. Beneath the surface of this statement is the fact that all of your building’s devices are communicating to a central control system. Each device in your building is basically smart… it knows how to communicate its current state and respond to requests to change its state.

Buildings all over the world are upgrading to full “Building Automation” as it helps keep occupants comfortable, safe, and productive — while reducing energy use and the carbon footprint. Recent examples of building automation conversions are: Paris Louvre museum, Beijing’s “Bird’s Nest” stadium, quick service restaurants, and many public school buildings.

For your Building Automation plan to work it relies on a standard communication protocol such as “LonWorks” or “BACnet”. These protocols are simply the language that your building speaks. Next, all the devices in your building such as such as sensors, thermostats, motion detectors, air handlers, security monitoring, and file alarms all need to talk to a “Building Controller”. Your building controller is a software application that understands every device in your building. These applications can implement a wide range of policies determined by the building professional to balance comfort and energy savings, including how to respond to a request from the grid for energy reduction or a signal from the grid with variable pricing.

In order to evaluate the long term cost of upgrading to a full “building automation” architecture you need to review your existing utility expenses, potential loss from unauthorized building access and potential loss from non-monitored utility failures. A building automation system typically reduces energy usage by 30%. The loss from unauthorized access and utility failure is hard to quantify and typically is assessed through historical records.

Last week we covered the basic principles of “Intelligent Buildings”, and this week we will extend the concepts in to the field of “Home Automation.” Although the field of “home automation” is extremely diversified, it does not mean that home owners cannot take individual elements from the field that offer cost savings and life savings benefits. Home owners should start asking questions about, “how does this product integrate into the master home automation plan?”

Home automation is the residential extension of “building automation”. It is automation of the home, housework or household activity. Home automation may include centralized control of lighting, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), appliances, and other systems, to provide improved convenience, comfort, energy efficiency and security. Home automation for the elderly and disabled can provide increased quality of life for persons who might otherwise require caregivers or institutional care.

A master home automation plan reaches out and embraces your HVAC, lighting, computers, smart phones, audio / video systems, security, medical alerts, intercoms, domestic robots, yard watering, pet feeding, your new electric car and other systems in your house, garage and yard. (Did I forget the coffee maker?) Although this vision was originally proposed more than 50 years ago, it is only recently that the technology and cost have matured to the extent that this vision is now a reality.

This is a great list to start with. Next blog we will continue by look at the organizations and standards that enable an automated home.

The evolution of the home network is a fascinating story. The home network started out connecting our PC/Macs and media services to the Internet and then started connecting the array of security and home monitoring devices. This constant expansion of the home network and intelligent home appliances have spawned a new field called “Intelligent Buildings.” Many architects and builders are more familiar with the term BAS (Building Automation System), although a strict definition of BAS classifies it as a subset of “Intelligent Buildings.”

An intelligent building is a network of routers, switches, computers, smart appliances, smart media devices, smart security devices, smart lighting controllers, smart water systems, and smart heating controllers. The central control system monitors and regulates the subsystems to achieve dramatic improvements in efficiency. There are numerous studies that prove the financial gains and paybacks from a properly designed intelligent home. Just because you are not building a new home and do not have the opportunity to create a unified intelligent home, you may start by first installing a proper network and then slowly adding the additional intelligent home devices. A well designed intelligent home may be remotely monitored and controlled from any Internet connection.

If this all seems like too much technology, then think back to a time when we did not have modern plumbing systems and how complex it seemed to add pipes, water heaters, ventilation, and sewage systems. At some point these technologies evolve to a point of sophistication where they are simply taken for granted. Well, we are really close to that point with intelligent homes.

Businesses like AlliedFireAndSecurity have trained technologist that can teach you how to slowly and economically start down a path towards your intelligent home. You need the advice of a real expert to help you create a unified and well-structured development plan.

Over the next few months we will continue to talk about the intelligent home and its subsystems.

Your home or office utilizes heaters, air conditioners, humidifies, fans, door position, windows, plumbing, and electrical systems to deliver a pleasant and livable environment. All of these systems can malfunction. When heaters malfunction the house can freeze and burst pipes, open windows can allow rain to soak your valuable carpets, open doors can invite burglary, and the list of side effect goes on and on. When equipment over-functions the heater or air conditioner stays on for hours while your electric bills skyrocket through the roof.

You have dozens of different options of how to monitor your home or office environment and in turn have the monitoring results sent to your PC or your mobile wireless device. The most basic home monitoring system is for temperature. These temperature monitoring devices can be wireless and simply located at strategic positions around the house. Next on the list you can add wireless door and window sensors and after that you can add water leak detection. You can have these monitoring results alert you if some threshold is reached… like the temperature dropping below 40 degrees Fahrenheit or you can track your monitoring results and use that data to refine your heating and cooling master plan. When you look at a graph of your environmental conditions you might be shocked about the waste of heating or cooling and in turn you can take steps to optimize the settings of your heaters and air conditioners.

Finally, you may remotely control your home or office appliances and after looking at the temperature of your house… tell your house to cool down… your coming home.