Smart Buildings

Data, Voice and Video Communications Systems

What are Smart Buildings

Smart Buildings are user friendly, easily accessible to the teleworker/telecommuter and business owners alike. They are secure for the individual to work in at all hours. They are wired for the most efficient uses of technology. A Smart Building allows anyone to setup and start doing business almost instantly.

Background

The high technology concept of smart buildings was introduced in the United States in the early 1980s. Although no formal definition exists, smart buildings use electronics extensively, are high-technology related and can be addressed by looking at three (3) operating concepts:

· energy efficiency

· lifesafety systems

· data, voice and video communications systems

The ultimate goal is to integrate the three operating areas into one single computerized system with all of the hardware and software furnished by a single supplier or partner that would use compatible resources and equipment. Managers of “smart” buildings will need tremendous computer capabilities, and the emphasis will shift from managing physical space to managing data space.

Energy Efficiency

Intelligence with respect to energy in a smart building consists of the reduction of energy use to the bare minimum. Computerized systems are used extensively. Such systems go by many names: Building Automation System (BAS), Energy Management System (EMS), Energy Management and Control System (EMCS), Central Control and Monitoring System (CCMS) and Facilities Management System (FMS). These systems would allow, among other things:

· Programmed start/stop

· Duty cycling & automatic reset

· Automatic demand control

· Adaptive control

· Heat & cold optimization

· Optimal energy sourcing

Lifesafety Systems

Intelligence with respect to lifesafety in a smart building involves the use of high technology to maximize the performance of security systems while minimizing costs. This can consist of such things as:

· Closed-circuit television

· Card access control

· Smoke detection

· Intrusion alarms

· Emergency control of elevators, HVAC systems, doors

· Universal Power Supply Systems (UPS)

Data, Voice and Video Communications Systems

Intelligence with respect to data, voice and video communications in a smart building involves offering tenants many sophisticated data and telecom services and features at a considerably reduced cost. Some of these features are:

· High speed Internet access

· Local and long distance services

· PBX telephone system

· Cablevision

· Videotext

· Electronic mail

· Direct satellite communications access.

· Enlarged riser capacities.

· Multiple-vendor, high-speed Internet access.

· Videoconferencing facilities.

· Emergency electrical back up.

· Multiple-vendor telecommunications access.

· Disaster back-up and recovery access

Smart Buildings for Business

Today’s businesses thrive on information. The tools used to access, store, retrieve, manipulate, and communicate information are critical assets – no matter whether the tenant is a doctor, lawyer, merchant, manufacturer, Internet service provider, etc.

To building managers, providing tenants with an infostructure offers the ultimate marketing opportunity. Technology will attract and retain tenants.

In the past, buildings have been fortresses, shelters, and addresses on a map. Today, buildings are gateways to a larger, electronic world. Tenants want no-fuss, no-muss access for their technological tools. From the tenant’s perspective, connecting a business to the Internet, for example, should be as plug-and-play as turning on the lights, talking on the phone, and breathing the air.

Because of the cost of making a building “intelligent”, strategies that should be considered are:

1. Becoming a Virtual Internet Service Provider (VISP). [see the CVSI VBP Program]

2. Partnering with a third-party service provider such as CVSI. At no cost to building owners, CVSI can install systems such as fiber-optic backbones, in exchange for exclusive rights to provide service to tenants. Profits can be split between the building owners and CVSI.

For example, CVSI will wire buildings for high-speed voice and data. Building owner can receive a percentage of telecommunications revenues, and gain more control over risers and conduits. Tenants can plug into high-speed and direct Internet access, and save on local and long-distance telephone costs.

CVSI’s will install a black box in a building’s equipment closet to provide high-speed Internet access. Building owners and tenants can then be billed on usage, are supported by CVSI’s 24-hour technical staff, and incur no hardware costs for the system.

Some of the features that can be provided in a “smart building” are:

· On Site Business and Message Centers

· Centralized Data & Word Processing

· Teleconferencing and Video conferencing

· Electronic Mail

· Computer Services

· Information Services

· Direct satellite communications access

· Enlarged riser capacities

· Multiple-vendor, high-speed Internet access

· Videoconferencing facilities

· Emergency electrical back-up

· Multiple-vendor telecommunications access

· High Speed Internet Access

· Technical Support

· Cable and Satellite Television

· Provide infrastructure and support for Teleworkers/Telecommuters

Conclusion

The smart building is clearly the building of the future. With proper marketing, such buildings will lease up more easily, and at higher rates by virtue of the services offered.