Library News

Smart Building

Buildings of the 21st Century will integrate the current DDC (Direct Digital Controls) control technology with other building systems to create a "Smart Building". The Smart Building will anticipate the needs of the building users to provide improved comfort, greater user control, and better energy efficiency. Here are a few examples of how this can work:
· Web based control of building systems: Building occupants can adjust room temperature setpoints, change lighting schemes, or adjust any number of other systems through a password protected web page. An instructor could use this to set up a classroom in advance of a lecture. An example of this concept, currently being used in a building at Purdue University can be seen on the web at http://205.215.64.127/pe/home
· Integration of HVAC and lighting systems with security systems. A building user enters the building during "off" hours. The security system knows who has entered the building. The building then can turn on lights and HVAC systems in the areas to be used by the person entering.
· Smart Windows: For most building users, operable windows are a desirable feature. Smart Windows will know if they are open and will let the building system know. HVAC systems can be automatically turned down in areas with open windows resulting in energy savings. Smart Windows combined with room occupancy sensors will alert building personnel if windows have been accidentally left open in unoccupied areas. Smart Window technology can be combined with natural ventilation schemes to tell building users when opening the windows would be a good idea.
Smart Home or Building
http://searchcio-midmarket.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid183_gci540859,00.html

DEFINITION - A smart home or building is a home or building, usually a new one, that is equipped with special structured wiring to enable occupants to remotely control or program an array of automated home electronic devices by entering a single command. For example, a homeowner on vacation can use a Touchtone phone to arm a home security system, control temperature gauges, switch appliances on or off, control lighting, program a home theater or entertainment system, and perform many other tasks.

The field of home automation is expanding rapidly as electronic technologies converge. The home network encompasses communications, entertainment, security, convenience, and information systems.

A technology known as Powerline Carrier Systems (PCS) is used to send coded signals along a home's existing electric wiring to programmable switches, or outlets. These signals convey commands that correspond to "addresses" or locations of specific devices, and that control how and when those devices operate. A PCS transmitter, for instance, can send a signal along a home's wiring, and a receiver plugged into any electric outlet in the home could receive that signal and operate the appliance to which it is attached.

One common protocol for PCS is known as X10, a signaling technique for remotely controlling any device plugged into an electrical power line. X10 signals, which involve short radio frequency (RF) bursts that represent digital information, enable communication between transmitters and receivers.

In Europe, technology to equip homes with smart devices centers on development of the European Installation Bus, or Instabus. This embedded control protocol for digital communication between smart devices consists of a two-wire bus line that is installed along with normal electrical wiring. The Instabus line links all appliances to a decentralized communication system and functions like a telephone line over which appliances can be controlled. The European Installation Bus Association is part of Konnex, an association that aims to standardize home and building networks in Europe.

Echelon Corp., the creator of the LonWorks system, is helping drive adoption of an open interoperability standard among vendors in the control networks industry. LonWorks is an open standard for network automation and control for the building, transportation, industrial and home markets. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has adopted the protocol underlying LonWorks control networks as an industry standard. The LonMark Interoperability Association is made up of more than 200 controls companies mission working on standard to integrate multi-vendor systems based on LonWorks networks.

Note:
Building Automation Systems (BAS) allows for more efficient control of building temperature, air quality, lighting, and security systems and subsystems through the use of microprocessors and sensors.

These systems can also be integrated into an ip network to allow building management of all systems through a web interface – this is 21st century technology.

These “smart building” features are just some of the features that make up a 21st century building which I think should definitely be included in the design of the Benning Library.

After all, DCPL insisted on using the term 21st century technology even if they did not fully understand the meaning.

Original Article Here >>
http://www.greenengineer.com/ideas/controls.htm