A: Integrated building management systems (BMS) and smart home automation systems will offer benefits related to limiting environmental impact, saving on energy costs and enhancing building security and safety. There is an endless variety of technologies, equipment and devices that are currently available to suit any application. All you need is to imagine what your need is (and we challenge you for that…). No matter what you need, there is definitely a device out there that can deliver the required result. Below we lay out the most important benefits:
a. Energy Saving: Studies have proven that most of the acquired energy in a building will primarily be consumed in heat, air conditioning and lighting. Building Management Systems will compile data received by various sensors installed in a building like temperature, humidity, luminance, air quality and people presence sensors, as well as via logic controllers and algorithms, and will switch HVAC systems and lighting circuits on or off to conserve energy. Furthermore, fine adjustments to the most optimized setting will reduce energy consumption to the minimum.
b. Environmental Impact: reducing the energy consumption in a building by employing intelligent Building Management Systems, the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere are dramatically reduced. Not only electricity consumption but other resources can be saved since Building Management Systems can also be integrated into the plumbing or Gas system of a building. This way, a building can automatically control, monitor and manage these resources more efficiently to save energy and reduce waste. By eliminating waste, the impact on the environment is critically reduced.
c. Improved Security: Building Management Systems and smart home automation systems will use gateways to communicate and interact with each other, to enhance features and functions. At the same time, they will reduce the need for having redundant equipment installed, thus reducing the implementation cost. For example, why install a presence detector to switch off the lights in the incidence of an unoccupied by people area, if you can have and make use of this information coming from the security system? Or, why turn on the HVAC system in an area where the security system is ON? Imagine a security system that can be scheduled to initiate a sequence of countermeasures via the automation system, to simulate people presence: for example, turn on and off lights, turn on TV sets and music, operate the blinds and shutters etc.
d. Building Maintenance: Building Management Systems and Smart Home Automation Systems are able to collect and process data and alerts coming from the equipment and sensors installed in the building. The central management system will then notify the building manager for the need to maintain and resolve technical issues. By reviewing the information provided by the system, an operator can identify and diagnose operational problems early without having to send a technician to locate it. Finding operational problems early and correcting them saves on the cost of building maintenance and prevents breakdowns which can interrupt business operations. These systems will prove to be very handy in the case of facilities with more than one building. BMS can integrate the systems of all buildings onto a single front end computer which allows an operator to monitor the entire facility from a single source. Since the system provides the data to diagnose problems, building maintenance becomes less costly as it reduces the number of employees required to provide building maintenance while at the same time increasing the response time and efficiency of the maintenance teams drastically.
In our opinion, these are the most important benefits, but we are sure that someone can easily evaluate more benefits for businesses, landlords, engineers and homeowners. BMS are tailored to meet the needs of any“smart” building. Smart buildings are operated more efficiently while providing high levels of comfort and convenience to building operators and tenants.