INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Green Technology
Siemon expert: Intelligent buildings
can bring both environmental and
financial benefits
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Driven by the need to support rapidly growing
populations, smart cities are gaining momentum in the
Middle East. A fundamental component of any smart
city is the intelligent building. Prem Rodrigues, Director
of Sales and Marketing for Middle East, India and
SAARC at Siemon, answers some of the most commonly
asked questions surrounding intelligent buildings and
converged, integrated building infrastructures, including
benefits, capabilities and the place they take in the wider
scheme of smart cities.
What makes a building ‘intelligent’?
Compared to ‘traditional’ buildings,
intelligent buildings are driven by intelligent
systems. These systems integrate and control
all elements of an office digitally: such as
allocating work areas and conference rooms;
controlling lighting, auto cooling or heating
of occupied workspace; operating digital
security systems and centralised control;
and providing wireless access to employees
and guests etc. Intelligent buildings have
advanced systems and sensor technology
to monitor, collect and analyse information
from a variety of building systems and their
devices. In this way, intelligent systems
provide an environment that is measurable,
controllable and green.
What is the present state of the
smart building ecosystem in the
Middle East market and which
complementary manufacturers are
offering products in this space?
Intelligent buildings can’t be achieved
without an eco-system of complementary
manufacturer partners and Siemon is
working closely with many manufacturers
to build and grow an ecosystem of partners
www.intelligentcio.com
in the Middle East. Siemon is a partner
in Cisco’s Digital Ceiling Community
which aims to extend the benefits of IoT
throughout facilities via multiple converged
building networks. Siemon also has great
engagement with leading manufacturers
in the PoE Lighting sphere, including
Philips and Cree as well as manufacturers
in the stream of physical security, building
management systems.
What is the enabling technology
behind an intelligent building?
Intelligent buildings rely on IP convergence
and on the concept of using a single
IP network for support of data, voice,
video and low-voltage building systems.
Intelligent buildings thereby take
advantage of a structured cabling system
that converges these data, voice, video and
low-voltage building systems onto a single
unified network infrastructure. In addition,
low-voltage remote powering technology,
such as Power over Ethernet (PoE), can be
integrated. PoE utilises the copper balanced
twisted-pair IT cabling infrastructure to
deliver DC power to IP-enabled devices
such as IP phones, security cameras and
access systems.
What are the business benefits
that converged, integrated building
systems bring to building owners
and operators?
There is a multitude of benefits that
converged, integrated building systems can
deliver. Economic benefits include reduced
capital and operational expenditure. Using
a single unified cabling solution replaces
as many as eight or nine different systems,
each having proprietary wiring, connectors,
pathways and service experts.
As a result, converged, integrated building
systems lower labour costs as well as the
volume and the cost of material at the
point of installation. The deployment
of universal connectivity and cable also
facilitates less costly moves, additions
and changes and the ability of systems
to communicate via common protocols
improves security.
A further aspect is energy consumption
which can be lowered by up to 50%.
Not only does this contribute to reduced
operational expenses but also adds green
benefits along with the reduction of waste
due to reduced materials.
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