Buildings are becoming more digital, more connected and increasingly data-driven. But what does that mean for building owners, operators and occupants, and for building services technology itself? A closer look at how the next generation of building automation will bring together comfort, air quality and energy efficiency.
Building automation connects sensors, controls and technical systems throughout a building.
Sensors continuously collect information about temperature, air quality, occupancy and operating conditions.
Based on this information, building automation controls and regulates systems such as ventilation, indoor climate and energy usage.
Much of this happens quietly in the background, without occupants being consciously aware of it.
The goal is to make buildings more comfortable, more efficient and easier to operate.
Building stock
Challenges
Building automation
Buildings today must meet multiple demands at the same time. They are expected to save energy, provide comfort and comply with increasingly complex regulations.
Modern building automation helps bring these objectives together. Systems respond to actual building usage and direct energy where it is needed most.
As a result, buildings operate more efficiently without compromising comfort or air quality.
»The trend is moving away from static building technology towards adaptive, learning systems.«
Elmar Nieswand, Extended Executive Board, TROX SE
Ideally, very little.
If people feel comfortable in a space, can concentrate on their work and do not need to continuously adjust settings, then the system is doing its job.
Sensors monitor air quality, temperature and other environmental conditions. Building automation automatically adapts conditions in response.
Air quality plays a particularly important role. It has a major influence on well-being and performance, yet usually remains invisible.
That is precisely why automated ventilation will become increasingly important in the future.
The development of intelligent buildings is changing building technology itself.
Integrated systems are increasingly taking centre stage, replacing isolated components. Planning, installation, maintenance and operation are becoming more closely connected.
The result is a new generation of smart building solutions that connect technical systems while reducing complexity and interfaces.
This also changes the role of manufacturers. Increasingly, customers are looking for solution partners rather than product suppliers.
Individual products are evolving into connected end-to-end solutions.
Buildings will become more than the sum of their rooms and technical systems.
They will capture data, detect change and support operators in managing buildings more efficiently.
Much like modern vehicles, buildings are becoming increasingly digital and connected.
Building automation continuously monitors, analyses and optimises everything from energy consumption to indoor climate conditions.
The decisive factor is not how much technology is installed. It is how effectively individual components work together as part of an intelligently connected system.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Building automation connects technical systems throughout a building and manages them automatically using sensor data.
It links technical systems so that energy consumption, comfort and building performance can be managed in a coordinated and efficient way.
A smart building uses digital technologies and automated processes to operate more efficiently, provide greater comfort and respond better to occupant needs.
Air quality directly influences comfort and performance. Modern building automation therefore manages ventilation and indoor climate increasingly according to demand.
They will become more connected, make better use of data and automate a growing number of operational processes.
