News
Building clients unprepared for smart building revolution
A
ccording to a new survey from the Electrical Contrac- tors’ Association (ECA), the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) and Scottish electrical trade body SELECT, four out of 10 building clients (40 per cent) say they are ‘unfamiliar’ with the heavily-used phrase the ‘Internet-of-Things’. The ‘Connected Technology Survey for Clients’ ran for three weeks in November and December last year, with 229 responses received.
Over half of respondents (55 per cent), who include consultants, engineers, end clients, local authorities and facilities managers, say that a ‘lack of clear advice/knowledge’ is a barrier to installing connected technology in their buildings. While over six in 10 respondents (61 per cent), say they don’t have any plans to ‘evaluate and install connected technology’. The survey findings also reveal that clients expect buildings, across sectors including residential, commercial, retail and industrial, to soon encounter a smart technology revolution. At present, more than half of the respondents say ‘a limited number’ or ‘very little’ of these buildings have connected technology installed, but a similar number expect this to increase to a ‘significant’ or ‘overwhelming
majority’ in the next five years. ECA’s head of specialist groups, Steve Martin, said: “The survey findings show that clients rightly recognise that a smart technology revolution in buildings is on the horizon, but are generally unprepared and lack the knowledge at present to make this a success. In the coming period, the ECA will work with the wider industry to help building clients develop and implement plans to take advantage of these commercial and technological opportunities.”
CIBSE technical director, Dr Hywel Davies, added: “As digital technology becomes ever more pervasive, it will have an increasing penetration in the buildings sector. The real challenge for our sector is to deliver digital technologies that can satisfy users who are used to technology offerings, functionality and user experience from silicon valley.”
At present, clients said the main reason for installing connected technology was to ‘improve energy efficiency and reduce energy bills’ (58 per cent). Over the next five years, respondents said the technologies most likely to be installed in buildings are: CCTV and security (78 per cent), heating (74 per cent), fire systems (69 per cent), and BEMS (67 per cent).
BESA courses support TR19 B
ESA (the Building Engineering Services Association), which developed the industry’s pri- mary standard for ventilation hygiene (TR19) almost 20 years ago, has unveiled a suite of training courses to support the standard.
This will be bolstered by an accreditation scheme due for launch early this year.
The need to provide a safe working environment for staff; reduce fire risks and avoid contamination of food preparation areas has pushed ductwork and kitchen extract cleaning to the top of the agenda for building owners.
Since it was first developed in 1998 by BESA, TR19 has been widely accepted by the building engineering services sector and British insurers as the standard to which ventilation systems should be cleaned. The guiding principle of TR19 is that a defined, measurable level of cleanliness should be achieved to improve safety and comfort in buildings.
www.heatingandventilating.net
It was updated and expanded two years’ ago to complement the British and European Standard BS EN 15780: ‘Ventilation for Buildings – Ductwork – Cleanliness of Ventilation Systems’, which highlights the important role ventilation hygiene plays in maintaining healthy indoor conditions for building occupants. TR19 exceeds the requirements of the standard in most respects and is a more comprehensive vehicle for delivering a total ventilation hygiene solution. It also includes kitchen grease extract systems, which are not yet covered in BS15780. In addition, TR19 helps building owners satisfy their obligations under the Regulatory Reform (fire safety) Order 2005.
BESA’s training scheme supports TR19 and seeks to ensure high standards throughout the sector by promoting the high level of technical competence needed to ensure ventilation cleaning meets legal requirements. For more information visit
www.thebesa.com.
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