INDUSTRY COMMENT: BCIA


Jon Belfield, president of the Building Controls Industry Associaon (BCIA), looks forward to seeing the diversity of products on display at the Smart Buildings Show together with the opportunity to meet the growing number of engineers who can deliver these innovave soluons


his month sees the return of the Smart Buildings Show at Olympia. It is clear that demand and investment in smart building technology is on the rise. As a fan of new technology, I am very much looking forward to seeing the range of solutions on display, how they can be applied practically, how they enhance the performance of the building and perhaps most importantly, how they deliver efficient comfort control. As we continue to increase the significant role we all play in moving the UK to a lower carbon economy, we must challenge and support these innovations together with the absolutely critical ingredient that goes to make any building smart – the supply chain.


around these technical advances in order to deliver the changes we need.


It is the ‘engineers’ across the supply chain who can select, integrate and commission smart technology to deliver performance that isn’t just focussed on contract compliance but honours our growing shared duty to make the UK building stock the most comfortable and most efficient in the world. So when I assess new technology and find myself thinking “that’s impressive, but why would I want it and how does it actually add practical value?”, I have to check my views more and more to ensure that I am not seeing the world solely based on my own era of building technology experience. Increasingly, I recognise the importance of addressing this potential for what is referred to as ‘perception blindness’ and try to assess technology not based solely on my own opinions but on how others, especially younger engineers, see the world. This way, we can help set a solid course for them to engineer the world they will inhabit.


Nevertheless, it goes without saying that it still remains extremely important to ensure our sector embraces new innovations and builds the skills


With the word ‘smart’ being used more and more in relation to building automation products, we have a collective professional responsibility to ensure these leading technologies are available to function in a smart way when the building is occupied. With the increasing demand for ever more sophisticated building automation, the business opportunities are significant. I believe that we also have a professional responsibility to deliver better performing buildings. With the necessary investment in skills and people together with the correct selection and application of smart technology, I see no reason why the business opportunities and the performance targets cannot be achieved together.


Let me give you an example showing the importance of the supply chain when it comes to delivering performance... building one had a biomass boiler with a gas boiler for back-up. Building two had just a biomass boiler. Building one never really grasped how the biomass boiler should be set up or maintained and the gas boiler defaulted to becoming the primary source of heat. Building two took slightly longer to commission and set up but the biomass had to be the sole source of heating. It is the same biomass boiler in both buildings, the difference is that in building two there was no fall-back option so the engineering, commissioning and maintenance had to be spot on.


This example isn’t about biomass boilers, it is about the collective professional responsibility of the supply chain. It is incumbent on all of us to ensure that equipment, components, systems and skills are all selected correctly, engineered and commissioned so that they deliver smart buildings. The years of R&D in the development of


BSEE


Getting smart with building management T


innovative energy efficient technology count for nothing if the supply chain isn’t collectively focussed on both compliance and performance. I believe the reason for the growth in this market is that smart technology is seeping into our everyday lives from all angles, and its raison d'être will vary among manufacturers, contractors and end-users. In the non-residential sector the opportunities and areas where smart technology can make a difference seem endless. Busy transport hubs like stations and airports can operate much more efficiently thanks to IP-based security monitoring, digital signage and audio-visual equipment. In a commercial building, smart uses can vary from helping someone locate a spare desk in a busy office setting, to monitoring the temperature levels inside and outside the building.


A Building Management System (BMS) is no longer solely about the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) and with so many systems designed to make our built environment more energy efficient and productive, the clever stuff really starts when we get them all working together, producing the data that helps us optimise processes, make predictions and ensure that the right information can be delivered in real- time to those that need it.


Fortunately, we now have the equipment available to enable us to create integrated systems which allows products from different manufacturers to communicate with each other. We can also add new technologies to the BMS individually, without having to replace an entire system, thus extending the lifecycle of equipment. Whether it’s two systems or 200, if they are integrated successfully there is no limit to how smart your building can be, whatever its function.


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BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER OCTOBER 2019 9


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