For years now, industry has been hearing about the Internet of Things (IOT) for the built environment -- provisioning offices, stores, warehouses and other buildings with wireless thermostats and sensors, heating and air conditioning units, and other energy-controlling devices.
There’s nothing like the equivalent of the ubiquitous home or office Wi-Fi router to connect it all -- at least, not until Intel’s Building Management Platform (BMP) came to market.
Over the past 18 months, Intel has been working with a set of software and hardware partners to put together a low-cost, simple-to-use IOT server.
The BMP is meant to be as easy to set up as a wireless router, but equipped with all the legacy protocols required to tap into the world of energy-using “things” in buildings.
Intel said its BMP allows small to medium sized buildings to become smart and connected via a system of sensors that can send data to the cloud or onsite servers. Traditional BMS typically serve large buildings and have been out of reach to the lower end of the market due to price.
Intel's general manager of energy solutions, Thierry Godart, said this technology enables a simpler solution for installation, a software-as-a-service approach for applications, and a large and diverse ecosystem of hardware and software vendors.
This could be a big deal for companies seeking to bring the latest advances in data collection, advanced analytics and device control to buildings.
Today, these companies have been forced to limit themselves to the largest and most sophisticated buildings, or to modify existing technology to run their applications in the vast majority of buildings that don’t have the latest building management system (BMS) from big name companies.
This solution is for small to mid-size buildings that want to enable IOT and energy management, but can’t afford a traditional BMS, Godart said.
For these buildings, “the barrier to entry was the cost of installation, and the fact that, without a certification program and an ecosystem of hardware and software, you were not sure you were getting the best-practice [standard] in usability and security.” Intel estimate that the upfront cost for its solution will be under $US1,000.
Intel is looking to bring the BMP to market through IT distribution partners, or through contractors that install building HVAC and energy management systems, Godart said.
Buildings consume almost 40 per cent of the total energy consumed worldwide. The need to minimize this number, is a major factor driving the growth of building automation systems.
In addition to internal systems, building management systems are also linked with access control such as access doors controlling and turnstiles that allow access and outlet to the building, and other security systems such as motion detectors and CCTV.
Elevators and fire alarm systems are often linked with a building management system for monitoring purposes.
The only two factors that have hindered growth is high installation cost and lack of skilled labour. BMS often covers hardware, software and services, all of which needs to be integrated.
The high cost of switching from a traditional individual building management system is a major restraint but the convergence of IoT and smart buildings is expected to make a huge difference.
According to a report by Zion Market Research into the smart building market which covers building management systems, the global market was valued at $US 7 billion in 2014.
It is expected to reach approximately $US36 billion by 2020, growing at a CAGR of more than 30 per cent between 2015 and 2020. For all the latest in the BMS market check out CCN's Building Automation feature in the July edition of the magazine.