8 ELECTRIC.IE • The Magazine & Website for the Irish Electrical Industry • Siemens In my role I get involved in many discussions where the subject of smart buildings is raised. People have an impression of what a smart building is, and it is often some futuristic vision of a prestigious building in a major city using the latest IOT technologies with all the building services working together in harmony. This tends to imply a certain scale to the building, whether it’s a mixed-use skyscraper in a major city or a brand-new sports stadium. But is it only large-scale buildings meet the criteria, or can any building be smart? No is my answer to this. Let me de ne what I think a smart building is. It’s one that meets the needs on the owners and the occupants in the most optimum way. It should deliver a safe, comfortable, energy ef cient environment that accentuates the wellbeing of the building users. The Energy Performance of Buildings directive (EPBD) commits EU member countries to reduce energy consumption ‒ Howard Wilson, Building Product Lead, Siemens Ireland. Can all buildings be Smart? and deliver on carbon neutral targets. Around 40% of all energy consumption is in buildings which makes this such a key area. Key is measuring and monitoring not only internal temperature conditions but also air quality and then using this information to deliver the best possible conditions. It’s not enough to just measure there must be management. This is where controls will play a major part. Building Management Systems (BMS) and controllers are scalable right down to units which only have a few input and output connections but still deliver powerful control solutions. They are IP enabled allowing remote connection and management. This allows potential problem areas to be identi ed quickly and recti ed with no detriment to the occupant experience. At Siemens Building Products we have a comprehensive product portfolio that can help to turn the smart building dream into reality. We pride ourselves in the quality of our product range and offer a ve-year warranty on all our products. To start with sensors are key to the system. We offer a range of accurate and versatile sensors that measure all the relevant media within buildings including temperature, pressure, relative humidity, and air quality including CO2 and VOC (volatile organic compounds). Our sensors use industry standard signals allowing seamless integration. Modbus and KNX versions are also available. High accuracy versions for use in speci c applications such as pharmaceutical and data centres are available. Our new multi sensor has seven different sensing elements in the one unit; temperature, relative Howard Wilson, Building Products Lead, Siemens Ireland.
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