In cities all over the world, skylines teem with towers of concrete and steel, filled with an array of people and businesses. For the past half century, cities have continued to attract millions of people every year, resulting in added pressure on buildings and other urban infrastructure like parking, public transportation and roads.
Every day, more and more people commute, pass through security checks, go up and down in elevators, conduct meetings in cool and comfortable rooms, and work at well-lit desks in front of laptops with blazing-fast connections.
Technology plays a role in all they do, and in all our lives, as commercial buildings consume an estimated 40 percent of the world’s total energy.
But while people go about their day in these massive structures, they probably don’t realize that these buildings are now beginning to have intelligent ecosystems that keep up with maintenance, repairs, air conditioning and other operations, while also cutting down on overall energy consumption. This is especially important given that 70 percent of all electricity in the United States goes to supporting building operations.
This is a new era of digital business, a transformation that includes smarter buildings that reduce energy costs and deliver greener cities, while also surrounding people in safety and comfort, helping them to be the most productive they can be. Smart buildings not only use the Internet of Things and cloud-based systems that give new visibility and insight into equipment and energy status.
Buildings that were once constructed as system silos where air conditioning, elevators and lighting were planned and managed separately, with limited to no consideration of the impact of one on the other – are now being redesigned in a more holistic way.
Source: Microsoft
