The Building

A building is like a factory: it should not be viewed as a fixed structure with independent utility systems, but as a context-aware, interactive facility optimized for productivity and efficiency. A building can be a dynamic system that manufactures customized environments to maximize occupant productivity and comfort while minimizing energy and environmental cost throughout the supply chain, from occupant to the energy source.

While there is a great deal of regulatory activity on low-energy retrofits, the industrial sector is highly fragmented, resulting in building systems that are operating in loosely connected silos. Information and communication technologies, including smart wireless networks, can be linked with research in mechanical ventilation, lighting and building materials technologies and can provide detailed monitoring and subsequent control of electricity, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning loads in the built environment.