The idea of an intelligent building is attractive to property developers and managers.After all, not only does it follow the modern trend for adding intelligence to every kind of device or system,it also suggests a building which manages itself and, in particular, optimises energy efficiency, with little or no effort on thepart of the occupants, managers or owners.

It's small wonder,therefore, that many BMS (building management system)vendors now claim to offer intelligent building solutions. When considering these solutions, however, there are two important points to keep in mind. The first is that not all of the claims are justified,and the second is that intelligent building solutions are not appropriate for every project.

To explain these points, let's start by looking at what makes a true intelligent building solution.It's not just a system where all of the building management services – air conditioning, heating,security, etc.– simply share the same network.This may be very convenient, allowing control and supervision from a single location but,on its own, network sharing doesn't justify the title of an intelligent building solution.

The real indicator of intelligence is that not only do the various systems share the same network; they also interact with one another to provide additional functionality and/or to reduce the cost of the overall installation.A few examples will help to make this clearer.

A PIR sensor primarily installed for security purposes can also be used to control lighting and air conditioning, eliminating the need for separate sensors. An access control system can be used to control lighting on the basis of building occupancy and, since CCTV cameras can monitor temperature,they can be used to control heating and airconditioning systems.

In a well-designed intelligent building installation, interaction between systems also takes place at a higher level. The BMS may, for example, monitor a building's electrical power systems. If it detects that the main supply has failed and the building is being fed from a standby source,it could send this information to the IT systems, allowing steps to be taken to guard against data loss should the supply fail completely.

It can be seen that intelligent buildings potentially offer many advantages,but this does not mean that, at the present time, they are right for every project.As has already been discussed,intelligence requires interaction between systems,and this is not always easy or even possible to achieve.

Part of the problem may be technical, in that the various systems may use incompatible communications protocols.This is becoming less of a concern,however,as most protocols can now be linked using gateways or translators,and manufacturers are tending to concentrate on a few widely used standard protocols, rather than each adopting their own proprietary system.

A much bigger barrier to successful intelligent building implementation is the way in which various aspects of a project are usually covered by different contracts. It is rare, for example, for the electrical distribution systems to be part of the same contract as, say, the air conditioning installation or the security system. This arrangement makes it difficult to achieve co-ordination between the various suppliers. It also brings out two further very important points: if they are to be successful, intelligent building solutions have to be client led, and the decision to adopt them has to be made at a very early stage in the project.

Even then, careful planning and tight control are needed to ensure the necessary degree of interoperability between the various systems, and to avoid the pitfalls of divided responsibility where multiple suppliers are involved. For example, all suppliers will be connecting their equipment to the same network, but who will take the responsibility for ensuring that the network has sufficient capacity to handle all of the traffic it must carry? If these problems cannot be satisfactorily addressed, a less ambitious BMS solution may prove to be a better and more cost effective choice. If the problems can be solved, however, the effort is likely to be worthwhile since, as we've seen, intelligent building solutions offer the potential for cost savings combined with enhanced functionality which cannot readily be achieved in any other way.

Intelligent building technology is likely to be increasingly widely adopted in future but, to make this possible; the way in which projects are managed will need to change. For now, the technology is certainly available and viable, but its use is appropriate only where there is total commitment to its success at the highest organisational levels, starting early in the life of the project.

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