Retrofitting existing and new buildings

ZigBee is a wireless standards-based technology.
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Can old and dated buildings be made ‘smart’ in keeping with the latest trend of green building and sustainability? MEP Middle East looks at a cutting-edge innovation in wireless networking and what this implies for retrofitting existing and new buildings.

First of all, what is a ‘green’ building? This is best defined as the outcome of a design process predicated on resource maximisation in terms of energy, water and construction materials, while simultaneously reducing such a building’s impact on both human health and the environment during its lifecycle. It is evident from such a simple definition that a ‘green’ building is much more than the actual physical structure itself.

However, people pay lip-service to sustainability without fully understanding its implementation, argues Martin Leith, contracts manager at Rotary-HUMM (M&E) Services Middle East. MEP consultants and contractors stand to play a major role in bringing the green building trend to fruition in Dubai, but are hampered by the differing interpretations of the concept of ‘sustainability’ and its role in the construction industry.

“Traditionally what tends to happen, especially in the Middle East, was that architects design buildings remotely without consultation with the MEP consultants, engineers and contractors, thus missing out on many real opportunities to decrease the lifecycle cost of buildings,” argues Leith.

“Then, typically upon appointing the contract, the MEP people are asked how could they obtain further LEED points to the completed design? This usually means proposing expensive technologies such as PV/thermal solar energy panels, but this invariably increases costs for the developer, who would normally not even consider such proposals due to budgetary constraints.”

Misconception

There is a misconception that green buildings are more expensive than traditional buildings. For example, a study sponsored by investment firm Good Energies on 150 green building projects around the world shows that, on average, they cost only around 2% more than traditional buildings, and yielded 33% savings on energy. This is contrary to the idea that green building is more costly.

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FEATURED COMMENT I agree with Keith on many of these aspect, but as a technology integrator and some closely aligned with end users, part   1 Comments Read more comments »

It is estimated that buildings consume about 39% of all of the energy in the US in terms of operating costs. This refers to keeping lights on and running HVAC systems. Another 12% of total energy consumption in the US goes to construction and the building products sector. In total, more than half of the US’s energy consumption is accounted for by the construction and ancillary industries.

Meanwhile, the cost of building structures to LEED standards is coming down, with owners reporting on increasingly lucrative payoffs in lower utility bills and higher rents. Leith says that new technological advances are also making it easier for developers to go the green route and start reaping the benefits of building smart. Rotary-HUMM sees a potentially massive market in retrofitting existing buildings to ramp up their operational efficiencies and bring down their running costs significantly.

Vital role

“This is where technology plays such a vital role, but the perception is that any new technology is invariably expensive. What people fail to understand is that investing in energy-efficient systems upfront will herald exponential long-term benefits,” argues Leith.

Rotary-HUMM is in the process of rolling out new products to the Middle East that will give existing building owners and developers the leading edge in keeping up with the green building trend.

Before we look at one these products in detail, it is important to highlight what makes a green building ‘smart’. Andrew Sedman, technical director at R&M MEA, defines it as follows: “Any building has numerous systems, such as HVAC, lighting, audio/visual, video distribution, access control, voice and data networks, power management and life safety systems, to name a few of the most important ones. When any of these systems provides some form of reporting or alarming to a central location, we tend to regard them as being intelligent.

“In using ‘smart’ or ‘intelligent’ systems, the main focus is to reduce the operational and maintenance costs, while at the same time reducing demands on the environment and energy consumption. The facilities maintenance associated with smart buildings no longer requires on-site personnel, as everything is plugged into the Internet.

Central location

“Multiple smart buildings can now be managed remotely from one central location, or any number of secure locations, via the Internet, thereby allowing maintenance companies to be proactive rather than reactive, save on operation costs and, at the same time, contribute towards green initiatives by removing the majority of the control cables and providing a more environment-friendly habitat.

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