From efficient to smart: transitioning from certified high-performance commercial buildings

Abstract

The technology, integrated security, and communication systems building-oriented had a great evolution in the last decades. Likewise, the energy efficiency concepts and the greater concern related to sustainability in the civil construction sector have both been enlarged. Although buildings certified as intelligent have gained more prominence in recent years, their highlight is still minor considering that they are one step ahead of those certified as sustainable due to improving technology and tools to achieve maximum energy efficiency. In this context, this work aims at providing a foundation for a better understanding of the various parameters required for the transition from a sustainable building certificated to an “smart building”, using the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) as a reference. To this end, a checklist was proposed to better guide the transition from sustainable to smart. Moreover, a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certificated building located in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, was taken as the object of study to assess its potential to meet the requirements of building intelligence. The results revealed that the building sustainable certification of LEED does not ensure that it reaches a significant potential for intelligence, but it contributes to the fact that part of the criteria required for its transition is already being met. In general, it is understood that the proposed checklist may be also applied in other cases to assist in the purpose of analyzing the transition from efficient to smart buildings through the analyzed parameters, as well as contribute to a new generation of automated and ecologically sustainable buildings.