When Buildings Become Intelligent—A Network Analysis of Building Automation, Operation and Competencies

Abstract

The global climate agenda has challenged the construction sector and led to a significant use of technology in buildings. At the same time, new technologies like Internet of Things, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence are beginning to fit into the buildings’ technical systems. Knowledge is available about the technical side of the “intelligent building” however, there is insufficient practical experience and knowledge about the competencies that are required in order to interact with the intelligent building. The purpose of this analysis is to elucidate competence requirements in connection with the dissemination of building automation in large buildings. The study is based on qualitative interviews of six industry organizations and four organizations that in different ways relate to the operation of large buildings. They are strategically chosen whereas they represent four different models of building operation. In the study, building automation is related to the construction sector’s need for finding optimal solutions and methods that ensure knowledge transfer across building operations and construction projects. The results indicate that (1) building operation can be configured in many ways, (2) the different building operation models work towards optimization of operation using building automation (3) the different building operation models use different strategies for transferring knowledge from operation to building project. The recommendation is that a forward-looking competence strategy can benefit from building on a system understanding of building automation, rather than a sole focus on technical specialization. The analysis also points to the need to explore building automation as a socio-technical system, thereby supplementing the technical research of the past.