Intelligent Office Building Research Articles

Perceptions of built environment professionals on intelligent office buildings: The interplay between technology, design for sustainability and responsiveness

The confluence of technological advances, climate mitigation efforts, and evolving user expectations has significantly transformed how the built environment is conceptualized, designed, and delivered; Intelligent Buildings (IBs) are not an exception. The systematic literature review revealed that there have been limited studies exploring the perspectives of Building Environment (BE) professionals on IBs, along with divergent emerging descriptions of IBs, creating an ambiguity for their practical realization. To address this gap, this study aims to explore the intelligence in office buildings based on professionals’ interpretations and its practical implementation through design features. An exploratory study was carried out by conducting semi-structured interviews with 63 domain professionals, and qualitative content analysis was utilized to identify emerging themes during the interviews. Nine themes were identified for describing Intelligent Office Buildings (IOBs). Professionals' perceptions were found to vary according to their nationality and profession. The original contribution of this study is that by reflecting the perspectives of building environment professionals worldwide through interviews and revisiting the existing debates in the literature, the current IOB design approach is delineated. The core IOB concept evolves around the occupant-oriented approach and the integration of climate-responsive design strategies with a balanced level of technology uniquely serving a well-defined purpose by taking advantage of regional conditions. Research findings have theoretical contributions by unravelling the IOB concept and design features, shedding light on the dual roles of technology and design principles. These findings on guiding principles for the design of IOBs can provide a valuable framework for BE practitioners.

Influence factors on illuminance distribution uniformity and energy saving of the indoor illumination control method.

This study investigated the influence factors of illuminance distribution uniformity and the energy-saving ability of the indoor illumination control system, which consists of a white light-emitting diodes (WLED) matrix and a tabletop matrix. In the proposed illumination control method, comprehensive effects of time-invariant and time-variant sunlight of the outdoor environment, arrangement of the WLED matrix, iterative functions selected for illuminance distribution optimization, and compositions of WLED optical spectra are considered. The non-symmetrical spatial distribution of WLED-tabletop matrices, the optical spectrum selection of WLEDs, and the shifting sunlight intensity introduce obvious influence on (a) emission intensity and distribution uniformity of the WLED matrix and (b) receiving illuminance intensity and distribution uniformity of the tabletop matrix. Additionally, the selection of iterative functions, the WLED matrix dimension, the target error coefficient in the iteration, and the optical spectra of the WLEDs cause non-negligible influence on the energy saving percentage and iteration steps of the proposed algorithm, influencing the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed method. Our investigation provides guidelines for the improvement of optimization speed and accuracy of indoor illumination control systems, and the method is hopefully to be widely applied in manufacturing industry and intelligent office buildings.

GENERALIZATION OF THE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCHES OF THE INTELLIGENT OFFICE BUILDINGS FORMATION FEATURES

The article analyzes the scientific works of scientists in the field of engineering and architectural design that have influenced on intelligent office buildings formation.
 The main criteria for assessing the intelligent buildings in Asia, Europe and America are considered. There are differences in approaches in different parts of the world. Particularly in Asia, the system takes into account the impact on the environment, employee health, comfortable working conditions, the introduction of modern technologies, safety, return on investment, etc. The assessment system named Intelligent Building Index (IBI) consists of 10 Quality Environment Modules (QEM), which have different weights depends on intelligent building type. The second level of the IBI method included a list of 378 criteria, each of which was evaluated by a system of 1 to 100 points.
 In Europe, it focuses on the interaction of intelligent buildings with humans and the environment, also on minimizing energy consumption and operating costs. In most European countries, intelligent buildings are assessed by Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, BREEAM.
 In the United States, priority approaches are related to the principles of sustainability and adaptability to rapid changes in technology and human needs. One of the most common criteria for assessing buildings in the United States is the system Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, LEED.
 The basic architectural methods are singled out: using the wind generators and photovoltaic elements on facades; the arrangement of facades with double glazing; application of automatic blinds between two layers of glazing, etc. It is proved that the intelligent building is not a usual building that just uses an automation building management system (BMS), but first of all, is an "intelligent architecture" with providing sustainable principles and requiring an integrated approach from the first designing stage.

Vector of the Intelligent Office Buildings Formation

Every day the architecture expands its borders and opportunities. In meeting the challenges of commercial office buildings designing, which include not only the aesthetic and functional aspects, the efficiency problem of their exploitation becomes more actual, including resource conservation, energy efficiency, environmental friendliness, environmental protection, safety (the fire, terrorism, natural disaster, etc.), comfortable working conditions, reduced operating expenses and economy. The regulatory and legal framework that ensures the development of intelligent buildings (IBs) and the establishment of automatic control systems in office buildings in the USA, Europe and Asia are analysed in the article. Based on the trends of the office buildings development, the main influencing factors of the automated control systems on the formation of intellectual and administrative buildings are identified and based on which a new vector of digital, dynamic and transformative architecture is selected.

Assessment of user satisfaction in an intelligent office building in Istanbul

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to evaluate an intelligent office building based on the post occupation evaluation (POE) criteria in relation to physical and psychosocial user needs.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using a questionnaire. The first group of questions was to determine demographic information; the second group of questions includes questions, which aim to measure the comfort level of the building users. The questionnaire also includes open-ended questions on other comments and suggestions. The data of the research were evaluated with the SPSS program and frequency and percentage distributions were determined. A total of 110 employees participated in the survey.FindingsThe results showed that the participants were generally satisfied with the design quality, indoor air quality and building support services quality of the building, while there were also participants who report dissatisfaction about the floor covering materials and ventilation of the spaces. At the end of the study, attention was drawn to the importance of POE in connection with user requirements.Originality/valueIt is considered that this study will shed light on future works by developing a perspective on intelligent office buildings in terms of user requirements and research process with the results obtained.

Investigation of Flexible Work Environments' Effects on Employees’ Satisfaction in an Intelligent Office Building

Investigation of Flexible Work Environments' Effects on Employees’ Satisfaction in an Intelligent Office Building

Utilization of Flexible Demand in a Virtual Power Plant Set-Up

High penetration levels from renewable energy sources in large-scale power systems demand a high degree of flexibility in the transmission and distribution system. This paper presents a method for utilization of flexible demand in the low-voltage distribution system using the thermal mass of a building to defer power consumption from electric space heating. The power consumption for heating is controlled by an operational virtual power plant, which is sending a set point for requested power consumption to the building management system. An optimization problem is formulated such that the discrete dispatch of power from ten electric space heaters is following the power set point given constraints on the indoor comfort that is defined by the users of the building. The controlling method has been implemented in an intelligent office building and used for demonstration of flexible demand in the low voltage network.

Assessment of Indoor Environmental Quality in Open-Plan Offices

This study aims to analyze the factors of indoor environment on occupants’ health and comfort by post-occupancy evaluation (POE) and to accumulate the fundamental data of occupants’ behaviour in relation to indoor environment, in an effort to ascertain the optimal building energy management system (BEMS). For this purpose, indoor temperature, relative humidity, vertical temperature distribution, air velocity, predicted mean vote (PMV), radiant temperature, outdoor temperature, and humidity were measured for evaluating thermal environment for nearly 2 years. Indoor air contaminants, such as PM10, CO2, formaldehyde, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured in the building and at outdoor locations. Working plane illuminance, window luminance, and the equivalent continuous a-weighted sound pressure level (Leq) were also monitored. In addition, the occupants in the intelligent office building were surveyed regarding the indoor environmental quality via the intranet. Results showed that all indoor environmental factors satisfied the recommendation, except the indoor relative humidity and PMV. The physical factors of thermal environment had been stable since two months after it was built. However, it should be necessary to improve the sound privacy caused by low background noise, seasonal air-conditioning for appropriate humidity, air freshness, and Video Display Terminal (VDT) glare in order to reduce the level of occupants’ annoyance.

Application of Model Predictive Control for Active Load Management in a Distributed Power System With High Wind Penetration

This paper introduces an experimental platform (SYSLAB) for the research on advanced control and power system communication in distributed power systems and one of its components-an intelligent office building (PowerFlexHouse), which is used to investigate the technical potential for active load management. It also presents in detail how to implement a thermal model predictive controller (MPC) for the heaters' power consumption prediction in the PowerFlexHouse. It demonstrates that this MPC strategy can realize load shifting, and using good predictions in MPC-based control, a better matching of demand and supply can be achieved. With this demand side control study, it is expected that MPC strategy for active load management can dramatically raise energy efficiency and improve grid reliability, when there is a high penetration of intermittent energy resources in the power system.

Intelligent office building performance evaluation

Outlines building evaluation methodology and instruments, which will facilitate comparative, cross‐cultural evaluation of the performance of a building type which is common worldwide; i.e. intelligent office buildings. States that failure to obtain feedback on building performance can have serious consequences. Focuses on post‐occupancy evaluation (POE) an evaluation methodology. Concludes that there is a need for an evaluative stance throughout the building delivery process and cycle and POE appears to be of critical importance in the area of inter‐cultural differences in order to achieve better quality intelligent buildings.

Empathetic design and post‐occupancy evaluation

This paper describes a case study evaluation of an innovative educational facility at the University of Reading, designed by the American modernist architect, Rick Mather. The paper presents some conceptual concerns regarding “inquiry” based evaluation and advocates the use of “empathetic” evaluation currently practised in other industries. Questionnaire based approaches throw little light on the impact of building design on new workplace practices currently being experimented with in intelligent office buildings. Empathetic evaluation may help to redress this.

An integrated approach to design and engineering of intelligent buildings—The Intelligent Workplace at Carnegie Mellon University

In the past few years, there have been significant advances made in the design and engineering of “intelligent” workplaces, buildings that not only accommodate major advances in office technology but provide better physical and environmental settings for the occupants. This paper will briefly present recent approaches to the creation of innovative environments for the advanced workplace. The architectural and engineering advances demonstrated in Japan, Germany, North America, the United Kingdom, and France can be summarized in four major system categories: (1) enclosure innovations including approaches to load balancing, natural ventilation and daylighting; (2) heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system innovations including approaches to local control and improved environmental contact; (3) data/voice/power “connectivity” innovations; and (4) interior system innovations, including approaches to workstation and workgroup design for improved spatial, thermal, acoustic, visual and air quality. In-depth international field studies of over 20 intelligent office buildings have been carried out by a multidisciplinary expert team of the Advanced Building Systems Integration Consortium (ABSIC) based at Carnegie Mellon University. ABSIC is a university-industry-government partnership focused on the definition and development of the advanced workplace. The ABSIC field team evaluated the component and integrated system innovations for their multidimensional performance qualities, through expert analysis, occupancy assessments and field diagnostics. Based on the results of the case studies and building on the most recent technological advances, the ABSIC team developed the concepts for the Intelligent Workplace, a 7000 square foot living laboratory of office environments and innovations. This project is now under construction at Carnegie Mellon University and its features are discussed in the second section of this paper.

連関分析による建築設備の建設コスト構成に関する評価手法の研究 : 事務所建物におけるスペース構成と建築設備工事費を用いた試算

The remarkable increase of intelligent office buildings has changed the many building elements and installation cost which are mutually interrelated. This report demonstrates the results of analysis with the input/output calculation method to the installation costs for building services using estimate sheets of six typical office buildings. The aim of this report is to evaluate the final building construction cost including the various influencing costs when a building service equipment is installed. The influencing costs caused by installation of outlet circuit, lighting fittings, air-conditioner and sanitary fixture are shown as the results of the input/output analysis.

B-15 高度情報化オフィスのアトリウム環境の測定と評価 : 第1報調査対象と測定概要

B-15 高度情報化オフィスのアトリウム環境の測定と評価 : 第1報調査対象と測定概要

インテリジェントビルにおける照明方式と照明器具の選定

インテリジェントビルにおける照明方式と照明器具の選定

Intelligent office buildings on three continents

Lack of depth is the usual price paid for breadth of ambition. However, in order to make sense of the current enthusiasm for intelligent office building it is necessary not only to investigate what is happening in countries as widely dispersed as Japan, Sweden and the United States but also to indulge in a rather liberal interpretation of what office buildings actually are. The first benefit of this point of view is that a great deal can be learned from contrasts between offices built in different countries (and for different organisations) particularly about values held by the individuals and about the social structures which make up the modern office organisation. The second benefit is that a better understanding of how offices are built and serviced, through time, is of great practical advantage to those who must manage rapidly changing organisations.