Smarter buildings: The green evolution

BANGALORE, INDIA: According to the American Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the building sector in the US accounts for nearly 48 per cent of annual greenhouse gas emissions, even without factoring the emissions from the manufacturing process of material used in construction.

Globally, while the averages may vary based on density of buildings, local climatic conditions, and general use of the structure, buildings are still seen as among the largest emitters of harmful effluents, or significant consumers of energy and resources for light, Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC), upkeep and more.

While the understanding that buildings are heavily resource-dependent has grown in the recent past, there is still a clear gap in the realisation of how society needs to view its buildings, redefine their uses and layouts, and reinvent space utilisation to make them most efficient and less resource-hungry.

Corporate Responsibility

Organisations are clearly in a position to take a lead on this, as they are the ones who typically are able to see and showcase changes and benefits in their resource utilisation and spend patterns. In US, companies have already been able to cut the amount of energy they use, to the tune of 5.4 million megawatt hours. Benefit to the environment has been lower carbon emissions by 3.6 million metric tonnes, and for the economy, savings of over $400 million!

While there is often initial resistance to the investments required to make a building or a cluster of buildings more environment-friendly, a simple projection of the savings that the company can expect when the system is operational, would undoubtedly be a very strong trigger point. Government regulation is the other driving factor for quick adoption but in most cases increased operational efficiency is the main driving factor.

Building blocks

Businesses that want to make their spaces smarter need to remember that, like with any IT infrastructure roll-out, this should be a planned and phased undertaking. Organisations evaluating this transformation for their offices need to consider the following:

User Inputs: When considering the power, lighting, and heating or cooling requirements of spaces, the most relevant inputs come from the people who inhabit the space on a daily basis. Gathering these inputs will help understand the best time of day to utilise natural light, the spaces that need manual control of light and air conditioning, and many more unique factors.

Collaboration: A broad roll-out of technology to make a building smarter means the integration of data from diverse systems, which now need to communicate and work together. Collaboration with the suppliers and maintenance teams of the systems means that even traditionally non-digital systems like fire alarms, water supply or parking management can be centrally controlled through the overall building management system.

Start Now! Matters related to environmental benefit cannot be put on the back-burner, as it is a pressing need to be addressed at the very earliest. The greatest advantage for a business is that the investment in this is not only the right thing to do, but, considering the savings and effect on employee morale, also the smart thing to do.

The Green Advantage

With technological advances and innovation now a way of life, organisations should also keep in mind that there exist solutions to re-use energy generated or wasted from one system to another. For instance, the heat generated from the operation of a data centre could very well generate the power needed for general use in the building. Once an audit is done of the existing systems, the interconnectivity blueprint will emerge, and help the business offset much of its investment through re-use and re-cycling.

The need is clear - and the benefits are apparent. Every business is a responsible member of its community, and a corporate citizen of the nation it operates in. Becoming a corporate green warrior is easier than ever these days, and the rewards go beyond the bottom-line to impact the reputation, perception, and overall goodwill among employees and the community.

(K S Raghunandan is the director, Integrated Technology Services, Global Technology Services, IBM India/South Asia )