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Canadian researchers are developing a wireless network of indoor environment sensors to help improve a building's environmental health, energy efficiency and maintenance, as well as the general comfort of its occupants.
In the intelligent buildings of the future, workers will be able to set their individual preferences for temperature, lighting and ventilation. A central system will adjust conditions and ?follow? employees as they move from one workspace to another.
One day, your office may work for you. Just imagine a workplace that automatically adjusts air and temperature for your comfort, keeps a close watch for health hazards, and looks for ways to save energy throughout the day.
Watch a smart building at work
6:00 a.m. Lights are off and the ventilation rate is set on minimum, so little energy is being used to “condition” an empty space.
8:00 a.m. Sensors detect activity nearby in the building, which triggers the electric lighting and ventilation to come on at a minimum level in all the cubicles. As Elizabeth enters workstation #2, the lighting and ventilation levels are automatically set to her preferences.
8:15 a.m. Chantal joins Elizabeth in workstation #2, so they can work together on a project. The lighting and ventilation are adjusted to an average of their preferences.
10:30 a.m. As daylight increases, the electric lights dim to save energy while preserving individual illumination preferences.
3:00 p.m. Sunlight pours through the windows, increasing glare and raising the interior temperature. In response, the system lowers the blinds to reduce glare and cooling requirements.
3:45 p.m. The system detects elevated formaldehyde levels. Frances, who has a known sensitivity to formaldehyde, is in the workplace. The system flushes out the entire room with fresh air. Increasing the ventilation raises energy costs at this peak demand time, so the system allows the temperature to rise — reducing cooling costs — and dims the lights to compensate.
Those are the goals of an ambitious effort by Canadian researchers to harness wireless technologies to monitor and control the indoor environment of commercial buildings.
Launched in 2008, the “sensor networks for commercial buildings” project is developing:
- a wireless sensor network that responds to employees’ personal preferences for lighting and ventilation;
- new sensors to monitor and control important air pollutants; and
- energy forecasting tools to improve efficiency and reduce costs in buildings.
A wireless workplace
To demonstrate these concepts, the research team has configured NRC’s Indoor Environment Research Facility with wireless sensors to detect the location of occupants. The occupants wear customized badges that link to information on their environmental preferences. The facility also contains sensors for light, airflow, temperature and carbon dioxide. New sensors for radon and formaldehyde will be added soon.
“When a cubicle is occupied in our facility, a central system adjusts the local settings to match the occupant’s preferences in terms of lighting level and ventilation rate,” explains Dr. Guy Newsham. The occupants can change their preferences at any time through a computer interface, and their preferences “follow them around” as they move from one workspace to another. Such a system may be particularly valuable in workplaces that use the “hotelling” strategy, in which no one has a permanently assigned office.
Monitoring air quality
The researchers are also creating novel sensors for important air pollutants, allowing new monitoring and control capabilities to improve occupant health. In partnership with Carleton University, NRC is testing a new radon sensor that can communicate with a building management system. For example, if radon levels rise above a danger threshold, “an intelligent network might respond automatically by pressurizing the building to keep the radon out of the basement, or increasing the ventilation rate and flushing out the gas,” says Dr. Newsham. The research team is also developing sensors to detect formaldehyde, which may be emitted in buildings from new furniture, wallboard and paint, etc.
Energy forecasting
The final priority is to help building managers anticipate electricity demand throughout the day. Toward this end, NRC researchers have developed an energy prediction system that can incorporate historical energy use data for a particular building, current weather forecasts and other data. The system shows how energy is being used — whether for lighting, information technology or cooling, etc. — and indicates how consumption will vary up to 24 hours in advance.
“Based on the projected energy use and utility price structures, building managers can take actions, such as flattening peaks in consumption, aligning energy demands with ‘low demand’ periods on the grid, or using storage and other strategies wisely, resulting in energy and cost savings,” explains the research team. 
Did you know?
NRC research over the past 15 years consistently shows that giving employees control over their lighting and ventilation leads to improved job satisfaction, physical comfort, and energy savings of at least 10 percent.
