be more responsible when they
have the right information about
what’s going on in the building.”
Io T devices are able to deliver
the right information at the right
time to the right person, which has
previously been unavailable for
physical assets, Soya notes.
What is Io T?
In the simplest terms, the
Internet of Things is a network of
sensors, meters, appliances and
other devices that are capable of
sending and receiving data. In
other words:
n A CO2 meter that can estimate
the number of people in a room
and tell your HVAC system to
increase the ventilation rate in
response
n An occupancy sensor that can
order a bank of lights to turn on
when it senses a presence
n A dashboard that can analyze
a building’s worth of sensor
data and turn it into actionable
insights
They tend to fall into four
categories, according to Soya:
n Energy: Includes popular appli-
cations like wireless energy
consumption monitoring
n Equipment: Those that
optimize lighting and HVAC use
n Environmental quality:
Devices might measure particu-
late matter or CO2
n People or spaces: Devices that
can measure occupancy, space
utilization or how many people
have passed through a certain
entrance
For more Io T applications, see
“Lesser-Known Io T Applications”
on page 22.
The chief benefits setting Io T
devices apart from other smart
building technology are flexibility
and observability.
To understand the value of these
qualities, think of the monthly
electricity bill you get at home,
Herbst suggests. It may tell you
how much power your home used
and tell you that you owe $300, but
do you know where the $300 was
used?
“Most people will say, ‘No, I just
pay my bills and I’m done with it.
continued
I don’t know how much my refrig-
erator uses vs. my air conditioner
vs. my PlayStation 4,’” Herbst
explains.
“Having insight into where my
energy is being used is probably
the greatest opportunity for Io T
to help you manage a building and
better understand where energy is
being consumed.”
3 Ways to Evaluate Io T
Investments
Choosing which Io T provider to
partner with is a crucial decision
in implementing smart building
technology. As you investigate
providers and smart building
solutions, think about what you’d
like to accomplish with your
initial Io T investment and ask
yourself questions like these. Opt
for a provider with experience in
scalability so that you can expand
to other floors, building systems
or facilities in your portfolio after
your initial successes.
1) What are you trying to solve?
Understand where the finish
line is before you start running
the race. If you’re starting with
lighting, for example, do you
need a system that only monitors
energy use and turns off lighting
in unoccupied areas, or would
you also like to adjust the color
temperature? Could you benefit
from adding fault detection and
diagnostic capabilities?
2) Is Io T the answer to solving
my problem? If you’ve been
thinking about phasing in an
Io T solution as your legacy
infrastructure reaches the end
of its life, Soya recommends
looking for opportunities to
start that transition into an
Io T-based approach. “Often
people need to upgrade their
energy management system or
replace lighting, and rather than
using that opportunity to pivot
into an Io T solution, they fall
down the path of continuing to
do more traditional methods,”
Soya explains. If legacy equipment is involved, find an Io T
vendor who is experienced in
integrating new technologies
with legacy solutions.
3) How much can this save me
compared to the investment?
A good Io T solution should have
no recurring charges and should
enable a quick payback, Herbst
says. “For example, lighting
controls typically cost about
20% of the lighting budget,
so installing lighting controls
should save you about 30%
right off the bat in addition to
a conversion to LED,” Herbst
adds.
Soya suggests first asking if you
have a solution that’s holistic in
nature. “Start there and then worry
about the specific Io T technology
you want to select. Make sure the
platform is generalized so you can
include data from any kind of Io T
device.”
A challenge of Io T implemen-
tation is that there’s still a lot of
separation between hardware and
software, and you might need a
variety of hardware vendors and
software to implement Io T.
“Look for vendors that can
fully integrate with each other
so you’re not stuck trying to put
the pieces together on your own,”
Soya says.
“Having insight into
where my energy
is being used is
probably the greatest
opportunity for IoT
to help you manage
a building and better
understand where
energy is being
consumed.”
Joe Herbst, Vice President of Controls
for Revolution Lighting Technologies