The role of linked data and the semantic web in building operation

Effective Decision Support Systems (DSS) for building service managers require adequate performance data from many building data silos in order to deliver a complete view of building performance. Current performance analysis techniques tend to focus on a limited number of data sources, such as BMS measured data (temperature, humidity, C02), excluding a wealth of other data sources increasingly available in the modern building, including weather data, occupant feedback, mobile sensors & feedback systems, schedule information, equipment usage information. This paper investigates the potential for using Linked Data and Semantic Web technologies to improve interoperability across AEC domains, overcoming many of the roadblocks hindering information transfer currently

Optimised building form for environmental sustainability

Built environment professionals have the opportunity to contribute towards a significant reduction in GHG emissions using green design principles. The starting point of green design is the optimum building form that requires less energy to construct and to operate, provided that the other design goals are satisfied. Using the interoperability based Architectural Design Optimisation Tool (ArDOT) software environment, this research was aimed at the optimisation of form and orientation of an example building in two different climatic locations. The optimisation process was driven by the results from the building simulation software, integrated into ArDOT using Industry Foundation Classes (IFC). The objectives were to reduce annual demand for energy and to maximise daylight availability. The applicability of the framework has been investigated in the early stages of architectural design, where required parameters for building simulation are not fully known. A standards based mapping is used to compensate for the missing data and to enable the design team the access to detailed based simulation programs. The results from the research show the advantages of using mathematical optimisation techniques for environmental sustainability through a directed exploration of the solution space

Focused interventions for injecting drug users.

The authors discuss the need for supervised injecting facilities as a safer alternative to addicts injecting in public. The article particularly focuses on - what supervised injecting facilities are and how injecting facilities operate

Development of miniaturized wireless sensor nodes suitable for building energy management and modelling

Buildings consume 40% of Ireland's total annual energy translating to 3.5 billion (2004). The EPBD directive (effective January 2003) places an onus on all member states to rate the energy performance of all buildings in excess of 50m2. Energy and environmental performance management systems for residential buildings do not exist and consist of an ad-hoc integration of wired building management systems and Monitoring & Targeting systems for non-residential buildings. These systems are unsophisticated and do not easily lend themselves to cost effective retrofit or integration with other enterprise management systems. It is commonly agreed that a 15-40% reduction of building energy consumption is achievable by efficiently operating buildings when compared with typical practice. Existing research has identified that the level of information available to Building Managers with existing Building Management Systems and Environmental Monitoring Systems (BMS/EMS) is insufficient to perform the required performance based building assessment. The cost of installing additional sensors and meters is extremely high, primarily due to the estimated cost of wiring and the needed labour. From this perspective wireless sensor technology provides the capability to provide reliable sensor data at the required temporal and spatial granularity associated with building energy management. In this paper, a wireless sensor network mote hardware design and implementation is presented for a building energy management application. Appropriate sensors were selected and interfaced with the developed system based on user requirements to meet both the building monitoring and metering requirements. Beside the sensing capability, actuation and interfacing to external meters/sensors are provided to perform different management control and data recording tasks associated with minimisation of energy consumption in the built environment and the development of appropriate Building information models(BIM)to enable the design and development of energy efficient spaces

Integrating building energy simulation in the design process

To significantly increase building energy performance, the use of building simulation software at the earliest has been emphasized. Inherent complexity in data representation, I/O (Input and Output) and Visualization of available software requires specialist knowledge to leverage the potentials offered. Early stages of design are characterized by unstructured and incomplete data which is insufficient as inputs to software based on detailed representations of the systems in the building. Existing simulation software, developed in research organizations are targeted to be used by building services engineers at detailed stages and does not suit the purposes of design community. This article attempts at identifying the reasons behind unpopularity of simulation software in the early stages of design and also argues that a new breed of decision support systems is needed for energy efficient building design

Spatial representation in product modelling

An unambiguous definition of space is necessary before any attempt is made to develop product or process models for concurrent engineering in the AEC Industry. The ambiguity is the result of different and even conflicting approaches to its definition in the various phases of the building life cycle for different stakeholders, e.g. architects, engineers, and building services engineer etc. Some researchers consider space as an abstract property of things, while others consider it as a thing itself. Regardless of the definition, the space can be referred to as a collector of material objects and also as an object itself. This paper investigates the existing concepts and criteria of definition in various phases, compares the factual and ontological meaning, and specifies conceptual schemas for representation of space, geometry, and buildings

Inelastic electron tunneling via molecular vibrations in single-molecule transistors

In single-molecule transistors, we observe inelastic cotunneling features that correspond energetically to vibrational excitations of the molecule, as determined by Raman and infrared spectroscopy. This is a form of inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy of single molecules, with the transistor geometry allowing in-situ tuning of the electronic states via a gate electrode. The vibrational features shift and change shape as the electronic levels are tuned near resonance, indicating significant modification of the vibrational states. When the molecule contains an unpaired electron, we also observe vibrational satellite features around the Kondo resonance.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Supplementary information available upon reques

Towards a wireless sensor platform for energy efficient building operation

Currently, the IT-support for energy performance rating of buildings is insufficient. So-called IT-platforms often “built” of an ad-hoc, inconsistent combination of off-the-shelf building management components, distributed data metering equipment and several monitoring software tools. A promising approach to achieve consistent, holistic performance data management is the implementation of an integrated, modular wireless sensor platform. This paper presents an approach of how wireless sensors can be seamlessly integrated into existing and future intelligent building management systems supporting improved building performance and diagnostics with an emphasis on energy management

Efficient building management with IP-based wireless sensor network

Existing Building/Energy Management Systems (BMS/EMS) fail to convey holistic performance to the building manager. A 20% reduction in energy consumption can be achieved by efficiently operated buildings compared with current practice. However, in the majority of buildings, occupant comfort and energy consumption analysis is primarily restricted by available sensor and meter data. Installation of a continuous monitoring process can significantly improve the building systems’ performance. We present WSN-BMDS, an IP-based wireless sensor network building monitoring and diagnostic system. The main focus of WSN-BMDS is to obtain much higher degree of information about the building operation then current BMSs are able to provide. Our system integrates a heterogeneous set of wireless sensor nodes with IEEE 802.11 backbone routers and the Global Sensor Network (GSN) web server. Sensing data is stored in a database at the back office via UDP protocol and can be access over the Internet using GSN. Through this demonstration, we show that WSN-BMDS provides accurate measurements of air-temperature, air-humidity, light, and energy consumption for particular rooms in our target building. Our interactive graphical user interface provides a user-friendly environment showing live network topology, monitor network statistics, and run-time management actions on the network. We also demonstrate actuation by changing the artificial light level in one of the rooms