Systems as a vehicle for sustainable innovation
Systems as a vehicle for sustainable innovation
Intelligent and interconnected buildings. The plus of integrated design and technical solutions that combine with digitisation.
The cities of the future will have to ensure a high quality of life through the intelligent use of energy, in buildings, infrastructure and transport. The transition is neither easy nor obvious: it will have to be carried out in steps and organised, starting with the buildings.
And while change can be more easily triggered on new buildings, through an integrated design aiming at efficiency, for the existing and ageing buildings that characterise Italy’s real estate stock, the path is less linear, but of fundamental importance for a decisive impact on large-scale renovation.
Working on buildings means acting on about 30 per cent of the world’s CO2 emissions (source: ‘2020 Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction’). The change has already started, and proof of this is the work of many governments, which, for several years, have been implementing policies to incentivise the development of green and more generally “smart” buildings and systems.
New buildings and those that will be upgraded can already make use of the new technologies that the construction world can offer. Not only through the use of increasingly high-performance materials, but above all through systems that can read the situation, and learn and act in the best possible way to use energy optimally in any given moment.
Not only sustainability but also connectivity. The use of ultra-fast data transmission lines, both wired (fibre) and mobile (5G), today allow buildings to connect with each other and with the cloud, facilitating an exchange of information for energy management and energy consumption.
Many platforms have already been developed by the major players in the world of plant and system engineering and are based on the concept of building management through the collection of data in delocalised data centres, which very often are powered entirely by renewable sources.
From intelligent platforms and thanks to the massive use of advanced AI-(Artificial Intelligence) based systems, it will be possible to aggregate data from different buildings and activate management policies for entire neighbourhoods, and thus cities, that will also be able to automatically manage the demands of energy of certain buildings by shifting supplies from buildings that are not currently using it. The use of AI will be crucial in the process of “predicting” events and anticipating situations. AI connected to building management systems (BMS), or home automation for domestic buildings, will enable buildings to learn from themselves and understand how users consume energy. What the real needs are for comfort at different times of the day, months and year, and what actions can really be activated and when it is best to avoid them.
The design of the systems, which is the responsibility of MEP designers, is central to the study of property development strategies from the earliest stages. DVMEP was strongly pursued not only by plant engineers, but by the fusion of two disciplines (systems and architecture) that have long seen the future with the conviction that these two worlds should dialogue on the same table and with the same tools. The concept of architecture dictating rules and ideas, giving great importance to aesthetics, and systems as accessories that must not be seen and must only provide aesthetic and sensory comfort, can no longer be accepted. Today, the three disciplines (architecture, structures, systems) are all on the same level and have the same importance. They must coexist with as much balance and harmony as possible.
DVArea was established with this aim and with the mission to make buildings in step with technological evolution and sustainability, firmly believing that digitisation of processes is the main vector to achieve the best results in the shortest possible time. Time is running out, a decisive and courageous change of course is needed.
Tag:
#smartcity #impiantistica #MEP #sostenibilitaambientale #NZEB #bigdata #zeroemissioni #intelligenzaartificiale #scambioinformazioni
Roberto Belloni:
CEO. Technical Director DVMEP.
