Dan Shields, CEO of Shields Energy, explains how safely managing building occupancy rates, throughput and maintaining air quality has become mission-critical for businesses in a post-COVID society
Building managers and those responsible for health and safety have had to make significant changes to the way their spaces are managed. Everywhere from offices to shopping centres, hospitality and leisure venues and transport hubs have had to be carefully assessed, and spaces and people flows recalculated to meet government guidance.
Organisations such as the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) and the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM) have published best practice documents to help building managers keep staff, customers and visitors safe.
But how to ensure that best practice is actually taking place in the real world?
This is where Building Internet of Things (BIoT) technology solutions come into their own. Connected sensors and monitors linked to cloud-based software can provide true building health diagnostics and enable significant safety benefits.
BIoT devices that also feature cloud-based software and feature digital twin technology can also create a complete ‘picture’ of a building, floor or room’s occupancy levels and the people flow within.
By taking data feeds from sensors throughout a site, platforms such as Shields Energy’s CODA can create a digital twin – literally a graphical representation of a site and its systems and occupants – to show managers at a glance what is happening within their buildings in real-time.
Managers can set up alerts when occupancy limits are close to pre-defined thresholds, or when people flow management requires attention.
Traditional occupancy sensors can be combined with wearable sensor technologies and CCTV to create a dynamic feed. BIoT systems such as CODA can also combine occupancy data with air quality monitoring and HVAC data streams. In fact, almost any data feed can be integrated into the platform, with APIs enabling bespoke application development for any environment.
Meanwhile, building managers can use their actual physical building data via a digital twin to visualise and test different scenarios and create new people management plans as the COVID situation changes – without taking a leap into the unknown.
As well as providing demonstrable records and an audit trail of building health measures and management, deploying BIoT solutions gives building occupants and visitors confidence that all possible measures to ensure their safety have been taken.
