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Is your building thinking?

Sudha Menon

When a fire broke out in the lift machine room at the IFCI building in New Delhi, a couple of years ago, technology took charge. At the first indication of fire, the building supervisor was automatically paged and the hooter-alarms went off to alert the occupants of the building and those in charge of the building's safety. All air-handling systems in the building were activated, security doors opened up for evacuation, the public address system and alarms were switched on, all lifts homed down and the smoke exhaustion systems started functioning. And what is significant is that the entire process happened without any human intervention.

``When I went there the next week, I was surprised when the supervisors heartily thanked me. I had no idea that such an incident had happened but when they told me that my work saved them from disaster, it was very satisfying,'' recalls Pramoda Karkal, M anaging Director, Johnson Controls India, a subsidiary of the US-based building automation major, and one of the companies responsible for converting a mass of iron, steel and concrete into a living and intelligent entity. An entity, where the people man aging the building can afford to sleep if they are residences or work without a worry because the building is always awake and alert.

The IFCI complex completed in 1994 was India's first `really' intelligent building. The swanky ICICI structure in Mumbai's upscale Bandra-Kurla complex is the latest, but definitely not the last. Intelligent buildings have clearly become the emerging tre nd for the future in India, especially for companies with global operations and hi-tech applications.

This high technology concept was first introduced in the US in the early-1980s. According to the Intelligent Building Institute, an intelligent building is one that provides a productive and cost-effective environment through optimisation of its four bas ic elements -- structure, systems, services and management -- and the inter-relationships between them. Intelligent buildings help business owners, managers and occupants to realise their goals in the areas of cost, comfort, convenience, safety, long-ter m flexibility and marketability.

One of the characteristics of an intelligent building is the use of building automation systems to reduce the energy, operations and maintenance costs. The system reduces operating costs by monitoring and controlling major systems such as the air-conditi oning, electrical distribution and plumbing systems. In brief, the building systems work together as a team to respond to the current occupancy pattern to minimise energy and maximise operational efficiency. The beauty of the concept is that the payback is typically achieved within three to five years. A reason why the Rs 10 crore spend by ICICI or the Rs 6.5 crore additional expense for the IFCI building is not a cost in the long run.

Quality workplaces

These buildings are designed to meet owner and occupant needs, not just the immediate but also the future. The building uses technology to achieve these objectives, but is not a monument to technology. Technology becomes obsolete quickly, but the owner a nd occupant remain constant. A good case study being the CMC building in Mumbai which was touted as the `most intelligent' of them all.

``Things are changing so fast that the intelligence level for buildings has grown by leaps and bounds,'' points out Pramoda and adds that the industry is now worth Rs 150 crore in India and is growing.

``Though initially it was a tough task selling the concept of intelligent buildings to developers and owners, there is a greater awareness about it now, especially among corporates, some of whom take the initiative and tell us their requirement,'' says M umbai-based architect, Raja Aederi. He was responsible for one of the earliest intelligent buildings in India _ Rajiv Gandhi's pet-project Jawahar Bhavan and also the IFCI building. For a large number of corporates, having an intelligent building is now part of their image building exercise that will project them as being contemporary and smart.

And why not? Knowledge workers, the backbone of most companies now, are increasingly demanding quality workplaces. The building occupants expect a safe, secure and comfortable environment. They are even becoming more sophisticated and their expectations are increasing. Issues, such as indoor air quality, have been widely publicised in Europe and North America and it is just a matter of time before it becomes an issue here.

According to J. Sivaram who works for Gherzi Eastern Ltd, a project management company, ``The extent to which buildings are made intelligent depends on individual clients. While some want only basic systems such as the fire alarm, others insist on going the whole hog and getting all the works.''

But installing a complete building automation system has several advantages, especially with the globalisation of businesses. In the past, office space was either unoccupied or completely occupied. There was very little time during the day that office sp ace was partially occupied. Already, and more so in the future, the amount of time each day that office space is partially occupied will increase dramatically.

As business becomes more global, offices are extending their hours to provide support for multiple time zones. People come back to office after dinner to participate in video conferences with their colleagues from other continents. More and more offices offer flexi-time to reduce traffic congestion and allow working couples to co-ordinate their schedules. The percentage of administrative people is dropping and the percentage of knowledge workers, who are more likely to work outside a fixed schedule, is increasing dramatically.

``But despite this, unfortunately, most office buildings in India today are designed to be either fully operational or completely shut down,'' Pramoda points out. ``When an office that is partially occupied is operated as if it were fully occupied, energ y is wasted and operational efficiency is reduced. For example, the air-conditioning and lighting for the entire floor is turned on and security devices for the entire floor are disabled when only one room is being used. But one of the prime requirements of an intelligent building is that it should react in crisis.''

In order to be responsive to such situations, the building needs to know the occupancy pattern. The first step is to zone the building systems with as much granularity as possible and then keep track of the occupancy of each zone. Technologies such as do or lock indicators, occupancy sensors, card access etc can be used to determine the occupancy of a zone and the building system can then respond accordingly for each zone.

Increasing productivity

If the savings on costs are a tangible, calculable factor for going intelligent, one of the more compelling reasons these days is the increasing productivity of employees in such buildings. The work facility is now no more just a place to go to work but it determines how the employees perceive their company and how productive they will be. Several factors such as room temperature, airflow, humidity, and noise levels determine just how comfortable employees are in the workplace. Studies in the US have sh own that even basic aspects such as effective ventilation, adequate lighting and good acoustics can increase office productivity by 6-10 per cent.

In a country like India these factors are now gaining importance, more so in the older buildings that never accounted for them in the traditional sarkari setups which doubled up as offices. Building automation is modular and scalable and therefore within the reach of corporates of any size.

This has opened up business opportunities for companies in the business. ``There is a huge market for retrofitting in India where the quality of existing buildings leaves much to be desired,'' says Pramoda. He sees the entire market, both for new and old buildings, growing exponentially for the next few years. There are other companies in the business too such as Siemens and Tata Honeywell and some of them are present in the entire life-cycle of building automation, from manufacture to maintenance.

The number of corporate entities who are intelligent are legion now with names such as Verifone, Smithkline Beecham, Hindustan Lever and Apollo Corporation among many others who have already invested to go smart. As word of the advantages gets around oth ers are catching on and Hyderabad's much-talked about Indian School of Business is developing an intelligent campus while developers in places such as Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai too are evincing interest in the idea.

The Indian hospitality industry that has been adopting technology at a fast pace these last few years to keep pace in an increasingly competitive market is also investing heavily in automation systems. The Oberoi chain, for instance, has already partly r etrofitted its systems in the Mumbai hotel while work is also happening on its properties in Delhi and Rajasthan. The Taj group is also in the process of retrofitting their infrastructure at various locations to cut operational costs.

The concept has now moved away from being more than just a fad because it focuses on basic business fundamentals _ owner and occupant needs, safety, cost savings and higher productivity. Crucial reasons why it will refuse to go away. Crucial reasons why when you next enter your workplace you should ask this vital question: Is my building intelligent? And not rest assured till the answer is YES.

Picture: Verifone Technology park.