What is a smart city?

A smart city is a city that is designed to make a more sustainable and efficient experience for the population inside. Throughout smart cities there will be a variety of sensors and different technologies to gather data and adjust features accordingly. These sensors can be as simple as a camera tracking how many cars use a roadway each day to something as complex as a feedback loop that gathers information about waste generated in a specific area and adjusts recourses allocated to that area accordingly. All of the data gathered through sensors and technology is then used to plan future developments and improve living quality. Smart cities can also contain very simple features, for example, a method of producing green or efficient power. Some cities are starting to implement solar panels on the rooftops of buildings. This not only provides energy to homes and apartments, but also cuts down on green house emissions. Through all of these advancements cities are becoming a more friendly living environment and cleaner at the same time.

 

What are smart buildings?

A smart building is a building created around the efficient use of resources. Through the use of different technologies, buildings can be adjusted to make them safer while also making use of the space better. One of the best examples of this would be the Oakland City Center. The Oakland City Center is a combination of multiple buildings that are all connected in different ways. The space is used up by not only office spaces but also hotels, restaurants, shopping centers, and general government spaces. This use of space did not come overnight ,however, development and planning started all the way back in the early 1950’s and only finished in 2002. Over time different zoning plans were made and redevelopment had to happen in order for this city center to become a multitude of smart buildings connected. Smart buildings are not always just one building that is built with the intention of having occupants safe. It can often times be a connection of buildings feeding information to one another in the hopes that in the long-run each building can adjust and become more sustainable and use space properly. Through the use of different sensors such as occupancy sensors buildings can be rearranged in order to make more efficient use of space and make sure that no space is wasted. A good example of what would not be a smart building would be a skyscraper of 150 stories where only 110 stories are occupied and the conditions are unsafe. This would be a massive waste of resources.

 

What is smart infrastructure? 

Smart infrastructure is a cyber-physical system that is used to improve conditions of all aspects of infrastructure. One example I gave earlier of cities putting solar panels on rooftops is a great base level example of smart infrastructure. Through different feedback loops and technologies cities can become more efficient and dependent. Feedback loops are a necessary part of smart infrastructure. Without these feedback loops providing constant information about how to improve it would take much more time to adjust and efficiently and safely change according to needs. Artificial intelligence can also be a wonderful tool for improving infrastructure. AI has much better decision making in most cases than humans can ever make, this makes it a vital part of designing new infrastructure and improving existing infrastructure. From deciding how to process and gather waste, to how to lay out roadways and create safe energy, smart infrastructure is one of the most basic and vital parts of any smart city.

 

Oakland City Center Project

As mentioned earlier the Oakland city center is a wonderful example of smart buildings. Over time there have been many new zoning and redevelopment plans and the city center is now one of the biggest collections of smart buildings throughout the world. Development started in the 1950’s and only finished in 2002, and even though development is done, the buildings are not finished being improved. In 2016  a new project came out named “Oakland City Center Project”, this project is designed around improving the buildings to become even smarter. One of the first improvements to be made is the reduction of light pollution. With this comes occupancy sensors being installed in all rooms and lights that will automatically turn off if no one is detected within a room. Another improvement being made is to help wildlife populations. Although it seems as if buildings do not have a major impact on animal populations it can interfere with many forms of life. An improvement that the Oakland City Center implemented is that nighttime architectural illumination will not be allowed during bird migration season. There are also other building plans in place to maximize bird safety around buildings, such as installing blinds on all windows and asking employees to keep them drawn when possible.

 

General thoughts on these changes

In general I believe these changes to be good, not only for the occupants, but also the wildlife population. Trying to control light pollution is not a thing that many people consider when thinking about managing different pollutions. The changes are also good for energy saving which will cut down on green house gases and causing even more types of pollution. I believe that every office space should start implementing occupancy sensors to save on energy and emissions. Also, treatment of all windows in skyscapes so that they are not completely transparent is a great change so that birds can see them and avoid them. Each year it is estimated that anywhere from 100 million to 1 billion birds die from flying into buildings. Many of these deaths could be avoided through simple treatment of the glass or just installing blinds. While all of these changes are very good there’s always room for improvement. I believe that if they added solar panels to rooftops they would be able to save even more energy and create less emissions.

 

How are the improvements going?

So far they have been able to implement many of the changes that they said they were going to make. The redevelopment plan won a “progressive architecture” award in 1996 and the buildings have only been improving since then. All of the windows on the buildings have been tinted and now look as if they are blacked out so that birds will no longer run into them. Buildings have been trying to go green and improve energy costs in whichever ways that they can. Overall, I think this is one of the best examples you could get of a smart building. Changes do not have to be drastic, but often times just small changes can make a massive impact.

 

Singapore Smart Infrastructure

 

Singapore has one of the worlds most advanced infrastructures. One of the biggest changes they have made was equipping all buses, taxis, and trains with GPS trackers. This allows all public transport modes to be tracked throughout the city and ensure they are where they need to be in time. The scheduling of all public transport is also responsive to rush hour traffic and congestion on the roadways. This allows for changes in routes and schedules based on where the majority of the traffic is so that buses and taxis can avoid being stuck in traffic jams and running behind schedule. Singapore has also developed specific apps to help their population get to taxis, buses, and trains. These apps are free to download and will show the routes of buses, where to get taxis, and even how many seats are available on trains and buses. The public transportation fares never change either, they are all at a fixed rate depending on distance and preferences of passengers (where they want to sit).  Every day over 5.5 million people have to get around the small area of 453 square miles within Singapore and this smart infrastructure makes that possible.

General thoughts on these changes

I think these are some of the best changes that a city could make with infrastructure. Many people do not realize how often public transport is used within a large city setting. Developing an app that allows the general public to track public transport and see how many seats are available is something that many cities need to start adopting. Even in Bloomington our way to view bus routes is very buggy and often times does not work properly. Furthermore, having routes that adapt to the flow of traffic and have schedules that change during rush hour is an amazing part of infrastructure. This allows for people to get to their destination quicker and more consistent which many people rely on. A method of making these public transports safer is having the GPS units on each vehicle. While this is primarily used for tracking the vehicles for the users to know when and where they will be, it also allows for the vehicles to be tracked just in case if something bad were to happen.

How are the improvements going?

So far the improvements are going very well for the city of Singapore. There are multiple accounts that the public transportation system works “flawlessly” even as it has to manage 5.5 million people daily and a yearly flow of 1.5 million tourists. With such a large scale city there are bound to be massive traffic jams and lots of congestion, but trying to actively make sure that methods of public transport avoid these conditions is great to keep the users satisfied and also help avoid creating more congestion. Their plans do not stop here and they are actively looking for more routes to go in order to continue to improve their public transportation system and overall smart infrastructures. They have a drawn out plan that goes until 2032 that plans to expand on their current railways, renew the existing railways to modernize them, add more smart roadways and commuter facilities, and start pushing for autonomous vehicles and electric vehicles.

The Edge

The Edge is located in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. It has been deemed as “the smartest building in the world” by many sources and continues to prove that it is one of the worlds smartest and most sustainable buildings. BREEAM a British rating agency gave it a sustainability rating of 98.4 percent. This is the highest rating that BREEAM has ever given out and most likely will be for a long time to come. The Edge is considered the greenest building in the world. Through natural ventilation they have been able to cut down on the usage of heating and cooling causing large saving of greenhouse emissions. The building stands at 15 stories but has an unfathomably low energy usage. The same cables that are used to transfer internet and data, can also be used to power the building. All together the building has over 28,000 sensors inside of its 15 stories. Every light fixture has motion sensors, light sensors, temperature sensors, humidity sensors, and infrared sensors. These sensors all work in conjunction with one another to make the building a very comfortable environment for its occupants. The glass is set up in such a way that even on stormy days, it is still bright on the inside of the building cutting down on energy costs even more. Space is also used optimally, with 2,500 daily workers there are only 1,000 desks and desks are only available on an as needed basis. When a desk is needed employees must share a desk with someone else and it is called “hot desking”. This is to encourage social interaction between coworkers and also save on empty desk space.

General thoughts on this building

Overall when I discovered this building existed it was hard to believe that something like it was already made. I think everyone has their idea of a true “smart building”, but with as much technology as there is inside The Edge I do not think there would be a better example of a smart building. The 28,000 sensors all working in conjunction with each other is also a great way to continue to ensure that the building is optimized and used in an efficient manor. I also love the saving of desk space. Many desks are created from wood which only will lead to more mass deforestation. The saving on desk space and encouraging social interaction between employees is a great way for employees to stay happy while also maintaining a somewhat green footprint. A BREEAM rating of 98.4 percent is also very high, the closest I could find to it was 93 percent. This means that the building is almost perfectly green and sustainable.

What is the future for this building?

This building seems to be very future proof for the time being. Future improvements are very limited when it comes to improving The Edge. One of the biggest improvements to be made is more solar panels in order to become closer to being even more completely off grid. Other than that it is very difficult to make this smart building even smarter. As time and technology progresses there will be simple upgrades to the existing sensors in place to be made, but the overall architecture is very futuristic.

 

Resources

“What Is a Smart Building?” The Occupancy Monitoring Solution, https://www.trueoccupancy.com/blog/what-is-a-smart-building.