Intelligent Buildings

Intelligent Buildings International 1 (2009), 277–295 doi:10.3763/inbi.2009.SI05

© 2009 Earthscan ISSN: 1750–8975 (print), 1756–6932 (online) www.earthscanjournals.com

REVIEW ARTICLE

The CABA Building Intelligence Quotient programmeDavid Katz*, Jiri Skopek

Building Intelligence Quotient Consortium, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The article describes the web-based Building Intelligence Quotient (BiQ) programme, developed for the Continental Automated Buildings Association (CABA). The initial BiQ beta testing and the BiQ corporate portfolio analysis are reported. The BiQ rates building automation systems in existing large office buildings and supports the integrated design and life-cycle costing processes. It contributes to the increasing convergence of green and intelligent building programmes. Using the BiQ for rating the intelligence of building automation contributes to the knowledge of building performance and enhances intelligence within the building industry. The BiQ reflects the convergence of information technology to all building and business enterprise systems contributing to the acquisition of knowledge that can positively guide future decision making and action. Using the BiQ and comparing the BiQs across corporate portfolios provides new ways that various stakeholders can learn from actual building performance and improve decision making for the automation systems of future buildings. The BiQ can be a key part of developing individual and collective intelligence in relation to building design and operation. The BiQ report is a feedback mechanism that shows what is working and what is not. The BiQ and other CABA programmes contribute to the notion of feedback and intelligence.

Keywords: automation; BiQ; building; CABA; energy management; feedback; Green Globes; intelligence; quotient; rating

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]

INTRODUCTIONThe Continental Automated Buildings Association (CABA) is a trade association for building automation that performs collaborative research and seeks to educate the industry in the benefits of the members’ products and services. CABA members, which include many world-leading companies, can join its Integrated and Intelligent Building Council (IIBC) which focuses on the larger building automation, while other members focus on the SMART Home. The IIBC selected a consortium of three CABA members to develop the Building Intelligence Quotient (BiQ),

a web-based building automation intelligence rating programme that uses the Green Globes web platform already in use by the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) and other organizations in Canada.

The BiQ is an educational and information programme that is governed by the IIBC BiQ advisory committee members who are also independent consultants or CABA members representing their companies. The BiQ is equally supportive of all CABA member intelligent products, technology and protocols to avoid any conflict of interest. This article describes

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278 Katz, Skopek

Intelligent Buildings International 1 (2009)

the background and key features of the BiQ and presents an analysis of the results of beta testing on a building portfolio.

THE BUILDING INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT PROGRAMMEOver the past 20 years there has been considerable debate about the concept of an ‘intelligent’ building. Work has been undertaken in many forums to define and quantify the term; the end result of these efforts is that an intelligent building is not just one thing. Indeed, Clements-Croome (2004), Kell (2005), Wong et al. (2005) and others emphasize the multiplicity of definitions of an ‘intelligent’ building. However, a consistent notion within the term intelligent building is the use of technology and processes to create a building that is safer and more productive for its occupants and more operationally efficient for its owners. Moreover, the result of implementing these intelligent technologies and processes are buildings that cost less to operate and are worth more to their occupants and owners. For building projects that are owner occupied, such as corporate, government and institutions, the benefits of an intelligent building provide an immediate return-on-investment in terms of higher employee productivity and reduced operating expenses. For commercial developments, intelligent building projects are expected to result in above-market rents, improved retention, higher occupancy rates and lower operating expenses.

What, then, are the technologies and processes required to create intelligent building projects, whether new construction or retrofit? The BiQ determines the technological requirements to make a building ‘smarter’ by assessing the status of the building’s intelligent technology. The BiQ rating tool has three key functions. It serves as:

● a means to evaluate and measure the ‘value’ of intelligent building performance;

● a design guide for the integration of building intelligence in new building projects; and

● a building automation retrofit action plan tool.

Ronald Zimmer, CABA president and chief executive officer, indicates that the BiQ ‘is designed to paint a clear picture of your building intelligence performance against best practices for design, installation and operation’ that ‘gives practical advice for improvements, offers resources for making the upgrades, and provides additional information on relevant strategies and technologies’ (Katz, 2007). The BiQ tool allows property owners and managers to receive a rating of a building’s intelligence and provides design guidance to ensure that all relevant issues are considered when making a choice of subsystems and their level of integration. Owners and developers with multiple properties can also use the tool to assess and compare the building intelligence systems in their portfolio. In addition, as more and more buildings are BiQ verified, point scores will be aggregated in an anonymous database, enabling users to analyse how their building intelligence design performs in relation both to the median and to buildings that are similar in terms of type and region.

The assessment process is conducted completely online and thereby provides owners and managers with the ability to keep their assessment up to date as the buildings are retrofitted and building intelligence changes. Building intelligence results in higher building value, improved comfort, security, flexibility and reliability while reducing costs and increasing productivity. Lower costs and higher property and lease values can result in aggressive return-on-investments and are clear justifications for making buildings more intelligent.

The BiQ assessment is based on asking a series of questions pertaining to integrated design processes, the presence and integration of intelligent building subsystems, failure and emergency operations, and building support and maintenance. Based on this information, the BiQ then generates a report providing benchmark ratings as well as recommendations for improvements in the following categories: communication systems; building automation;


CABA Building Intelligence Quotient programme 279


annunciation, security and control systems; facility management applications; and building structure and systems (Figure 1).

VALIDATION OF BiQIn order to ensure that the responses to the questionnaire that produces the BiQ are truly representative of the actual building automation, CABA has also introduced a validation, training and award programme to complement the BiQ programme. In order to create added value for BiQ users, CABA is implementing this independent validation procedure similar to the many other building rating systems. For an additional fee, validation will provide BiQ users with an individualized site visit by a professional to determine whether their property actually conforms to the BiQ criteria they entered into the website questionnaire. BiQ professionals will also provide

portfolio analysis services. Firms with more than one property undergoing BiQ assessment will be able to purchase a corporate portfolio analysis in order to compare all their buildings. Undertaken by BiQ professionals, validation and analysis will allow for a more personalized, detailed on-site examination of intelligent building systems.

The initial validation on one of the early, high BiQ-rated facilities was performed by the BiQ authors and it showed the benefits of this feedback loop. Whereas most of the BiQ answers provided by the facility manager were correct, the building automation staff member we reviewed them with was more knowledgeable about each system and pointed out some errors in the answers. While it lowered the BiQ rating from 81 per cent to 74 per cent, the validation site visit was beneficial and well received. It enabled the staff member responsible for building automation to take the

FIGURE 1 BiQ chart in report (screen capture)


280 Katz, Skopek


visitors to meet the IT manager and observe us discussing the possible areas for convergence to provide more building automation features. Bringing down the barriers of the ‘silos’ relating to areas of IT network security and responsibility contributes to possible collaboration by different departments to increase the intelligence of the building. To meet the demand for BiQ users, BiQ validations and BiQ corporate portfolio analysis, the BiQ Consortium is developing a BiQ training programme with an educational institute. The programme will train and certify evaluators, giving them the skills required to undertake BiQ evaluations and assign validation scores. Professionals seeking BiQ evaluator certification may be engineers, system integrators or technical experts in building automation.

Validation scores from the BiQ tool will be used by supporting associations and the industry at large to assess the intrinsic value of a building. Once a building is assigned either platinum, gold or silver validation by a BiQ professional, CABA will acknowledge the validation by issuing a plaque to the building’s owners or managers. Rated buildings will be eligible to win awards. The BiQ awards programme will recognize buildings that exhibit excellence in building intelligence integration and that rate high on CABA’s building intelligence assessment. The top three BiQ validated buildings will receive a CABA Intelligent Building Award at an annual awards ceremony.

Currently, CABA is negotiating with the Appraisal Institute, the International Facility Management Association and other associations to endorse the tool. Utility regulators can use the BiQ as part of their energy management and demand response incentive programmes facilitated by enhanced and more intelligent building automation systems.

BETA TEST OF BiQ AND CORPORATE PORTFOLIO ANALYSISDuring the spring of 2006, EDC Energy and Environment Canada carried out an assessment

of a commercial building portfolio using the BiQ. The portfolio study was compiled from individual building reports generated by the BiQ online assessment software during the initial beta testing of the programme. The purpose of the corporate portfolio analysis was to:

● compare the performance of multiple buildings and identify some common strengths and weaknesses;

● establish meaningful performance benchmarks against which all buildings may be evaluated.

The BiQ portfolio summary serves to show, at a glance:

● the achievements and weaknesses of the various facilities;

● a means to inform the decision-making process, by highlighting strengths, red-flagging areas that may benefit from a closer examination, and promoting the adoption of realistic targets for improvement;

● to be one component of a larger analysis of the corporate building portfolio that could serve as a national or regional benchmarking and comparison.

Each building has been given an individual BiQ report containing recommendations to improve its performance. This report highlights some common areas that may be considered for improvement. Implementing these measures would raise the benchmarks further.

RESULTSReport data for the individual buildings was inputted online at www.building-iq.com, but none of the beta test data has been third-party verified. Figures 2–11 show the BiQ on they axis for each building noted by a letter on thex axis. The BiQ rating is a percentage based on the number of points received for ‘yes’ answers out of the possible 1000 point total. Tables 1–6 are for the individual sections of the BiQ programme. They show areas where performance is consistent




(either high with a check mark or low with an X) for most of the buildings in this section of the BiQ assessment. In addition, at the bottom of each table, the buildings are given a ranking from 1 to 13 with duplicate numbers where scores for this section are equivalent.

BUILDING SCORESThe average BiQ score for the corporate portfolio buildings was 56.1 per cent (Figure 2). Building F, the newest building to be assessed (2006) and one of the largest, illustrates the scope of intelligent buildings’ best practices.

BiQ BUILDING SCORES AND AGEThere is a meaningful relationship between the overall scores and building ages (Figure 3). Most of the newer buildings achieved relatively higher scores. Naturally, the newer technologies in building automation and management applications, such as power distribution to offices, voice and data systems to offices and subsystem operation in degraded mode and building automation system (BAS), are factors that improve the building’s performance. Contrary

to the trend, there is an incongruousness in the low performance of building D (a relatively new building) and the high performance of building G (a relatively old building). The features that have made building G a high-performance building could be considered for some of the low-scoring buildings such as building D.

SYSTEMS OVERVIEWThis section identifies the key systems and functions that are found in the buildings. Buildings F and K achieved the highest scores (Figure 4). These building operators or their support staff possess the appropriate skills for all aspects of configuration and maintenance tasks such as diagnosing problems, performing repairs, automatic and/or manual configuration for tenant charges, custom applications for specific requirements of the buildings, monitoring of operations, etc.

POWER DISTRIBUTIONAll office equipment requires easy access to electricity. A well-designed building provides flexible and easy access for changing electrical requirements. Building F achieved the highest

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FIGURE 2 BiQ overall scores


282 Katz, Skopek


FIGURE 4 Systems overview sub-scores

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performance in this regard (100 per cent) and building E achieved the lowest score (20 per cent) (Figure 5). The BiQ report provides ‘opportunities for improvement’ and hyperlinks to educational

and reference websites that provide White Papers and further information on the specific features of building automation. The following items are some of the common ‘opportunities

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284 Katz, Skopek


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286 Katz, Skopek


for improvement’ that were generated for this section by the BiQ reports:

● isolated ground power distribution;● distribution power cabling managed in secured

rooms;● UPS capability to support normal office operations;● protection against sources of interference;● sufficient standby power to maintain full office

operations;● sufficient fuel for standby power to operate

for the required time frame.

VOICE AND DATA SYSTEMS TO OFFICESCommunications infrastructure is crucial to today’s business operations, irrespective of the nature of the business. In a suitable design, systems must be sized and designed to maintain the required separation between voice and data cable and wiring systems to minimize electromagnetic interference. Current trends are towards a convergence between data, which can include telephony and computer network data. Such cabling can also be used to carry video, as in television or surveillance applications. According to Figure 6, eight building scores are above the average (81.8 per cent) and building D,

with 45 per cent, achieved the lowest score. This section evaluates the following infrastructure for these applications within the buildings: technical ground isolation, suitable separation between power wiring and data cabling to minimize electromagnetic interference, dedicated rooms for data and telephone interconnection, passing communications link from building to the common carriers through a secured route, etc. (Table 2).

CONNECTIVITY OPTIONSThe volume of data being transmitted across internal and external business networks has grown exponentially. Communications between the buildings and the outside world can be achieved using many different technologies and communications media. These links can be used to transmit voice, data and images. This section explores the range of options available within the buildings independently of the applications they may serve. Many of the options described may not be needed unless the building has particular needs, therefore the absence of these individual systems should not be regarded as a weakness in the building’s system. The average score is 47.3 per cent (Figure 7). Building G achieved the

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highest score (92 per cent) whereas building L had a score of zero in this section.

The following are some suggestions for improving the buildings’ performance that were generated for this section by the BiQ reports:

● private satellite link, micro-wave link or wireless link;

● common carrier-based broadband;● private third party-based broadband;● privately owned broadband.

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FIGURE 6 Voice and data systems sub-scores

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FIGURE 7 Connectivity options for the building sub-scores


288 Katz, Skopek


INTELLIGENT BUILDING SYSTEM FEATURESIntelligent systems within a building relate to electronic controls that interact with each other, for example, access control systems, lighting control systems and surveillance systems. The ability of an alarm system to influence the activities of the surveillance system, or of a fire system to influence the actions of the lighting control system, are examples of interaction between systems leading to ‘greater’ intelligence. The following section is designed to probe the existence and effectiveness of these types of systems. The average score in this category is 51.6 per cent (Figure 8). Building F achieved the highest score (68 per cent) and building M the lowest score (29 per cent). The following opportunities that were generated for this section by the BiQ reports and may be considered for improvement of the buildings:

● access control technologies;● intrusion detection alarm;● monitoring and annunciation;● building automation system;● condition monitoring.

BUILDING/FACILITY MANAGEMENT APPLICATIONSAn intelligent building can help those responsible for operating the building to use enhanced tools to manage the building. Thus, intelligent buildings are capable of reporting when lamps or HVAC filters need to be replaced. In this survey, five buildings scored greater than 43.3 per cent, the average score (Figure 9). Building F achieved the highest score (85 per cent) and building C the lowest score (20 per cent). The graph shows a low level of building/facility management in most of the buildings. The buildings’ performance could be improved by integrating building/facility administrative and maintenance applications such as these opportunities that were generated for this section by the BiQ reports:

● work order generation through on-line, web-enabled user interface;

● work order processing using PDA-type devices;

● equipment runtime and maintenance alarm integration;

● scheduled or predicted maintenance requirements;

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FIGURE 8 Intelligent building system features sub-scores




● database recording related to fire and life safety apparatus, ventilation dampers, circulating fans and filters.

SUBSYSTEM OPERATION IN DEGRADED MODEPrevious sections of the BiQ survey have identified a number of different subsystems required to maintain the proper functioning of a building. Over time, many subsystems will experience occasional and partial failures. Proper planning and testing may enable such failures to go unnoticed by building occupants. Thus, for example, if the power system fails but the building remains illuminated, most occupants would not recognize the situation as a failure. In terms of subsystem operation in degraded mode, seven buildings scored above the average score (72.3 per cent) (Figure 10). Building L had the lowest score (21 per cent). The following are some specific suggestions for improving the buildings’ performance that were generated for this section by the BiQ reports:

● HVAC, lighting, security and fire alarm equipment should meet the failure and emergency operations requirements;

● ensure that there is automatic or manual reconfiguration after partial system failure of the HVAC, lighting, security and fire alarm equipment.

SUBSYSTEM OPERATION IN A BUILDING AUTOMATION ENVIRONMENTThis section addresses the specific intelligent subsystems that operate within a building that also has an extensive BAS. The interaction between these various systems, as well as the requirements for each to have communications, power and sensors, leads to duplication and the possibility of repeated measurements of common parameters. An intelligent building can reduce or eliminate such redundancies. The average score for the portfolio is 57.6 per cent (Figure 11). Building F achieved the highest score of 95 per cent whereas building E scored zero. Table 6 shows how the buildings were rated for the section on subsystem interaction performance opportunities.

INTEROPERABILITY AND INFORMATION EXCHANGEThe interaction between the various subsystems can provide interoperability to the building automation

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100


FIGURE 9 Building/facility management sub-scores


290 Katz, Skopek


systems and can play a major role in the overall intelligence of a building. Both the IIBC efforts and the BiQ programme promote open, rather than the historical closed, proprietary building automation systems. CABA members established a committee to work on creating a standard to allow the interoperability

of information and building automation systems. CABA and industry leaders created oBIX (www.obix.org), an industry-wide initiative to define XML-based and web services-based mechanisms for building control systems. oBIX will allow the building control systems to exchange information with the enterprise

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FIGURE 11 Subsystem operation in a building automation environment sub-scores

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FIGURE 10 Subsystem operation in degraded mode sub-scores




software programmes. Broadband capabilities, the so-called ‘fourth utility,’ are actually already in most buildings and allow for the possibility of information exchange (Figure 12).

Using information exchange and building intelligence provides feedback to owners, operators and occupants of the building. This convergence of the information technology revolution provides significantly greater energy-efficiency and demand-response capabilities using the building automation intelligently. Such convergence is evident when companies like Cisco adapt their Connected Real Estate model to address sustainable energy and buildings (Figure 13).

CONVERGENCE OF GREEN AND INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

Cole and Brown (2009) illustrate how the concepts that collectively characterize an intelligent building are related to green buildings and green building design, illustrating considerable overlap between these two current trends in design

and construction practice. An important CABA initiative is to understand the relationship between these two performance requirements. The recently released CABA Bright Green Buildings report (Moreno et al., 2008) concludes that this research ‘provides documented evidence to educate and influence end-users, building owners, architects and contractors that a “greener building” can be achieved using intelligent technology and that this “greening” will provide a tangible and significant return on investment’. The various case studies in the report show that: ‘Ultimately, the implementation of intelligent technologies will cost less than traditional technologies, because lifetime operating costs are significantly lower and labour costs are also likely to drop significantly. This concept – intelligent, green and profitable – is what we call a bright green building.’

Figure 14 captures the overlapping and converging issues as viewed by those participating in the research for CABA (Moreno et al., 2008).

Framework for connected real estate

FIGURE 12 Framework for Connected Real Estate – using broadband to exchange information


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There is growing recognition that green building rating systems should also address intelligent building systems and life-cycle costs of a building to demonstrate the value where investment is made on intelligent systems versus those with lowest first costs. In its discussion of building rating systems, the report suggests that:

A more productive approach would be to form an alliance with other such systems in the industry that comprehensively address the intelligence aspect of buildings. CABA’s BiQ could be a strong contender in this regard, being the only tool currently available that is capable of measuring operational effi ciency generated by active intelligence in buildings. Such a collaborative effort between LEED and BiQ could potentially result in a much wider and quantifi able scale for measuring green performance.

Credits based on productivity and manpower utilization/performance, detailed cost benefi t analysis submissions, environmental information management, carbon dioxide reductions, converged integration benefi ts, operating and maintenance cost savings, among others, will be capable of addressing functional effi ciencies of buildings more concretely. This will also stimulate valuable data streams to be generated that can be further utilized for more on-going performance assessments of buildings. (Moreno et al., 2008)

The suggested collaboration is noted in Figure 15. In fact there are many areas of commonality between a green building programme such as Green Globes and the BiQ intelligent building programmes (Figure 16). As new information technology and the use of the Internet permeates

Drivers for real estate transformation

FIGURE 13 Cisco Connected Real Estate model




Green

Air & EnergyConverged Networks

Data collection,measurement & verification,

diagnostics, sensors,control, monitoring,

remote monitoring etc.

Integrated ControlsHVAC, lighting, energy,

AV, security, energy,

Water ManagementMonitoring and metering

Source: Frost & Sullivan

fire & life safety, etc.

InfrastructureStructured cabling

solution, wireless systems,

Water

Waste & Remediation

BrightGreen

Intelligent

Reduce GHG emissions Energy management

Asset management

Higher resale or leaserates

Space utilization

"Green" loans

Renewable energy

Integrated design process

Sustainability-easier tomaintain and built to last

Healthy and comfortableenvironment (IEQ)

Reuse and recycle products

Improve IAQ

Reduce wastewater discharge

Reduce waste disposal

fields Green architectureMore brown fields instead of green

Lower contaminant release

Improve energy efficiencyWaste to energy

unified communication system

FIGURE 14 Bright Green Buildings

FIGURE 15 Collaboration of building rating tools


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FIGURE 16 Common concepts of Green Globes and BiQ

all areas of buildings, both in the traditional business enterprise software and hardware systems and the direct digital control building automation systems, the opportunities to use the information for multiple sustainable purposes increases.

The BiQ and the green building programmes are complementary as they both approach the issue of features and cost effectiveness. In both new construction and existing building retrofits and upgrades, the programmes will help facilitate an integrated design process needed to make the buildings more intelligent and sustainable. ASHRAE has released the new High Performance Building Standard. Canadian Standards Association (CSA) is developing a Sustainable Building Standard. CABA programmes like the BiQ will contribute to these intelligent building standards.

CONCLUSIONSThis article describes the development, key features and testing of the BiQ. The BiQ

programme report provides instant feedback and recommendations for improvement with appropriate hyperlinks to websites for additional information. The BiQ validation process improves feedback to the building staff with a site visit by an independent professional for a knowledgeable review of the specific answers and recommendations for improvement. For a corporation with many BiQ-rated buildings, the portfolio summary serves to show, at a glance, the achievements and weaknesses of its various facilities and can improve the decision-making process by highlighting strengths and red-flagging areas that may benefit from a closer examination. If the BiQ assessment and portfolio reporting were to be conducted on a regular basis, it would also serve to benchmark progress as part of a cycle of continual improvement.

Another benefit of the BiQ usage across corporate portfolios is that participants working for the same firm are able to share the common experience of participating in this rating process.




The corporate-wide process included conference calls to review the BiQ questions, the issue of client confidentiality of information and suggestions for improvement on the survey forms. These calls produced additional benefits as the participants, while working for the same global corporation, were located all over North America and most did not know each other. The BiQ portfolio process provided the opportunity for them to discuss building automation problems, client expectations, building automation service providers, and proprietary versus open protocol alternatives with others in their corporation and profession. This dialogue and exchange on the building automation performance and improvement opportunities begins to illustrate the value and benefits of benchmarking and feedback to increase intelligence in buildings.

REFERENCESClements-Croome, D., 2004, ‘Intelligent buildings’, in D. Clements-

Croome (ed), Intelligent Buildings: Design Management and

Operation, London, Thomas Telford, 3–24.

Cole, R.J. and Brown, Z., 2009, ‘Reconciling human and automated

intelligence in the provision of occupant comfort’, Intelligent

Buildings International 1(1), 39–55.

Katz, D., 2007, ‘CABA unveils enhanced Building Intelligence

Quotient’, iHomes and Buildings 4(2). Available at: http://caba.

camp9.org/Content/Documents/Document.ashx?DocId=13477

[accessed June 2009].

Kell, A.R., 2009, The Global Development of Intelligent and Green

Buildings. I&G Systems, Watford. Available at: www.igsystems.

co.uk.

Moreno, J., Khaund, K. and Hari, G., 2008, Bright Green Buildings,

Convergence of Green and Intelligent Buildings, research by Frost

and Sullivan, CABA, www.caba.org/brightgreen.

Wong, J.K.W., Li, H. and Wang, S.W., 2005, ‘Intelligent building

research: A review’, Automation in Construction 14, 143–159.

BIBLIOGRAPHYCisco Inc, 2009, Connected Real Estate executive briefing

presentation, Green Buildings and Smart Buildings USB Drive

provided at Realcomm, Chicago, Il, 23 June. Many Cisco papers

on intelligent buildings at www.cisco.com/web/strategy/trec/

index.html.

Sinclair, K., Many papers on intelligent buildings at Automated

Buildings website, www.automatedbuildings.com/.

Sinopoli, J., 2007, Smart Buildings Handbook, A Handbook for the

Design and Operation of Building Technology Systems. Many papers

on Smart Buildings at www.smart-buildings.com/main.php.

Skopek, J., 2007, BiQ – Sample Portfolio Summary, ECD Energy and

Environment Canada Ltd.


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