Drive to thrive

Drive to thrive
The Data-Driven Smart Buildings Symposium was held at the University of New South Wales earlier this year. Dr Stephen White, L.AIRAH, reports.
An AIRAH-supported Data-Driven Smart Buildings Symposium was held in May at the University of New South Wales. The Symposium addressed the opportunity for digital technology and cyber-physical systems to enable new energy-efficiency and grid-flexibility solutions in building HVAC operations.

The Symposium was run in collaboration with the International Energy Agency’s Annex 81 “Data-Driven Smart Buildings”. With around half of the presentations coming from international speakers, the Symposium was a great opportunity to hear some different perspectives and get insight from around the world

Lagom and all that.

The Symposium led off with a keynote presentation from Professor Ivo Martinac (KTH Royal Institute of Technology), former vice-president of REHVA and Chair of the REHVA Task Force on Smart Buildings. He used the Swedish idea of Lagom (“in balance” or “just enough”) to call for a whole-of-building approach that serves the needs of building users and avoids the mistake of deploying digitalisation for its own sake. He also noted the importance of digitalisation as a critical management tool through access to measurement/data.

Subsequent sessions covered topics of:

  • Case studies, implementation learnings and novel smart building use-cases
  • Development and benchmarking of machine learning-based techniques for HVAC control
  • Opporunities and practical experience in the collection use of meta-data (semantic modelling)
  • A deep dive into examples of grid-integrated control

Barriers and opportunities

The day concluded with a predominantly industry-based panel session, reflecting on barriers and opportunities for the industry. Examples were given of how people have addressed practical considerations of data quality and data availability. The importance of resilience of smart building systems was stressed. John McCulloch of CSIRO gave a passionate presentation exploring industry skills, and the need for a user-centric approach to driving industry adoption.

With 14 presentations and a panel session, it was a very packed day. I heard lots of comments praising the breadth of topics covered and the quality of the work. Pleasingly, there was a strong sense that the industry is progressing rapidly and that there is an exciting purpose and vision for what lies ahead.

Like to know more?

For more on the Annex 81 Data-Driven Smart Buildings, visit https://annex81.iea-ebc.org/

Ecolibrium June-July 2023

This article appears in ecolibrium’s AUGUST-September 2023 issue

Want to read more?

AIRAH MEMBERS

Click here to view our archive of issues and features.

NON-MEMBERS

Become an AIRAH member or subscribe to Ecolibrium.

How to make money from batteries 

How to make money from batteries 

Craig Roussac from Buildings Alive looks at what investing in batteries can mean for building owners in Australia.Saving energy saves money and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. This fact has underpinned efficiency programs and driven investment returns for...

Howzat for heat monitoring?! 

Howzat for heat monitoring?! 

Nick Johns-Wickberg discovers how a heat monitoring tool developed by the University of Sydney is playing an important role in local sport. It’s 3:46pm on a Sunday and I’m standing at fine leg in 40°C heat. I’ve just bowled my fourth over on the trot, each ball coming...

Peak powers

Peak powers

Environmental consultant Alan Pears AM makes the case for energy efficiency and emissions ratings that better reflect the impacts of peak demand and seasonal variability. Assessing, rating and regulating building energy use and emissions used to be simple when we were...

A well-deserved shout-out 

A well-deserved shout-out 

AIRAH has recognised the decades-long contributions of several active and engaged members at its NSW President’s Shout event. Associate director of the Institute’s NSW division committee Gary Knox, F.AIRAH, hosted the event. AIRAH President Mikaila Ganado, M.AIRAH,...

Shining stars

Shining stars

The winners of the 2024 AIRAH Awards have been announced at a black-tie gala dinner held at Crown Aviary Melbourne on Thursday, November 21. The awards celebrate outstanding achievements from across Australia’s HVAC&R building services industry. Around 200 guests...

Q&A with Anastasia Alexandrova 

Q&A with Anastasia Alexandrova 

Anastasia Alexandrova, M.AIRAH, was recently awarded her 10-year membership plaque at the 2024 AIRAH WA Members Lunch. We asked her to tell us a bit more about herself and what makes her tick. What is your job title?  Business Development Manager at Turner Engineering...

Fairair

Advertisement