office worker

The spread of integrated technology in buildings is helping to make living and working conditions more comfortable, as David Scott explains.

The term ‘smart environments’ conjures up some fairly extravagant, futuristic imagery in the minds of most people; rooms that set mood lighting depending on who’s inside, digital artwork that responds to noise or even, as one news report highlighted recently, gadgets you can control with literally a wink or nod.

But the conception and development of buildings and environments with ‘smart’ features can be traced as far back as the not so space-age 1920s.

“Le Corbusier defined the house of the future as ‘A Machine for Living’,” said Surabhi Chaturvedi, a masters by research student in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning.

“This terminology paved the way for a new realm of research, where building materials and their amalgamation with technology began to be deeply studied in order to develop a space that responded to the surroundings and functioned for the people inhabiting this space.”

More recently in 1980, she said, Mark Weiser (in his book The Computer for the 21st Century) defined smart environments as a by-product of ‘Pervasive Computing’, where technology is embedded into the built fabric, integrating the physical space with technology and engaging in a dynamic interaction with the users. “A smart environment then would be one enriched by technology through an interconnected network, with data constantly analysed on a real-time basis to provide timely and appropriate interaction with its components and inhabitants.”

So do today’s smart environments measure up to the concepts of history? Are they really providing integrated assistance to home owners and office workers?

Sung Jun Kim said such environments were important in new-generation design and generally produce positive outcomes.

“The new kinds of architecture, ‘Smart Home’ or ‘Ubiquitous Home’ aim to produce pleasant, energy efficient and nature friendly architectural structures.”

A PhD student researching Integrated Environment-friendly smart homes for the elderly, Sung Jun Kim says the ‘silver towns’ of South Korea – high-rise, high-density towers designed for its elderly population – are interesting examples of how smart environments are helping.

“Due to a shortage of land and high land prices, the majority of the Korean population is moving to live in high-rise apartment units, resulting in increasing urbanisation and population concentration.

“Moreover, Korea has the fastest increasing ageing population in the world, meaning more people are older and living alone. Whereas many other retirement communities in Australia, US and Europe are generally low-rise retirement communities, silver towns in Korea have found wide acceptance in the form of high-rise and high-density towers integrated with smart technologies. These facilities typically refer to a residential complex including living, leisure sports, and medical treatment facilities.”

Sung Jun Kim says technology systems such as real-time health checks, movement sensors, air quality and lighting controls and emergency call systems have been incorporated with great success into such developments.

“Silver towns with smart technology help the elderly residents’ independent living in terms of health, leisure, and safety as well as enabling easy communication with family members, relatives and friends.”

Mainstream healthcare facilities around the world are also big benefactors of smart environment systems. Surabhi Chaturvedi’s research is examining how materials can change their structure in response to light and other stimulus, achieving occupier comfort in such buildings. She says the intensive care units or operating theatres of today’s hospitals are great examples of spaces which are critically dependent on technology-mediated environments.

“Healthcare facilities are expected to function 24 hours a day throughout the year. Healthcare is the world’s largest industry and one currently undergoing a dramatic change in terms of the traditional perception of the healthcare structure and healthcare delivery technology including at home and remote services.

“Healthcare buildings pose a unique mix of challenges in terms of varying kinds of needs, from public to private, intensive care to outpatient services, different age groups and their needs, all to be served using a mix of centralised or distributed infrastructure that is constantly variable.

“Hence the need for smarter environments, particularly when it comes to lighting and energy systems.”

Saving money and saving energy should be at the forefront of considerations when designing new office buildings, according to Angela Alessi, a PhD candidate researching occupant comfort in offices.

And the best way to do that is to be more effective in understanding, monitoring, and creating optimal comfort for workers.

“Ninety per cent of office worker complaints come from air conditioning. We are all different, we all need different temperatures, and air conditioning doesn’t give that flexibility,” Ms Alessi said.

“This is particularly true when you consider that our offices are becoming less and less physical, with different approaches to work – onsite versus offsite and so on.

“To get that flexibility we need mixed mode spaces that hand over a degree of user control and choice, something as simple as opening a window can empower that in workers, making them feel less like they’re trapped inside a box.

“People are going to choose natural ventilation over air conditioning more often than not.”

She cites the north façade of the new NAB building at Melbourne’s Docklands precinct as one example of how enhanced productivity is linked to due consideration of environmental factors in a mixed mode space.

“It’s a very interesting part of the building. It has natural ventilation when the temperature is between 20 to 27 degrees. People can go from office to open air café and be in contact with the environment. But on 40 degree days, everything closes down and the air conditioning kicks in.

“It’s a great example of ecologically sustainable architecture, a movement where modern design actually takes into account the site and the local climate and environment, and not just construct perfect boxes with no consideration for the outside.

“Such considerations should happen more often. Smart environments like this don’t cost any more money and probably end up saving more.”

First published in The University of Melbourne Voice Vol. 5, No. 1  13 April - 10 May 2009